A HORRIFIC mishap involving a concrete mixer, a Honda Jazz and a furniture shop raised alarm about wet roads and the coming Songkran holiday this evening.

The mixer and the white Jazz apparently collided on Chao Fa Road West and both ended up in the furniture shop, with the mixer going in backwards.

A witness who passed by soon after said: ''I fear for the people in the Jazz. It was crushed. Everything was twisted, big time.''

Peak traffic wound back about a kilometre towards Phuket City after the collision, about 5pm, in Wichit, 100 metres from the Rolly Tasker yachting loft.

Official figures for Phuket's road toll so far this year encourage the belief that people are driving more carefully.

But March could eventually prove to be a return to the bad old days.

Public Health statistics, usually the most complete, report 11 deaths in January and 16 in February.

Police figures, which usually grow with the inclusion of data from Phuket's three public hospitals, put March deaths so far at 13, with four of those in Chalong and three in Phuket City.

Does this make Songkran less safe and certain? Let's hope not.

While the rest of Thailand usually racks up alarming numbers of dead and injured, in recent years Phuket roads have been much safer at Songkran because of checkpoints and dousing zones.

All the evidence points to a trend towards fewer deaths, with Public Health reporting 201 deaths in 2007 and a surprising decline to just 136 in 2008.

The average of 11 deaths a month in 2008 has been exceeded, though, in February and March already.

Equally concerning is the number of mishaps. Police statistics show a worrying trend in mishaps in Chalong, with 40 out of 167 recorded for March occuring there.

With 1447 mishaps in January and 1375 in February according to Public Health, the cost to individuals, families, the health care system and the economy remains astronomically high.

And sadly, most of the serious incidents involve the young, especially young males, on motorcycles.

While fines for no helmet, drinking, no safety belt and lack of a licence remained similar in March and February, one column remained empty in police statistics for both months: there was not a single arrest on the island for speeding.

When the day comes and police are able to pursue and arrest riders and drivers who are moving too fast, a new phase will have been reached in safety on Phuket's roads.

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