"Sound of Music" safety plan abandoned after road chief uses his initiative

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"Sound of Music" safety plan abandoned after road chief uses his initiative

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported that a project to stop accidents on a stretch of scenic Phetchabun road had been abandoned after it failed to work.

 

"Rumble strips" had been painted on the hard shoulder of a road that became known as the "Sound of Music" highway.

 

It appeared it was now more dangerous than before so the strips were hastily removed.

 

Netizens questioned whether public money was used to finance the scatterbrain scheme.

 

But director of rural roads in the north eastern Thai province Klaharn Tharaksa claimed he had used his own money for the paint.

 

That had cost him 20,000 baht excluding labor.

 

He said it was an experimental project and as such he decided to use his own initiative and get painters to work out of regular hours such as at weekends and at night.

 

But it hadn't worked and now he was forced to scrape off the strips and go back to square one.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-11

[PatOngo]

The hills are alive with the Sound of Music..........novel idea. 

[Bluespunk]

What was the thinking behind the idea and how did it make the situation worse?

[bluesofa]

9 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

What was the thinking behind the idea and how did it make the situation worse?

Just what I was thinking.

Also why were the 'rumble strips' painted on the hard shoulder? Surely the main carriageway would be where the traffic needs 'calming' more, the hard shoulder has slow(er) moving traffic on it.

[Oziex1]

Near my home in Australia they are on the road edge as a simple wake up call that you are getting too close to running off the edge. Don't understand what the problem is, the story is not clear on this. 

[overherebc]

10 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Just what I was thinking.

Also why were the 'rumble strips' painted on the hard shoulder? Surely the main carriageway would be where the traffic needs 'calming' more, the hard shoulder has slow(er) moving traffic on it.

This is really a wild guess.

Slow down the motorbikes on the hard shoulder but it didn't work because to avoid the rumble strips they drove around them causing problems by weaving in and out of the 'car' lane.

Just guessing.

[sanmyintmaung]

10 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Just what I was thinking.

Also why were the 'rumble strips' painted on the hard shoulder? Surely the main carriageway would be where the traffic needs 'calming' more, the hard shoulder has slow(er) moving traffic on it.

The rumble strips create an audible rumbling sound and a vibration in the steering wheel when a vehicle drives over them. The sound and vibration can wake a sleeping driver--giving him or her time to regain control of the vehicle.

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, overherebc said:

This is really a wild guess.

Slow down the motorbikes on the hard shoulder but it didn't work because to avoid the rumble strips they drove around them causing problems by weaving in and out of the 'car' lane.

Just guessing.

Seems like a good guess though!

[tifino]

27 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

What was the thinking behind the idea and how did it make the situation worse?

 

it woke them up, quite startingly!!

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Seems like a good guess though!

Or,

too many bits fell off most of the 'well maintained' bikes that hit the strips.

????

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, tifino said:

 

it woke them up, quite startingly!!

Yep.

can imagine a loud shout of <deleted> and a steering wheel grab or brakes getting slammed on or both at the same time.

??

[Sid Celery]

Oh God, it's one of those face-palm moments. His own money?

 

Yep, I believe that... bound to be true, a Thai wouldn't lie in his teeth would he?

 

Jesus wept.

 

 

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

 

[worgeordie]

Back to the drawing board,for the next bright idea,stolen from the

West.

regards worgeordie

[bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

 

Suggestions as to what tune could be played on the road at Petchabun?

[jaywalker]

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

Suggestions as to what tune could be played on the road at Petchabun?

Anything by Megadeth would work.

[jaywalker]

3 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Suggestions as to what tune could be played on the road at Petchabun?

Duplicate post

[YetAnother]

35 minutes ago, overherebc said:

This is really a wild guess.

Slow down the motorbikes on the hard shoulder but it didn't work because to avoid the rumble strips they drove around them causing problems by weaving in and out of the 'car' lane.

