Thai road carnage: A MILLION injuries and 24,000 deaths per year, official admits

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎11‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 12:41 PM, ChouDoufu said:

may have something to do with riding/driving

against traffic 'cause it's convenient, popping

out of alleys without looking, weaving through

heavy traffic at highway speeds, tailgating with

less than one car-length between vehicles at

160 km/h on the freeway.

 

only been here three months, and have seen

more dead bodies on the roadside than in the

prior three decades, which includes several

hundred thousand km of cycling throughout

seasia and china.

I don't know where you have been on the roads, but in over 2 decades of frequent travelling on Thai roads in many parts of the country, I have only seen one accident in progress and one car wrapped around a tree certainly involving death. If you have seen a great deal of dead bodies, which is your implication, you must have been very unfortunate.

However, I have frequently been close to death from the maniacs here, but so far escaped with only a broken hand and a lot of close shaves.

[GarryP]

8 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

It seems that most people here firstly see the death rate in Thailand which is around 20 per 100k.

then they decide that tis means that all Thai DRIVERS are bad drivers. (your personal observations about NZ drivers may or may not be correct and the death rates there are on the surface quite different for Thailand)

my argument is that every population will have the sme percentage of bad drivers, therefore the high death rates are caused by something other than "bad driving".

Look at basic driving skills and compare them to most developed countries. It is so much easier to get a driving license here. They do not have driving education in schools. The written test is a farce. Up until quite recently a large percentage of drivers bought their licences and never even bothered to take a test. A rather large percentage would not have a cat in hell's chance of passing the test in Europe. They simply do not have the skills or the knowledge to drive safely. 

 

Yes, the way the roads here are built without barriers, proper lighting, etc. all play a part. But half the time the average driver here when involved in an accident does not know the underlying cause, driving too fast in inappropriate conditions, taking a junction at 45 degrees instead of 90, undertaking, etc. All things that people in more developed countries are taught as being wrong and are second nature.

 

Without making any changes to road conditions, they could reduce the death toll through proper education, forcing people to take driving education courses and properly testing driving skills. Keep those who do not pass off the roads. Once you have educated drivers you can then start addressing road conditions.

[Artisi]

35 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

It seems that most people here firstly see the death rate in Thailand which is around 20 per 100k.

then they decide that tis means that all Thai DRIVERS are bad drivers. (your personal observations about NZ drivers may or may not be correct and the death rates there are on the surface quite different for Thailand)

my argument is that every population will have the sme percentage of bad drivers, therefore the high death rates are caused by something other than "bad driving".

Well I think your argument is nonsense. 

I've never seem 4 on  motor bike without helmets riding on the wrong side of the road in the 15 or so countries over 60 years I've driven in, nor have I seen heard of such a high number of brake failures to ever compare to Thailand, or the number of drivers and riders ignoring stop signs, red-light, changing lanes,  entering an intersection  or round-about without looking, driving at excess speed, ducking and weaving thru' heavy traffic rain or shine, day or night etc. 

Abysmal driving and enforcement is the root cause. 

You need to forget the theory for a while and look at what leads to the high kill rate. I like many others don't have any great problem driving on the poor roads or lack of signage etc whenever it exist - as we drive to the conditions prevailing at the time - the biggest problem we have under these poor road conditions is the lack of skill of others. 

[metisdead]

Off topic deflection posts and replies have been removed.  This topic is about "Thai road carnage: A MILLION injuries and 24,000 deaths per year, official admits", the topic is not about road carnage in other countries. 

 

 

[mommysboy]

On 07/11/2017 at 7:29 AM, Airbagwill said:

Sadly as you dont understand the basics you are still arguing from a false premise...you are confusing association and causation. ...and i might add confusing anecdote with evidence.

In essence you dont realise that driving and road safety are not the same 

The former is a symptom, the latter a science.

Without a doubt it is you that is confusing cause, effect, problem, and solution.

 

The cause is most definitely speed/reckless driving. the effect is a high fatality rate, the problem certainly involves poor road environment amongst other factors, and the solution is in improving road conditions, and training, and most basically just overall awareness in the population.

 

I dare say there is a great deal of overlap/interplay in all of the above.  But to turn everything on its head is fallacious. 

 

Installing speed bumps, painting chevrons, blocking u turns, and generally coraling the flow of traffic so that driving fast is not an option- all would reduce fatalities.  Yet, there does appear to be a significant minority of drivers who drive/ride recklessly.

 

In the UK, there have been campaigns over the decades to get drivers to slow down, and accident prevention seems now to be focused on speed cameras. Firstly, and ultimately it is speed that kills. 

 

I dare say you are right when you say it is small errors of judgement that cause accidents; and this is universal. Yet what the outcome is very much depends on the speed of the vehicles involved, as this governs how the driver may recover the situation, or the impact of the collision.

 

Air bag- roll an egg up to a concrete wall; it may stay intact.  Then hurl it at the wall.  Report back with findings.