Accident Toll, Udon, New Year Holiday

Post by **parrot** » January 5, 2016, 5:07 pm

https://www.facebook.com/udon.today.new ... 78152272:0
Roadside accident toll for the 7 day period 29 Dec to 4 Jan:
14 deaths, all male
8 deaths at the scene of the accident with 6 deaths in the hospital following the accident
7 deaths related to alcohol, speed, and careless driving
89 injuries were reported through the Dept of Disaster Prevention and 676 injuries were reported through the department of public health (inpatient/outpatient/referrals)
676 injuries (inpatient/outpatient and referrals)

Interesting (to me) that this year the number of deaths include those who die following hospitalization. I've never seen the figures reported like that......but could be a result of amateur Thai reading on my part.

Post by **macca46** » January 5, 2016, 6:19 pm

Very sad to read the stats. I think from memory I read earlier today that the death toll for the Kingdom was up 11% on last year with the new measures put in place for alcohol related driving did not stop the majority.

Once again from memory those who die later never used to be included.

Post by **noosard** » January 5, 2016, 6:22 pm

Another interesting fact is the 7 dangerous days are actual have a lower death toll than the rest of the year
Which is also very sad

Post by **tataw** » January 5, 2016, 6:31 pm

On the front page of todays BP the provinces with the greatest number of fatalities were Nakhon Ratchasima (15), Nakhon Sawan (12), Chiang Rai and Chon Buri (11 each).

I suspect Parrot that you maybe right and that they have included the people that have died in hospital otherwise you would of thought that the BP would of mentioned Udon's number, but not normal practice as you state.

In an article in the BP they state that Udon Thani had the most fatalities yesterday at 5

Post by **Mosquito** » January 5, 2016, 7:03 pm

actually surprised it's so low, seeing all the trucks with 5-6 pax in the bed would figure one accident would take out 7 in one swoop.

any ref info on the past few years #.

Post by **wazza** » January 5, 2016, 10:52 pm

Also a trend is these places are major transit routes , So I imagine that the deceased may not be resident in these provinces, but returning home, or back to work after the holiday period.

Post by **Khun Paul** » January 6, 2016, 8:04 am

The Thai Govt has yet to realise that in most cases apart from those who are very drunk, lack of driving skills being a car/lorry or even a motorcycle rider are in the main to blame.
The lax almost made for idiots driving test is partly to blame as is the lax certainly in my book, non-existent enforcement of any road traffic offences.
They can do what they want with drunk drivers as far as I am concerned they are a now becoming a small majority although it must be said many foreigners flout the law thinking or not as the case may be they can buy their way out of trouble, stupid really, it is the other complete ignoring rules of the road coupled with very selfish attitudes that is the cause if many accidents.
Sad about the number of deaths but in all honesty it is to be expected .

Post by **Nong Bua Dave** » January 6, 2016, 8:22 am

I left my Australian home state, Victoria at the end of 1989. The population was then just over 4 million and there were 776 Road Deaths. The following year strict new road laws were brought in and enforced.
Last year (2015), the population was somewhere around 6 million.
The annual Road toll has dropped from that horrendous 776, down to 257.
That is, more people were killed on Thai roads over the 7 days of new year, than in the entire year, in Victoria.
Even given Thailand is 67 million and Victoria 6 million, the figures don't lie.
The Thai people need to understand, they can do some thing about this.
But, it needs very strict government intervention and facing up to reality.

Post by **tataw** » January 6, 2016, 8:34 am

When I was working here, two of our drivers were involved in fatal accidents. One of them was due to drunken driving and killing a motorcyclist on a one way bridge and the other was unfortunately when a cyclist came out of a blind alley and was knocked off their bicycle and killed. In both cases we had to negotiate with the police and the bereaved families on the level of compensation. The police took over half the money that was agreed upon, even in the case where one of our driver's wasn't at fault.

I cannot see any way to alleviate the horrific problem while the local constabulary are rubbing their hands in joy when accidents/fatalities take place.

Post by **Nong Bua Dave** » January 6, 2016, 8:42 am

So true Tataw.

Post by **Mosquito** » January 6, 2016, 8:57 am

+1, can definitely see where the police don't want to curtail traffic accidents.............way too much baht to be made.

Post by **tataw** » January 6, 2016, 9:27 am

Slightly off topic.

I cannot remember the year but Dubai analysed its poor road safety statistics and looked around the world to see where there was any place where a significant reduction in fatalities had occurred.

They decided that the place where the best change had taken place and it was Victoria, Australia.

They then invited different people involved in the reduction in the fatality rate to visit Dubai with the intention that they would be able to suggest or instigate a better road safety system. I believe no costs were spared but the people involved (I think there was 5 of them?) requested to leave Dubai within a short period of time as they said "they feared for their lives whilst being on UAE roads"

Post by **wazza** » January 6, 2016, 9:44 pm

TAC was acknowledged years ago as having one of the best Road Safety Campaigns around , as others have said , figures don't lie. They sponsored the Alfred Trauma Centre, the Choppers associated with it and delivered good outcomes to trauma patients.

