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

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Enoon said:

 

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

 

 

Pity he didn't get it right then.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

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

It's proven safety technology in NZ and apparently Australia, but it should be on the white line and not so wide.

[tifino]

in OZ the Rumble bits are really a final reminder to wake you up

 

we have really really loooong road drives here, that go for days'n'days

 

quite often, apert from the larger 'bar strips' ,  they can simply be small bumps no larger than an inbuilt reflector.

In your drifting doze, your cars tyres width might only get a half-second  DDDRRRRMMMM before it all goes silent again.

The next second,  you wake up dead, because you are already upside down in the ditch

 

The usual 'Bump' in OZ, the ones to actually be placed in your normal path to FORCE you to Slow down;

 are upto 1.5 metres wide, 50 cms deep, and 6cms high

(these ones are a truly low-frequency' rumble, as they might be 3 metres apart though)

[Bangkok Barry]

7 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

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

 

Things you would expect a professional and responsible reporter to ask, but they are a very rare breed in Thailand. I know. I've worked with some and they wouldn't last a week in the Real World. Probably not their fault, as Thais are taught from kindergarten not to ask questions. That's a pretty big negative for a journalist.

[SunsetT]

8 hours 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.

Stop asking 'Why' in Thailand! Stop it! Or your head will explode...........Or u will end up like this...........

[bluesofa]

16 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

Stop asking 'Why' in Thailand! Stop it! Or your head will explode...........Or u will end up like this...........

You've realised I'm not Thai - I ask too many questions!

[farcanell]

Rumble strips have saved my ass a number of times, and are about the easiest safety measure to apply to road use

 

why they failed here, is a great question, probably correctly answered in that it interferes with traffic driving on the road verge ( a practice oftentimes considered illegal in other countries.... there’s a lesson in that too!)

 

these safety features have been used for fifty plus years, with great success according to many surveys.... and there are published guidelines on their best placement.

 

and.... Lol... you guessed it.... these pictured rumble strips don’t follow best practice guidelines.( If they did, then motorbikes etc could still use the verge, to the left of strip placement, )

 

oh well... just another squandered chance to reduce the carnage.... but kudos to the chap for giving it a go, and critising that (trying) is shallow, as is the notion that it’s “stealing” ideas from the West.... hell... other “stolen” ideas include cars and bitumen roads themselves, for goodness sake.

[wakeupplease]

15 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

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

They work fine in the UK used a lot in approaching traffic Islands but the silly sods here put them on the hard shoulder you put them in the road itself they are slightly raised (mini speed-bumps) so you wake up very quickly when you run over them, impossible to ignore. Mind you out here they think they are used to teach the kids how to count, road safety needs brains and if you do have them it kills 61 aday so I am told.

[pee paub]

From the sounds of the report, does it not seem the strips were spaced so they would play a tune as you drove over them? This would of course encourage people to drive on them to “play” the music, pretty much defeating their purpose.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

16 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. 

They are supposed to wake up dozing drivers that wander before they go off the road.

I agree the story doesn't make much sense.

 

[Lupatria]

These paintings would slow them down and probably create a complete chaos:

 

[Maestro]

On 11/12/2017 at 3:43 AM, bluesofa said:

...Surely the main carriageway would be where the traffic needs 'calming' more, the hard shoulder has slow(er) moving traffic on it.

 

In Thailand, is the "hard shoulder" legally meant to be a traffic lane?

[bluesofa]

30 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

In Thailand, is the "hard shoulder" legally meant to be a traffic lane?

Legally I feel it is, but it's all "up to you" from the way everybody seems to use it for their own ends - slow lane, driving against the flow of traffic (in the other lanes), parking lane, selling food or various goods.

[Foexie]

Don't understand the problem either.

 

Here in my country think almost every sideline on our highways is a rumble strip.

 

They painted them as a warning if you get to close the side of the road f.e. when you fall asleep behind the wheel. So your car starts shaking and you wake up again.

 

Same like the system in the modern cars  when you crossing lines without your blinkers. They make your car vibrate so you pay attention on the road again.

[bobbymack]

Maybe failed because they weren't really 'rumble strips', as in 20,000 baht of paint does not make a rumble strip. It needs to be built up to create a rumble strip I assume and hence just painting white lines on the side of the road is not going to help with slowing traffic down. However, once he had painted them why spend more time and money removing them. The lines can't make things worse surely? At least they delineate where the road ends. Another mystery of Thainess which does not require questions of why.