Lower casualties

There were 464 road accidents across the country on Friday, killing 52 people and injuring 492, the Road Safety Monitoring Centre said yesterday.

Anucha Mokkhaves, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said this was a drop from the same period last year, which saw 74 deaths and 950 injuries in 858 road accidents nationwide.

However, the figures remain high, with 2,793 road accidents from December 30 to January 2, killing 278 people and injuring 2,996.

Over the four-day period, Chiang Rai had the highest toll at 15 deaths, followed by Nakhon Ratchasima with 11. Nakhon Ratchasima had the most injuries at 21, followed by Phetchabun with 19 and Chon Buri with 18.

Drunken driving was the main cause of accidents, responsible for 41.59 per cent, followed by speeding at 21.55 per cent. The motorcycle was the most common vehicle in road accidents at 83.62 per cent, and most accidents, 66.59 per cent, took place at night.

Anucha said he had instructed checkpoints to keep a keen eye out for traffic-law violators and urged motorists to exercise more caution as people travelled back to Bangkok in the next couple of days.

The Mitraparb Highway from Khon Kaen to Nakhon Ratchasima was congested yesterday, and Chiang Mai increased Bangkok-bound buses to 150 per day from the usual 80 and extended departures to 10pm. Chiang Mai Railway Station reported trains for Bangkok fully booked until tomorrow.