Road fatalities halved when alcohol banned on major Buddhist holidays, safety centre finds

[webfact 36,312]

Road fatalities halved when alcohol banned on major Buddhist holidays, safety centre finds

By The Nation

 

 

A ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks on Asarnha Bucha day and the first day of Buddhist Lent reduced road fatalities on those days by roughly a half.
 

Dr Thanapong Jiwong, manager of the Road Safety Academic Centre, said on Monday that road accidents normally caused 40 deaths a day in the Kingdom.

 

“But, with the alcohol ban in effect on Asarnha Bucha and Buddhist Lent days in 2017, the number of road fatalities reduced to 21 per day only,” he said. 

 

There was also a clear reduction in road-accident victims admitted to hospital with severe injuries during the three-month-long Buddhist Lent period two years ago, Thanapong said. 

 

“The number of admitted victims reduced by between 10 and 15 per cent during the period,” he added. 

 

Many Buddhists abstain from alcohol during the period out of religious belief. 

 

“Severe injuries remain five in every 100 victims. So, when the number of admitted victims reduces, it means many people have avoided becoming physically disabled,” he pointed out. 

 

Lately, a proposal has emerged that authorities should ban alcoholic beverages on April 13, too. 

 

However, the road-safety centre manager said he was not sure whether such a ban would work, as April 13 was part of the Songkran Festival during which so many revellers enjoy drinking liquor or beer that they had stocked up on or bought beforehand.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30364367

 

 -- © Copyright The Nation 2019-02-19

[RotBenz8888 2,051]

4 minutes ago, webfact said:

A ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks on Asarnha Bucha day and the first day of Buddhist Lent reduced road fatalities on those days by roughly a half.

How does he know that?

[Gweiloman 3,678]

Studies showed that a ban on road vehicles reduced fatalities by up to 90%.
However, some somchais were still admitted to hospital for tripping over their own feet.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[RotBenz8888 2,051]

8 minutes ago, webfact said:

However, the road-safety centre manager said he was not sure whether such a ban would work, as April 13 was part of the Songkran Festival during which so many revellers enjoy drinking liquor or beer that they had stocked up on or bought beforehand.

This is a sober guy

[Artisi 11,598]

More nonsense from the experts, this one claiming 40 deaths per day when other figures indicate far in excess of this number. 

 

[darksidedog 31,756]

Alchohol is definitely a contributing factor in way too many accidents here, though to my mind, it keeps coming back to the fact that a significant number of Thai people simply have no idea of how to drive properly, even when they are sober.

[robblok 29,027]

11 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Alchohol is definitely a contributing factor in way too many accidents here, though to my mind, it keeps coming back to the fact that a significant number of Thai people simply have no idea of how to drive properly, even when they are sober.

In my mind it comes back as far too little enforcement against drunk driving. They do seem to check more during "dangerous" days but it should be ongoing and fines should be even higher and cops checked for taking backhanders to get people off.

 

Only then people are going to learn, I am quite open minded about all drugs alcohol included but that stops when people start driving under the influence and risking innocent people.

[Wallander4 999]

Expert claim 40 deaths per day - more like 70 deaths per day, not counting people dying in ambulance/hospital after "accidents"

[jaltsc 8,692]

"A ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks on Asarnha Bucha day and the first day of Buddhist Lent reduced road fatalities on those days by roughly a half."

 

This is not a cause and effect relationship. More than likely, as with every other holiday in which the sale of alcohol is banned, people stock up on alcohol on the days preceding the holiday. With all this alcohol on hand, people drink so much, that they are too drunk to walk, let alone drive.

 

However, the most likely reason for this statistic, is that they are just plain lying, as they do whenever they want to look like they are doing something useful. 

Edited February 19 by jaltsc

[ThreeEyedRaven 3,425]

What the roads are lacking is courtesy and common sense. Those of us who learnt to drive at home understand that traffic flows faster and safer when people have courtesy towards other motorists, rather than pushing in and blocking other traffic, as well as to look at everything going on around you, right in front, 50m, 100m down the road too, plus the side roads. Locals don't do this when they haven't been drinking, so no surprise that accidents double when they do have a drink.

[Jadam 40]

25 minutes ago, webfact said:

Dr Thanapong Jiwong ........ said on Monday that road accidents normally caused 40 deaths a day in the Kingdom.

 

“But, with the alcohol ban in effect on Asarnha Bucha and Buddhist Lent days in 2017, the number of road fatalities reduced to 21 per day only,” he said. 

A far cry from a peer-reviewed scientific study.

 

Here's an idea: how about a harsh penalty for drunk driving that is actually enforced (i.e. mandatory jail time and/or impound vehicle for set amount of time).  That way, they punish only those who put other people's lives at risk by driving drunk rather than punishing everyone who wants to enjoy a beer on a holiday.

[trainman34014 8,913]

Like all Thai 'statistics' these details can't be trusted as they love to make up any story that will help things look better than they actually are.  Why else would they only count bodies that die at the scene of accidents instead of the real numbers including those that die as a result of injuries later ?

 

They know the real way to stop drink/driving and needless deaths; get the Police to do their job properly and enforce existing laws but nobody has the guts to sort out the idle Police who are merely a money collection agency !

[Vacuum 6,506]

How much would a ban on holidays reduce accidents?

[SammyT 3,104]

LOL. In smaller centers a tonne of bars will still be open due to paying off the local cops to be able to do so. Likewise with the small stores who will just sell alcohol anyway

[richard_smith237 11,375]

1 minute ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

What the roads are lacking is courtesy and common sense. 

It is said that the measure of a modern & civilised society is in its road use... 

 

It could be argued that this is somewhat of a sweeping generalisation and a bit of a Thai-bash... well it is, but not an unwarranted one. 

 

Improvement would make living in this lovely place that much more enjoyable... 

 

Its heartbraking to see so many Thai’s unnecessarily succumbing to a nationwide cultural failure to adopt a little curtesy and common sense...