What has been traditionally known as the “Seven Days of Danger” road safety campaign during the Christmas and New Year period will now be referred to as “Seven Days of Family Happiness,” officials confirmed at a press conference earlier today (Dec 14).
A meeting overseen by Phuket Vice Governor Sattha Thongkham was held at Provincial Hall around 9:30am this morning to officially disclose the campaigns’ new slogan, while detailing additional key points regarding general road safety across the festive period.
Joining Mr Sattha was Udomphon Kan, the head of the Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, as well as selected representatives from local government agencies.
This morning’s meeting followed another meeting held yesterday, chaired by Mr Udomphon, which outlined approaches for reducing accidents, injuries and fatalities on the roads during the busy holiday period, a time traditionally notorious for the high number of traffic accidents and related injuries and deaths.
Today’s meeting, however, went one step further by detailing specific strategies that officials hope can prove effective in enhancing safety standards on the island’s roads.
The official road safety campaign is being divided into two categories, it was explained at this morning’s press conference.
Firstly, there is a public relations awareness drive that has been underway since Dec 1 and runs until Dec 21 where numerous campaigns will be focus on getting the key messages relating to road safety across.
Secondly, is the road safety operational period which effectively runs from Dec 22 until Jan 11, 2024. This is divided into the period between Dec 22-28 and Jan 5-11, with the seven days inbetween from Dec 29-Jan 4 targeted as the strict period where police focus will be at its most stringent – in effect, the “Seven Days of Family Happiness” that used to be known as “Seven Days of Danger”.
The whole campaign will adopt a policy of preventative measures across five key areas, namely: safety management; reducing road and environmental risk factors; reducing vehicle risk factors; road user safety; and post-accident assistance.
The change of slogan is one approach authorities are hoping will reduce accidents on the road, although it was not exactly explained how officials believe the re-wording and re-branding can achieve this objective.
Further to the new slogan, there will be extra emphasis on drink-driving with a “don’t drink, don’t drive” slogan campaign aimed at tackling the issue.
Officials aknowledged that later licensing hours due to come into effect tomorrow have also been factored into the campaign. The new law means licensed entertainment venues such as pubs and clubs can remain open and serve alcohol to customers until 4am. However, strict laws that prohibit the selling of alcohol to people under 20 years of age and people clearly already in an intoxicated state can help reduce drink-driving incidents, officials said, as can the provision of “sobering-up areas” as per directives by the National Alcohol Beverage Policy Committee.
Furthermore, people in Patong unable to drive due to intoxication can contact local police officers for assistance in getting back to their accommodation where Patong Police will arrange a taxi or even give tourists a ride in a police vehicle, all to prevent drunk driving.
Additional preventative measures include police officials being extra vigilent over the holiday period by setting up regular check points to enable them to enforce strict road rules.
The wearing of helmets for those riding motorbikes was, unsurprinsingly, another key topic of focus. Officials at the meeting said that rules enforcing the wearing of helmets need to be employed 100% without exception, something especially so in areas that have previously had high fatality numbers due to people not wearing helmets.
It was also explained that helmets will be distributed to students at selected schools across the island in an effort to encourage a better approach to road safety.
Additional measures that need to be enforced include ensuring vehicle safety standards are acceptable the reduction of speeding and the wearing of seat belts in all vehicles.
Officials confirmed that tents will be set up at selected PTT Ruamphon gas stations across the island to offer free vehicle inspection services to ensure vehicles are in a road-worthy and safe state.
Also, using one’s mobile phone while driving or in command of a vehicle is something that has become frequently more common and is something that needs to be clamped down upon immediately to minimise the chance of accidents on the road, officials said.
One of the key points highlighted during the meeting was the particularly high-risk group of youngsters, who tend to be more prone to road accidents and who need to be focused on specifically by police and during the awareness campaign. Youngsters riding motorbikes are a particular concern, officials added, and extra focus on raising safety awareness among this demographic is key.
A specific focus was afforded to tourists in relation to safety on the roads, with it being disclosed during the meeting that the majority of foreign tourists that died in road accidents in Phuket were from Russia or the United States.
Providing a summary on the main offences committed by tourists on Phuket roads, officials in the meeting highlighted: not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike; drink-driving; not wearing a seat belt; not having a correct driver’s license; speeding; driving through traffic lights; overtaking cars in a tight and dangerous area of the road; driving in reverse; and using a mobile phone while driving.
Furthermore, there would be a more controlled focus on vehicle rental companies as the police create a database of rental operators and enforce car rental regulations as per the Phuket Provincial Transport Office. Currently there are 194 rental operators that offer a total of 2,429 vehicles, including 715 cars and 1,714 motorbikes, officials confirmed at the meeting.