Most road accidents during New Year holiday resulted from drunk driving

BANGKOK, Jan 2 (TNA) - As many as 49 per cent of road accidents on the New Year’s Day were resulted from drunk driving followed by 24 per cent on over speed driving, said Public Health Minister Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin on Friday. Dr. Rajata said drunk driving was still chiefly the major reason for road accidents in Thailand in the past three days. He said his ministry had ordered provincial public health offices to continue campaigns on urging people to avoid driving after drinking alcohol. Motorists should always wear safety belts while motorcyclists should wear helmets as most accidents on the New Year’s Day of every year were involved with motorcycle. So far, 20 dead victims of road accidents were aged lower than 20 years, of which four of them died from drunk driving, he said. During the past three days of the seven-day road accident for New Year holidays, rescue officials were able to reach the scene of accidents within the required 10 minutes and sent 4,510 injured victims to hospitals for treatment, Dr. Rajata added. (TNA)