The number of vehicles impounded from drink drivers in this Songkran festival soared when compared with last year's figures.
Col Sirichan Nga-thong, deputy spokesperson of the National Council for Peace and Order, said during April 12-16 authorities seized 6,544 vehicles from drink drivers. Of the total, 4,982 or 76% were motorcycles.
Motorists cooperated well with other safety advice including the use of seat belts and crash helmets, but more drove under the influence, she said.
The number of all impounded vehicles over five days this year has already surpassed the total over seven days of the same period of the previous year.
During the seven-day Songkran road safety campaigns last year, authorities impounded 4,609 vehicles from drink drivers, 75.7% of which were motorcycles.
In the first five days of Songkran road safety campaigns this year, there were 325,013 traffic violations by motorcyclists and 274,309 cases by drivers of public and private vehicles, Col Sirichan said.
Legal actions were taken against 210,513 motorcyclists and 166,145 drivers of public and private vehicles.
Like the statistics of impounded vehicles, the number of prosecuted motorcyclists over five days tripled the seven-day total in 2016 while that of prosecuted drivers quadrupled the level in the previous year.
Last year, 50,271 motorcycle riders and 31,270 drivers faced legal action during the week of Songkran road safety campaigns.
From April 11-16 this year, Songkran road accidents killed 335 people and injured 3,506 others with the highest number of accidents and injuries in Chiang Mai province and the biggest death toll in Nakhon Ratchasima.