The first two days of the 'seven dangerous days' from December 28 – January 3, counted 1.053 accidents (previous year 1.183) with 92 deaths (115) and 1.107 injuries (1.275). Motorbikes were involved in 78 percent of the accidents.
At least 42 percent of the accidents are caused by driving under the influence and 23 percent by excessive speed. The Ministry of Transport wants to reduce accidents and deaths by 5 percent compared to last year.
Stricter action will be taken against driving under the influence and other traffic offenses this year. In the first two days, 1.107 road users received a suspended sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol (727) or drugs (336). The others pleaded guilty to reckless driving or speeding violations. Bangkok, Surin, Maha Sarakham, Nonthaburi and Chachoengsao had the most traffic bastards.
Director-General Ananchai of the Labor Protection and Welfare Department has advised workers to plan their return journey in time so that they are not late for work. Those who are absent for three consecutive days can be fired without severance pay, he warns.
Source: Bangkok post – Photo: Accident with an interliner near Pichit. One passenger was killed.
Waiting for everything to be back after the holidays.
Only then may we know the actual result .
My personal experience is that it is simply dangerous to go anywhere during these days.
Last Friday morning.
My wife and I in our old Mitsch on our way to HangDong .
Heavy traffic from both sides on the new two - lane ring road between Pasang and Sanpatong .
We were overtaken by a new Honda Civic with red license plates.
Passed at high speed between two lines of oncoming traffic. And was followed by another 7 Honda Jazz cars in racing version.
And that's what they were doing racing.
My Thai lady this seems like madness.
Later in the city of Lamphun, traffic came to a complete standstill at an intersection.
Traffic lights worked normally but it was complete chaos.
And where is the RTP sitting in a tent again as usual .
If there's one thing I hate in Thailand, it's this useless corps.
Because that's where the problem of all those accidents lies.
Every time I see one riding their police moped, even without a helmet of course, I think to myself, F—k you lacy As—hs.
Jan Beute.
The police are of course not to blame for the accidents unless you can prove that they sell the alcohol to the (later in the evening) drunk drivers and moped boys and girls.
I can express it even stronger. Road safety in many Western countries has improved by leaps and bounds without having to hire more police personnel.
It is mainly a matter of influencing and changing behaviour, in which the monitoring activities of the police play a subordinate role.
Would it finally work?
1. In 2018 fewer victims around New Year's Eve and
2. Fewer writing errors in comments on this otherwise unsurpassed blog.
Wait……
And to everyone who needs it: a happy and healthy 2018.
In just 30 years, Thailand has been catapulted from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. 30 years ago, at best, people had 1 old scooter for the entire family. Now every self-respecting Thai guy owns a powerful 4x4. Too much money because 21 inch rims and engine tuning can be paid for without any problems. The Thais laugh at fines... they are still at the level of when Thais were poor people.
I still see more than half driving without a helmet, despite the fact that they risk being fined almost daily. I don't see anyone driving without a helmet in Europe because people are afraid of getting a fine.
Too much money in too short a period is the case in Thailand
Well Fred, I think it's a bit more nuanced than you suggest.
First of all, the financing options (for 4×4 with matching rims) are a lot easier nowadays. For example, my wife received an offer from her car finance club, the offer to continue borrowing, complete with all documents signed by finance me. After all, she had been paying Keurig for the past 2 years. Only the financing me knows nothing about her income, so it is a strange thing.
Fines are indeed (much too) low. That's clear. But the farang also laugh at that.
They drive without a helmet because they know that the chance of being caught + fine is small. And in Europe, most of them drive with a helmet, because they know the danger of driving without one. And – unlike here – the chance of getting caught + fine is greater, as is the amount of the fine. Here the Hermandad himself often rides without a helmet or stands musing on the side of the road, while whole hordes without helmets speed past.
No, the actual, realistic chance of being caught in the Netherlands is not greater at all. That's a fiction. And the fines are relatively no higher than in Thailand.