The target, announced at a Road Safety Seminar today (September 10) may not be as difficult to achieve as it may at first seem. In 2007, the death toll was 200, so it has already been brought down by 42 per cent since than.
The Deputy Director of the Phuket Public Health Office (PHO), Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch, said a variety of authorities including the PHO, the police, and local governments continued to run campaigns to try to motorbike riders to wear helmets and not to drive drunk.
In addition, B84 million is being spent bay various government departments and local authorities to improve roads at 40 black spots around the island. Around half of these have already been fixed or are being fixed.
The Lim San bend, just before Soi Tak Dad in Kathu, and Wang Thalang Bend, west of the Heroines Monument, are the two most deadly black spots, the meeting was told. Both are one the list to be fixed.
“The death rate has been reduced by 40 per cent from five years ago, from 200 in 2007 to 116 last year,” said Dr Wirat. “We’re fairly sure that we can achieve our target [of reducing deaths to 50].”
He noted that although southern Thailand as a whole falls behind the rest of the nation in terms of the number of people wearing motorbike helmets, Phuket ranks in the top three provinces in the country for its high use of helmets, with only about 10 per cent of bike users being caughtnot wearing them.
Tourism adds to the road toll; one in 10 of road accident victims are foreigners.
In addition, the large number of bars and entertainment venues catering to tourists adds to the amount of drunk driving which, Dr Wirat said, is a major cause of road accidents.
“Half of all the victims of road accidents in Phuket have alcohol in their veins,” he said. “[Bars and] entertainment venues are part of tourism, so this is a particular challenge for the authorities in their drive to reduce the death toll.”
To reduce the amount of drunk driving, entertainment venue owners are being encouraged to join a Designated Driver, or DD campaign, which was started in April.
The DD campaign goes beyond getting groups of friends to agree that one person will not drink during a night out. It includes getting staff of bars and night clubs to keep a watch over customers and to try to persuade them not to drive drunk, or call taxis for drunk customers or arrange a place where they can rest until they sober up enough to drive.
The Kusoldham Foundation, whose volunteers pick up the pieces in the aftermath of drunken smashes, has joined the campaign by offering free lifts home for drunk customers of bars and night clubs who have made a prior arrangement with the foundation.
Phuket authorities currently have 30 breathalysers, and hope to get a B7-million-budget for three speed cameras in the 2013 fiscal year to strengthen the road safety campaign and bring deaths down below the target of 50.