Thais believe carelessness on the part of drivers was the primary cause of road accidents during the New Year, Suan Dusit Poll revealed on Sunday.
The poll was conducted on 1,285 people in Bangkok and nearby provinces between Jan 3-5 to gauge their opinion on the high New Year death toll from road accidents.
Most, or 44.83%, of the respondents thought the accidents were mainly caused by carelessness on the part of the drivers who did not respect traffic laws, while 21.07% said it was a normal occurrence during a long holiday, 20.69% said the lives lost were a family tragedy and 13.41% said the death toll was still high - even though authorities had worked hard to prevent accidents - because of the higher number of road users.
The respondents thought accidents were mostly caused by drunk driving and falling asleep, followed by speeding, failure to follow the law on safety and engine trouble.
The majority, or 64.78%, of the respondents were satisfied with government agencies providing conveniences for people travelling home during the New Year, but the rest were not, saying there were some risky spots left unattended to.