Phuketwan Mothers or Motorcycles Action Group
A HELMET crackdown is set for Phuket City from July 1* and police plan to spread it to other parts of Phuket - even if large numbers of police from Phuket continue to be sent as reinforcements to Bangkok.
Riders on motorcycles who carry passengers without helmets are for the first time to be fined - and they will be fined a greater amount. Riders will be fined 1000 baht, and each helmetless pillion passenger will have to pay 500 baht.
Lone riders without helmets will be fined 500 baht.
It's the first time police have been so strict in their interpretation of the law. The crackdown will please British campaigner Monica Vearer, mother of Phuket expat Shane Free, who wants everyone to wear helmets.
Shane Free was badly injured in a motorcycle crash last year, leading to the formation through Phuketwan of the road safety action group, Mothers Or Motorcycles (MoM).
Phuket's police chief, Major General Pekad Tantipong, told Phuketwan that the crackdown is an attempt to reduce the numbers of dead and injured resulting from thousands of motorcycle crashes across Phuket each year.
''Too many people go without helmets,'' he said. ''This contributes to the large numbers of dead and injured and is a huge drain on hospitals and the health system.''
For years, police have concentrated on riders only, fining them most often at checkpoints but unable to generate the message that their own safety is what it's all about.
''The plan is to rotate the crackdown around Phuket, without letting people know where it will happen next,'' Major General Pekad said.
Police records show there have been eight deaths on Phuket roads so far between April 1 and April 22, with 58 people injured. In 2009, 153 people died on Phuket's roads - and the enormous number of 14,774 were injured, Shane Free being just one statistic.
Shane Free's mother had to fly from Britain to help him recover from a long coma, then flew with him back to Britain, where his recovery is continuing steadily.
Multiply that experience 14,000 times, and you can probably gain a sense of the enormous cost of motorcycle crashes on Phuket and throughout Thailand.
Many of those injuries would be equally serious or worse, leaving riders and passengers crippled and maimed for life, and throwing extra pressure on the public health system to cope. The cost to individual families and society in terms of needless pain and expenditure is huge . . . and unnecessary.
Major General Pekad said the crackdown on helmet-wearing would be followed by a check on helmet standards. Many people wear cheap plastic helmets or even bicycle helmets in an attempt to circumvent the law.
Motorcycle crashes are acknowledged as being the largest and most avoidable cause of injuries to expats and Thais on Phuket. Tourists hiring motorcycles are advised to take out insurance or risk lengthy and costly hospital treatment in the event of a crash.
At least 1000 newly registered motorcycles are being added to Phuket's roads each month, officials say.
The helmet crackdown will begin on July 1* - even if Phuket continues to have to send large numbers of police reinforcements in rotation to help cope with red unrest in Bangkok, Major General Pekad said. The first delegation of 173 police will be replaced on Monday.
The crackdown begins on July 1. In an earlier posting, we gave the date as June1.
Latest One small step for Shane, a giant leap for Phuket. The island's motorcycles are liberating but the cause of much damage. Meet MOM, a new action group to reduce the toll.
Phuket Coma Diver Inspires New Action Force
MediaWATCH: Thailand Tourism 'Will Vanish'
Phuket News UPDATE No bomb in Silom; Latest on travel alerts, red action; treasure hunter faces arrest; Belgians to ban face veil; Woman stole for breasts. Phuket Events
MediaWATCH: Thailand Tourism 'Will Vanish'
Phuket Q1 Economy Rode High Before Fall
Economic Analysis Phuket tourism and investment was performing strongly before plunging into a downward spiral at the end of the first quarter, new figures reveal.
Phuket Q1 Economy Rode High Before Fall
Phuket Police 'Reinforcements' Sent to Bangkok
Latest A total of 173 Phuket police are now in Bangkok as reinforcements. More will go in rotation to the capital's red protest every seven days. The island only has 1100 police.
Phuket Police 'Reinforcements' Sent to Bangkok
Phuket Hurts as Thailand Travel Alerts Intensify
News Analysis Leave Thailand, New Zealanders are being told as national travel alerts intensify, causing pain and financial suffering for thousands in Thailand's tourism industry.
Phuket Hurts as Thailand Travel Alerts Intensify
Perhaps Thais or foreigners alike choose not to wear helmets as they have no brain to protect ... We call it natural selection...
Have a nice day.
Posted by NutCracker on May 1, 2010 11:34