Their graffic media blitzs worked, but would that style work in Thailand, ? probably not as the 911 magazine prints horrific shots, Facebook pages dedicated by the Rescue Teams, showing their daily count.....

What it does need is a cultural change with the driving public, and enforcement that actually penalises the offender. While an on the spot fine can be collected, no demerit points system exists. So pay the 200-500 and business as usual.

Police don't have a nationwide / roadside ability to check licences, outstanding fines, etc....

Dubai is horrific as Ferrari owners are NOT Ferrari Drivers.

Kuwait is worse,

http://248am.com/mark/news/kuwait-break ... ic-deaths/

Post by **mathusalah80** » January 7, 2016, 1:17 pm

I wonder how many lives were saved, (temporarily!), by these idiots being deprived of their lethal weapons?

"A total of 4,672 vehicles, most of them motorcycles, were seized from drunk drivers and impounded during the 11-day road-safety campaign between Dec 25 and Jan 4, National Council for Peace and Order deputy spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said on Tuesday.
Col Sirichan said soldiers, police and administrative officials, assisted by volunteers, impounded the vehicles at checkpoints set up to enforced the drink-driving ban throughout the road safety campaign.
On Jan 4, the last day of the campaign, 5,147 motorcyclists were caught drink-driving, 381 motorcycles impounded and 4,837 riders charged with traffic violations.
On the same day, 1,857 drivers of public transport and private cars were caught drink-driving, 127 driving licences suspended, 239 cars impounded and 893 drivers charged with traffic violations.
Over the 11-day safety campaign authorities impounded a total of 4,672 vehicles (3,413 motorcycles and 1,259 cars) and took legal action against 28,540 motorcyclists and 10,325 drivers of public transport and private cars.
The impounded vehicles will be returned to their owners, starting from Jan 5."

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 7, 2016, 8:14 pm

There aren't enough police to provide a deterrent effect to the huge amount of just plain bad drivers.. This evening when driving downtown and turning right at the signal by UD town I watched a woman in a small pickup with three unrestrained small kids in the cab swerve around 5 motorcycles who'd stopped for the red light.... She had ample space to stop but chose to run through a red light that had been red for nearly 5 seconds.. If I'd turned straight away on the green she'd have hit me... I'm constantly thunderstruck by the just horrible driving skills... Hopefully, over a number of years the driving skills will mature and things will get better..

Post by **wazza** » January 7, 2016, 9:57 pm

mathusalah80 wrote:I wonder how many lives were saved, (temporarily!), by these idiots being deprived of their lethal weapons?

"A total of 4,672 vehicles, most of them motorcycles, were seized from drunk drivers and impounded during the 11-day road-safety campaign between Dec 25 and Jan 4, National Council for Peace and Order deputy spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said on Tuesday.
Col Sirichan said soldiers, police and administrative officials, assisted by volunteers, impounded the vehicles at checkpoints set up to enforced the drink-driving ban throughout the road safety campaign.
On Jan 4, the last day of the campaign, 5,147 motorcyclists were caught drink-driving, 381 motorcycles impounded and 4,837 riders charged with traffic violations.
On the same day, 1,857 drivers of public transport and private cars were caught drink-driving, 127 driving licences suspended, 239 cars impounded and 893 drivers charged with traffic violations.
Over the 11-day safety campaign authorities impounded a total of 4,672 vehicles (3,413 motorcycles and 1,259 cars) and took legal action against 28,540 motorcyclists and 10,325 drivers of public transport and private cars.
The impounded vehicles will be returned to their owners, starting from Jan 5."

Its a start no matter what, trends might be seen in 3-5 years time, but needs to be every long weekend , as well,

Post by **Khun Paul** » January 8, 2016, 5:58 am

Having trumpeted the positives in this NEW action by the enforcers, it was amusing to see the vast checkpoint opposite the market on the Sakon Nakon Road, was as before, a hindrance to most travellers by blocking off a U turn, and a place where you could see officials including the Police and Army happily sitting down playing with their phones or just talking, making no attempt to stop or even check vehicles and drivers. One morning while trundling down to town a grey van ( you know aka school van ) passed me as if I was standing still, driving a tad dangerously( I was doing 80 ). He sped past the checkpoint , nothing not even a look by the two police there. So what I ask was the purpose of causing so much upset as with past years, it is a place where they sit and watch , actions , almost zero. It was explained to me some years ago, it was a place for drivers to stop if they wanted too. I stated " What driver who is drunk would stop ?". The Thais laughed . So it may work in Bangkok or other provinces BUT in Udon it is business as usual the public and police ignore all rules and laws and life goes on.

Logic dictates that you have the Road check coming out of the town NOT going in, but as this is Thailand ....logic is never if ever applied.

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 8, 2016, 10:02 am

they activated that checkpoint later in the evenings.. They blocked the U-Turn because it is beside the checkpoint and leaving it open during the mass holiday traffic rush would make it more dangerous than it normally is.. As for the speeding van, I live in the same area and it sure does seem that as vehicles get closer to town they feel the need to increase their speed to 100kph minimum, even in that congested market area...