New Year 2015 road accidents, death toll down in Thailand

BANGKOK, January 6 (TNA) - Accumulated road accidents and death toll during seven-day New Year celebrations 2015 in Thailand, from December 30, 2014 to January 5, 2015, were down from last year by 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. Thai Permanent Secretary for Interior Wiboon Sa-nguanpong publicly reported the figures on Tuesday morning, telling journalists that accumulated road accidents and death toll nationwide during the so-called "seven dangerous New Year holidays" stood at 2,997 and 341 respectively, while a total of 3,117 people were injured. Wiboon stated that the northern resort Chiang Mai Province was recorded the highest road accidents at 133, highest fatalities at 18 and highest injuries at 129 during the seven-day period, while the central Sing Buri and the northeastern Nakhon Phanom Provinces were the only two provinces slated with zero fatality during the same period. Wiboon noted that most of those killed in road accidents during the New Year Festival, or 52.51 per cent, were in their working ages, with drunk driving found to be the main cause at over 38.30 per cent, motorcycles being vehicles of top road accidents at 82.26 per cent, direct routes slated most accidents at 64.06 per cent and highest road accidents reported during 4:01pm-8pm at 30.36 per cent. On January 5 alone, or the last day of the seven-day campaign on preventing road accidents during the New Year Festival 2015, Wiboon acknowledged, road accidents nationwide totaled 265, in which 40 people were killed and 274 others were injured, caused mostly by over speeding and reckless driving. According to the senior official, the New Year 2015 seven-day road safety campaign was considered satisfactory, as the total road accidents and fatalities were both down by 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent respectively, thanks to cooperation by all parties and strict enforcement of traffic laws by local police. (TNA)