Over the course of Friday, the fourth day of the Seven Days of Danger for the annual Songkran holiday, 44 people lost their lives and another 368 were injured in road accidents across Thailand.
This has raised the Songkran death toll for this year to 158. Despite the increase in casualties, the number of deaths in the first 4days of the holiday is down by 14 from the same 4-day period last year.
According to data from the road safety centre at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, from April 11-14, 1,433 people were injured in 1,422 road accidents. This is compared with 1,188 injuries in 1,207 accidents during the same period last year when fewer trips were made due to some Covid-19 restrictions still being in place.
Speeding was the biggest cause of accidents, accounting for 35.6%, while drunk driving was second at 28.5%. Motorcycles were involved in 83.1% of all accidents.
On Friday, police reported the highest number of accidents and injuries. Bangkok, Nakhon Sawan, and Phitsanulok each reported 3 deaths.
As for road safety enforcement, officials stationed at 1,862 road checkpoints stopped 351,228 vehicles for checks. A total of 52,422 motorists faced action for violating traffic rules. Out of that number, 15,467 were caught driving without licenses, and 15,144 were caught driving without wearing crash helmets.
The cities with the highest cumulative number of road accidents are Chiang Mai, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Nan, each with 45 accidents. Nakhon Si Thammarat had the highest number of injuries at 48, while Bangkok had the highest number of deaths at 12.
