Final count on Songkran slaughter

BANGKOK, 19 April 2013: Thailand’s highway carnage over the seven deadly days of Songkran, 11 to 17 April, reached 321 fatalities surpassing the 2012 toll by 0.31%, or just one death.

The Road Safety Centre reported 321 road fatalities over the seven days, up from 320 recorded during the festival last year.

However, Road safety experts were disappointed with the result as they had earlier hoped that an extensive pre-Songkran safety campaign and a ban on the sale of alcohol would help to curb accidents.

Read more

Deadly data on Songkran festival

BANGKOK, 18 April 2013: Provisional records on road accidents during six days of the Songkran festival, 11 to 16 April, show 285 people were killed and 2,800 injured.

The death toll represents only those who died at the scene of accidents and not those who succumbed to injuries later in hospital emergency units.

Approximately 80% of the casualties and deaths were motor cyclists. The prevalent cause of accidents was drunk driving followed by a failure to wear crash helmets.

Read more

Campaign to cut accidents

BANGKOK, 22 February 2013: Department of Land Transport is promising free car inspections in an attempt to curb traffic accidents that pile up during the annual Songkran festival, mid-April.

The department deputy general director, Wattana Pattarachon, said  the move was in collaboration with private dealers and auto shops. More than 2,000 locations will be set up to inspect cars and provide check-ups 4 March to 10 April.

“Motorists can look for the programme’s sign at participating garages in order to have their vehicles examined free of charge,” he said.

Read more

Road deaths tarnish tourism image

BANGKOK, 16 January 2013: Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation’s Road Safety Centre has drafted measures to reduce road accidents and assist tourists to travel more safely in the country.

It said the new measures were designed to bring into check a deadly spiraling in road accidents particularly during public holidays. During the two most popular holidays, New Year and Songkran, more than 600 people were killed on Thailand’s highways. That represents a 49 person  kill rate per day spanning the 14 days of the two public holidays. The daily average was higher than recorded in the the Iraqi war zone.

The proposed  measures are:

Read more

Deadly days in Thailand

BANGKOK, 4 January 2013: Thailand’s road users matched war zone statistics by killing 365 people in just seven days during the New Year festive season.

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation confirmed, Thursday, the shocking truth that  road fatalities had risen 8.63%  to 365 over the holiday.

The department also reported there were 3,329 injuries involving 3,176 accidents during the seven dangerous days, 27 December 2012 to 2 January 2013.

Read more

Holiday season efforts to reduce accidents

BANGKOK, 19 December 2012: Thailand’s Land Transport Department is preparing road safety measures for the upcoming New Year holidays in a bid to reduce road accidents.

The department general director, Somchai Siriwattanachok, said it is adopting measures that it hopes will reduce accidents and fatalities on the roads during the festive season.

It is co-operating with the Vocational Education Commission Office and car companies, to operate 2,000 checkpoints to help car owners prepare for trips up country.

Read more

Tuk tuk plan chucked out

HANOI, 11 October 2012: Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has officially turned down the  Hanoi Transport Association’s proposal to import tuk tuks as a solution to limit the use of personal vehicles and ease congestion.

Ministry of Secretariat chief, Nguyen Van Luu, said the ministry appreciated the association’s efforts to improve the capital’s traffic image,  however, importing tuk tuks was not in accordance with prevailing regulations.

Lumbro, a form of public transport similar to tuk tuks, was once popular in Vietnam, but were phased out entirely by a government resolution in 2008 to reduce traffic accidents and congestion.

Read more

Road safety App launched

BANGKOK, 24 September 2012: New applications that monitor road safety will be introduced that will encourage residents and commuters to report road accidents.

Developed by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC), the Traffy bSafe application has many features that the centre says could help to reduce accidents. Commuters will be able to report traffic situations as well as dangerous driving behavior through the application.

Read more

Don’t watch TV and drive

BANGKOK, 21 May 2012: Thai police say they will crack down on car drivers who watch TV or chat on mobile phones while driving.

It is part of a campaign to reduce Thailand’s road accidents that cause an average of five deaths a day across the nation. During long weekends or public holidays, such as the Thai New Year in April, road deaths are on par with war zone fatalities.

Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Worasak Noppasitthiporn said the police plan to launch a campaign to educate drivers not to watch TV or use mobile phones when driving.

Read more

Booze the big Songkran killer

BANGKOK, 19 April 2012: The carnage on Thailand’s highways during the seven deadly days of Songkran reached 320 fatalities surpassing the 2011 tally by 18%.

The Road Safety Directing Centre reported 320 road fatalities during 11 to 17 April that represents a tragic 18.08% increase on 271 road fatalities during the festival last year.

Road safety experts had earlier hoped that an extensive pre-Songkran safety campaign and limitations on the sale of alcohol would help to curb the accidents.

Read more

Next Page »