Just guessing.

good guess;

a long time ago in south texas not terribly far from the gulf of mexico, sea shells were more prevalent , cheaper and more accessible than gravel; as a result , the main highway lanes were constructed from sea shells; driving there was rough and noisy and beat up the tires;

as a result , we all drove on the shoulders and not the main lanes;

even on longish drives like 3 hours to san antonio

[bluesofa]

Just now, YetAnother said:

good guess;

a long time ago in south texas not terribly far from the gulf of mexico, sea shells were more prevalent , cheaper and more accessible than gravel; as a result , the main highway lanes were constructed from sea shells; driving there was rough and noisy and beat up the tires;

as a result , we all drove on the shoulders and not the main lanes;

even on longish drives like 3 hours to san antonio

Yeah, sometimes you see a similar situation here.

HGVs driving in the outside lane when the inside lane is empty. The over-used inside lane often becomes 'rough' due to the heavy HGV usage.

[overherebc]

4 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

good guess;

a long time ago in south texas not terribly far from the gulf of mexico, sea shells were more prevalent , cheaper and more accessible than gravel; as a result , the main highway lanes were constructed from sea shells; driving there was rough and noisy and beat up the tires;

as a result , we all drove on the shoulders and not the main lanes;

even on longish drives like 3 hours to san antonio

I can remember a couple of roads done that way in West Africa. Crushed seashells.

I always thought they looked beautiful but kept thinking of the 'road rash' if you came off a bike on one of them.

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, jaywalker said:

Anything by Megadeth would work.

59th Street Bridge Song ??

Or

Traveling Wilburys  End of the line ??

[jaywalker]

2 minutes ago, overherebc said:

59th Street Bridge Song

 

[fakename]

Its nice that some have enough money, to fund government projects. But I always wonder where the money came from. 

[chickenslegs]

As there seems to be an absence of any meaningful initiatives from Central Government, I think this guy should be applauded for at least attempting something. If it was public money, then it was well spent (compared to many hair-brained schemes) even if it failed.

 

I can see how the rumble strips might have worsened the situation, by causing motorcyclists to ride nearer to the larger traffic.

 

IMHO - Mocking someone for trying something different just discourages everyone from trying.

[Ulic]

In Canada the rumble strips are etched into the pavement on the side of the 

road not painted on. As for why it was more dangerous I am at a loss. Of

course the painted surface is more slippery when it rains. 

[Enoon]

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Back to the drawing board,for the next bright idea,stolen from the

West.

regards worgeordie

 

A Thai actually learns and tries to integrate Western safety measures into the traffic system, and you characterize it as "stealing"?

 

 

[tompelli]

5 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Suggestions as to what tune could be played on the road at Petchabun?

Has to be Chris Rea...road to hell.

[tifino]

y'know! if they're sooo wanting for putting some sound of music, up thru them thar' hills, 

 

they need to get serious;

 and create the actual 'elevator music'

 

 

The Thais could then for once claim something 'original' (thinking) , by:

 

redesigning the Mark/Space ratio (the duty cycle) of the layed strips...

 

all those B Flats and C minors, and a heap of Sharp Es for the Bends - 

 (and the volume can even be controlled, using shallow or deeper 'mounds'

 

Put them all together in the right sequence (and spacings),

and you get an actual 'Tune'...  

 

...a sweet melody in the motorcycle lane would sure sound better than the default (rang-a-dang-a-dang)

[noahvail]

Rumble strips that thin and that closely spaced would be death for motosai riders, especially in the first half hour of a rain storm when the water mixes with the diesel and oil on the road and makes it slippery as ice. I doubt that many in Thailand would get up on the pegs to navigate that stretch of road. But the thinking - or lack of it - is what gets to me. On the four-lane divided road heading out of my little town, the police put up a semi-permanent traffic checkpoint. They stationed it in the slow lane, about fifteen meters past the u-turn spot in the fast lane. I stopped and told the sergeant-major, whom I know, that it was an accident waiting to happen. He said no, it will prevent accidents, sill farang. Three majors, seven hospitalizations within a week, and they decided to remove it. Grrrrr.....

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Near my home in Australia they are on the road edge as a simple wake up call that you are getting too close to running off the edge. Don't understand what the problem is, the story is not clear on this. 

Correct. They should be ON the white line. I assume the problems were from motorcyclists falling off.

It's a good idea, but they put them in the wrong place.

Rumble strips are a great help when one isn't paying attention and wanders too far left.