The five-day safety campaign, which focuses specifically on the welfare and safety of pedestrians when using designated crossing areas, will take place between Monday and Friday (Feb 21-25) and see stiffer fines and penalties handed out to offenders.
Vice Governor of Phuket, Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam, officially announced the campaign at a press conference held at the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office at 10am yesterday (Feb 18) following promptings from the Ministry of Interior to enhance road safety nationwide.
The primary aim of the campaign is to reduce the number of accidents at pedestrian crossings, something that has been under focus in the news of late after a Bangkok-based policeman killed a doctor on a pedestrian crossing on Jan 21 while speeding on his Ducati motorbike.
The incident saw calls for changes to the law to impose manslaughter charges against those who violate pedestrian crossing safety rules. In Phuket, the pedestrian crossing in front of Vachira Phuket Hospital received a makeover on Jan 25 in the hope of avoiding any similar incidents in Phuket Town.
Yesterday’s meeting saw Mr Udomporn Kan, Head of the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, state that next week’s campaign will focus on strict enforcement of the law with officers prosecuting non-compliant violators. Heavy fines and penalties will be administered to offenders who violate traffic signals and signs and penalty points will be added to an offender’s driving license for such offences.
Mr Udomporn added that a further focus of the campaign will be on improving road signs and the frequency and visibility of warning signs on roads in an effort to minimise accidents. This will be especially pertinent around pedestrian crossings in communitty areas such as schools or hospitals where lights and signs warning traffic to slow their speed will be both introduced and enhanced, he added.
The use of CCTV cameras will also be increased at these areas in an effort to deter offenders, or help track them down if they do offend. The cameras will be used to detect those speeding in areas such as intersections and crossings while providing an electronic history of data by way of the driver’s registration information.
Furthermore, an educational drive will be conducted among schools and family members who drive a vehicle in an attempt to improve their conduct on the road and, in turn, general road safety.