At a meeting held at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning, officials were presented with the latest tally of road accidents, injuries, and fatalities on day 2 of the Songkran road safety campaign.
The meeting was chaired by Vice Governor Amnuay Pinsuwan and attended by Udomporn Kan, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The figures presented at the event show that Phuket recorded its first road accident fatality on day 2 of the Seven Days of Danger campaign.
On April 12, a total of 11 road traffic accidents were reported, with 6 men and 4 women injured and 1 man killed. The most common cause of accidents is speeding, according to the report, although no further information was provided on the accidents.
According to the figures presented at the meeting, Phuket’s tally after 2 days of the road safety campaign is 18 accidents, 18 people injured (13 men and 5 women), and 1 man killed.
However, the Phuket News points out that the data is coming under increasing scrutiny, conflicting as it does with figures from the national road accident agency, the Thai Road Safety Committee. According to the TRSC, there were 2 people killed and 86 injured in road accidents on Phuket on April 12.
Meanwhile, provincial governor Narong Woonciew attended a meeting yesterday where the figures cited 4 road accident deaths on the island between April 10 and 11. By contrast, the DDPM says Phuket recorded zero deaths on April 11. Back to the TRSC, whose figures state that there was 1 death and 57 people injured on April 11…
At yesterday’s meeting at the provincial hall, it was confirmed that Phuket has just 11 police checkpoints across the whole island. Most of the traffic violations reported involve driving without a licence, drink driving, and the use of “unsafe” motorbikes. However, officials declined to publicise how many arrests have been made. To date, there have been no marine accidents reported.
The Seven Days of Danger campaign will run until midnight on Monday and refers to the seven most dangerous days on Thailand’s roads each year.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
