Seven Days of Danger road safety campaign concludes

There were no fatalities during the final 24 hours of the seven day campaign although there were a total of seven accidents and eight injuries.

This brought the cumulative total over the period of Dec 29-Jan 4 to 42 injuries and three deaths from a total of 41 road accidents. Two deaths occurred in Muang district and one in Talang.

The first fatality during this year’s campaign came in the early hours of Saturday (Jan 31) morning when 32-year-old Sarayut Tamchu rode his motorbike into the back of a parked trailer on the southbound section of Thepkrasattri Road.

Veersin Bunthanaviraphat, 64, and his wife, Ms Orapawee, 63 were killed when the motorbike with sidecar (saleng) they were riding was struck from behind by a car travelling at speed near the Thepsrisin Bridge, near Saphan Hin, in the early hours of Tuesday (Jan 3).

In comparison to last year, the rate of accidents increased by 32% (28 accidents in 2022), the number of injured increased by 48% (27 injuries in 2022) and the death rate increased by 67% (1 confirmed road related death in 2022).

The statistics were confirmed at a press conference held earlier today presided over by Phuket Deputy Governor Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam and Udomporn Kan, Head of the Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM-Phuket).

Mr Anupap said authorities had launched the campaign between Dec 1-21 with a public relations awareness drive emphasising the need for enhanced road safety during the busy festive period that geared up to the seven specific days of increased focus between Dec 29-Jan 4.

He added that motorbikes were the most common vehicle involved in all of the recorded road accidents during the period, in particular “risky” driving, not wearing a helmet, speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Mr Anupap further explained that random inspection tests were performed during the period on a total of 11,719 vehicles, an increase on 480 vehicles last year, and that 4,092 were discovered to have committed offences, an increase on the 1,117 offenders during the seven day period in 2022.

Mr Anupap concluded by saying that data would be collected from this year’s Seven Days of Danger campaign and used in collaboration with other government agencies to prevent road accidents moving forward.

There were 317 people killed and 2,437 others injured in 2,440 traffic accidents across the country during the same seven day period, according to the Bangkok Post.