The government's road safety promotion campaign during the New Year holidays, better known as the "seven dangerous days", ended with mixed results: the number of accidents fell slightly but the death toll was up to 463, which is a 9.5% increase from last year's figures.
The government kicked off the campaign on Dec 27 with several extra measures including a ban on heavy trucks and trailers on highways during the period, and more road checkpoints targeting drunk drivers and motorcyclists who failed to wear helmets.
As the campaign wrapped up on Jan 2, there were altogether 3,791 accidents, down 1.3% from last year's numbers. A total of 5,164 vehicles were impounded nationwide over drink-driving offences during the seven-day campaign. Drink driving remained the major cause of road deaths (40.4%), followed by speeding (28.3%). Motorcycles were most prone to accidents (80%), followed by pickup trucks (7%) and cars (4.1%).
The Department of Land Transport (DLT) on Friday boasted with pride that the figures showed fewer accidents involving public vehicles, with just five crashes and no casualties or serious injuries this year. The decrease in the number of crashes, down from nine during the same period last year, is attributed to stiffer safety measures put in place ahead of the holidays including checking the condition of public vehicles and their drivers at 196 terminals nationwide.
According to DLT director-general Peerapol Thawornsuphacharoen, a total of 132,813 intercity vehicles and their drivers were checked. Of those, seven buses were deemed not fit for service, including one with a malfunctioning GPS device, and six vehicles were ordered replaced while two drivers were taken off duty due to fatigue.
Mr Peerapol said the agency also provided an alarm system that activates when bus drivers doze off at the wheel and their heads lean forward. The new measures, aimed at tackling the root cause of the problem, seem more proactive and deserve recognition. It possibly learned from several accidents, especially a horrible crash involving a public van and a pickup truck that killed 25 people on Jan 2, 2017. The road mishap which took place on Road No.344 in Chon Buri's Ban Bung district during the festive season -- when the demand for interprovincial van service was skyrocketing -- was blamed on fatigue on the part of the van driver who needed to do many rounds in a day, while the doomed vehicle was barely roadworthy due to a lack of proper maintenance.
However, the overall results of this year's seven-day campaign are still a disappointment given the massive investment in human and financial resources compared to the outcome. It is reported that some 135,940 authorities from various agencies, including police and volunteers, have been deployed at 19,150 checkpoints daily, but the 1.3% decrease in the number of accidents (3,791 or more than 500 crashes a day), is too small to notice, not to mention the failure to bring down the death toll from last year.
It should be noted that the number of people who were prosecuted was very high, at 1.2 million, a 34.3% rise from the previous year. The higher number may suggest stricter surveillance but it should be noted that the charges that were brought against the drivers, including not wearing helmets and driving without licences, are not directly involved with driving behaviour. The report did not mention if any motorists, especially those who drive in a provocative manner, were arrested. This means careless drivers as well as motorcyclists who pose a danger to others on the road may be off the hook and the fact is that there are too many of them.
The New Year's death toll will certainly tarnish the country's record on traffic-related fatalities which earlier saw some improvement. According to the Road Safety Group Thailand, the country's ranking on traffic-related deaths slipped, from No.2 in the world, with 36.2 traffic-related deaths per 100,000 people, to No.9. The agency released its report last month.
Road safety cannot be achieved if a large number of drivers still lack discipline and observe bad driving habits. It requires stringent measures and action on the part of traffic police to correct such behaviour and ensure that drivers duly observe traffic rules and regulations. Such a goal cannot be met overnight. Instead, it must be a long-term, consistent effort on a 24/7 basis, without compromise.
In fact, the need for the state to designate a "safety campaign" during a specific week, with the next campaign planned to take place during Songkran, is solid proof of the state's failure to tackle the matter. It's time to review and amend the measures to make the roads safe at all times, not just during the festive seasons.