Full Road Accident Statistics for Thai New Year 2012-2013
During the seven dangerous days of the new year holiday, 27th December 2012 to 2nd January 2013, a total of 365 people were killed and 3,329 injured in 3,176 reported road accidents throughout Thailand. The number of deaths was 8.63% more than last year, but number of injuries was down by 1.3%. It should be noted that the number of deaths are only for those that died at the scene. Any that died later in hospital are not counted in these official statistics.
Road Deaths: Day 1 (33), Day 2 (38), Day 3 (77), Day 4 (54), Day 5 (52), Day 6 (78), Day 7 (34)
Most accidents were caused by drunk driving (38.73%) followed by speeding (22.58%). The vehicles involved in accidents were motorcycles (82.25%), pick-up trucks (7.90%), car/taxi (4.10%), truck (0.52%), bus (0.37%) and van (0.37%). Accidents happened the most on highways (37.41%) and roads through villages (33.88%). The majority of accidents happened on straight roads (62.56%). Most accidents happened between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. (30.64%) followed by 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. (19.27%). Of those who were injured or were killed, most were younger than 20 years of age (24.99%) followed by over 50 years of age (20.19%). A total of 8.91% were less than 15 years old.
The safest place in Thailand on the roads was in Trad where there were no reported accidents. Five other provinces had no fatalities over the new year holiday: Nakhon Nayok, Phang Nga, Ranong, Nong Khai and Uttaradit.
The most dangerous province on the roads was Nakhon Pathom which had 18 deaths. The province with the most accidents was Chiang Mai (141), followed by Chiang Rai (113) and Nakhon Sawan (96). There were 71 accidents in Nakhon Pathom.
Police had set up 2,350 major checkpoints across Thailand. A total of 4,704,479 vehicles were flagged down. Out of these, 688,381 motorists were fined for violating traffic laws. The main violation was driving without a drivers license (202,893) which saw an increase of +9.17% on last year. 194,759 motorists were fined for not wearing a motorcycle helmet. This is -3.06% down on last year. Although most accidents were caused by drunk driving, it may be surprising that only 14,805 were fined for being over the limit. Out of the top 10 of traffic violations, this came in last at number ten. However, the number arrested is up by +48.51% on last year.
See Map of the Most Dangerous Provinces in Thailand
TOTALS:
New Year 2010: 347 deaths, 3,827 injuries and 3,534 accidents
New Year 2011: 358 deaths, 3,750 injuries and 3,497 accidents
New Year 2012: 336 deaths, 3,375 injuries and 3,093 accidents
New Year 2013: 365 deaths, 3,329 injuries and 3,176 accidents
Songkran 2009: 373 deaths, 4,332 injuries and 3,977 accidents
Songkran 2010: 361 deaths, 3,802 injuries and 3,516 accidents
Songkran 2011: 271 deaths, 3,476 injuries and 3,215 accidents
Songkran 2012: 320 deaths, 3,320 injuries and 3,129 accidents
As you can see by the above figures, despite its reputation, Songkran is not as dangerous on the roads as the new year period.
Source: roadsafetythailand.com
