Suntawat Ruelueng, Chief of the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, told the Phuket News today, “Three of the injuries came from motorcycle riders falling off their bikes. The other two involved collisions between cars and bikes.
“Three of the injuries took place in Muang district, one in Thalang and one in Kathu District. Four of the cases happened during the daytime and one at 9pm at night,” he added. He described the injuries as “all minor.”
“As for law enforcement yesterday, police have brought charge against those who broke the law for 267 cases yesterday. All but 10 of these were for driving without a license or not wearing a helmet.
“We had five cases of drunk driving, two cases of running a red light, and one case each of not wearing a safety belt, driving against the flow of traffic, and using a mobile phone while driving.”
Mr Suntawat said that he was most worried about April 12, 13 and 14 “because they are the days when people will come out to join the Songkran festival. But we will be strict in order to prevent [deaths and injuries].”
Nationwide, the Bangkok Post reports today that there were 25 deaths on the first day, with 348 injured in a total of 324 crashes.
The Road Safety Directing Centre reported that the major cause was drunk driving, accounting for 25.31 per cent of cases, followed by speeding, at 24.38pc.
Motorcycles were involved in 80.77pc of the crashes.
Nakhon Si Thammarat province recorded the highest number of crashes with 16 accidents, while Krabi and Phetburi had the highest death toll with two apiece.