Thai drunk driver's death penalty [/b]
Thursday, September 1, 2005 Posted: 0420 GMT (1220 HKT)
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A foundation campaigning against drunken driving said Thursday that a landmark decision handing down a death sentence to an intoxicated driver who killed four people would help reduce the carnage on Thailand's roads.
A 23-year-old former college student, Nattapong Raksapong, was sentenced to death by a court in northeastern Thailand on Wednesday on several charges related to a 2004 drunk driving rampage in which four people were killed, four injured and five vehicles damaged.
"This is a historic verdict and should set a precedent in cases of drunken drivers who kill innocent people on the roads," said Surasit Silapangam of the Don't Drink and Drive Foundation.
He said that drunken driving was involved in some 80 percent of the more than 14,500 deaths and 1.08 million injuries on Thailand's roads last year.
Thailand has one of the world's highest mortality rates from road accidents.
Surasit said that during the foundation's 10 years of campaigning, drunken drivers normally received only suspended jail sentences.
While intoxicated, Nattapong first struck a motorcycle, sped away and then crashed into two other motorcycles while driving a six-wheel truck in the northeastern province of Mahasarakham. He tried to flee but crashed into a truck.
Nattapong denied charges of intentionally trying to kill someone, saying he was just involved in an accident.
Topic: Drunk hits motorcyclists, gets death penalty (Read 1947 times)