Bangkok: The Traffic Accident Prevention Policy Committee will implement a new integrated plan to reduce road accidents during the New Year and Songkran festival.
Paramedics perform a drill to remove injured people from a truck in Klong Luang district of Pathum Thani province yesterday (Dec. 14). The drill was conducted jointly by the police and the Tha Kloang Municipality as part of emergency drills during the busy New Year period. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpatarasill
Deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said the plan, drafted by the Road Safety Operations Centre, aimed to reduce the number of casualties from traffic accidents by at least 5 per cent compared to the average calculated based on records from the past three years.
The program includes five main components that can help reduce risk factors that lead to accidents, reports bangkok post.
“They include controls targeting transport risk factors such as road works and public transport,” she said.
“They also looked at personally attributable factors, such as drinking and driving and riding a motorcycle without a helmet,” she added.
“They also include victim assistance measures such as medical support and deployment of emergency medical services.”
For local administrations, the plan includes proposals such as checkpoints and infomercials via the public address system and local radio stations.
The program is 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 behavior modification techniques taught in the government’s ‘Safe Driving in the New Normal’ campaign.
Control measures will be implemented in the next phase, from December 22 to January 11, 2023.
The plan will be implemented again during Songkran, with the first phase from March 1 to April 3, 2023 and the second phase from April 4 to April 24, 2023.
