New plan in pipeline to cut road accidents over holidays

The Traffic Accident Prevention Policy Committee will apply a new integration plan to reduce road accidents during the New Year and Songkran holidays.

Deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said the plan, written by the Road Safety Operation Center, aims to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries from traffic accidents by at least 5% below the average number calculated from records dating back over the last three years.

The plan comprises five major components that can help reduce risk factors that lead to accidents.

"They include control measures for traffic risk factors such as roadworks and public transport," she said.

"They also focus on factors caused by individuals such as drunk driving and riding on motorcycles without a helmet," she added.

"They also cover measures for victims' assistance, such as medical support and a configuration for emergency medical services."

For local administrations, the plan includes suggestions such as checkpoints and infomercial activities through public address systems and local radio.

The plan will be divided into two phases each year: the pre-holiday phase and the holiday phase.

For this year's New Year festival, she said the first phase will run from Dec 1 to Dec 21.

Road users will be prepared for the new safety measures through behaviour modification techniques taught in the government's "Safe Driving in the New Normal" campaign.

The control measures will be applied in the next phase, which will run from Dec 22 to Jan 11, 2023.

The plan will be applied again during the Songkran holidays, with the first phase on March 1 to April 3, 2023, and the second phase April 4 to April 24, 2023.