Errant Thai motorists may face entry ban

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Errant Thai motorists may face entry ban 
Bangkok Post: 18 Jan 2010
ROAD SAFETY
Errant motorists face road entry U-turn

Motorists who break traffic laws will be barred from entering accident hot spots under a new road safety campaign, the Department of Land Transport says.

The campaign aims to cut road accidents by 5%, especially in popular tourist destinations, department chief Chairat Sa-nguanchue said at the weekend.

The department will ask local administration organisations to identify accident risk spots and declare them off-limit to motorists who fail to follow traffic laws.

While the idea is still in its infancy, police will probably set up barricades in accident hot spots and check motorists.

Those who have broken any laws _ for example, by failing to wear a helmet _ would not be allowed to travel any further.

Over the New Year holiday, the government ran a seven-day road safety campaign in which the total number of road accidents fell by 3,534, or 7.5%, compared with the same period last year.

Mr Chairat said that if the law was strictly enforced and the number of accidents and deaths was reduced each year by 5%, then the state would go a long way to achieving its target of reducing the toll by 50% over the next 10 years.