Road carnage: January death toll goes through the roof

[impulse]

1 minute ago, BEngBKK said:

It will continue 1 generations more until a lot of uneducated people have retired permanently

 

It could change next week if they changed the incentive scheme for the cops and awarded them a percentage of the fines, but only for moving violations that put lives at risk.  Not for the crap they enforce at a typical checkpoint.

 

[metisdead]

 

 

Quote

In a car the death rates are about the same as the USA. THis also highlights how far the USA have fallen behind on road safety.

 

 

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[GeorgeCross]

13 hours ago, YetAnother said:

we have been predicting this for a couple years now;

all the academic studies point to a half dozen common causes; same ones;

i believe it is far more fundamental; thais are not careful, orderly people;

they do not grasp the value of order;

given them bigger,faster cars and trucks and more and more graduates from motorbikes.....;

this is what you get

 

not only that, when they graduate they drive their cars like they ride their bikes, weaving in and out, undertaking, diving into gaps (me first) and believing the bravest has the right of way.

 

i'm only surprised there is not more death on the roads

 

 

[Lupatria]

At the same time they suffer from a lack of organ donors.

[captspectre]

11 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Please, tell us if you travel in Europe< Canada, and the USA, if you see many police "managing traffic" because when I travel in other countries it is a rare occurrence to see police unless they are hiding somewhere with their radar guns or controlling traffic at collision scenes, etc.  While Thailand has a poor record other countries do not necessarily fare better, regardless of reports from worldwide agencies.

best watch you ass in california! the highway patrol has unmarked cars on most freeways and they will get you! and one more thing, they LOVE their job! the have radar guns and they use them. i have been bagged a couple of times and the fine is at least a hundred dollars and up depending on the speed and if you go fifteen miles over the speed limit you have a court date, can't pay your fine by mail, have to see the "judge"

 

[dotpoom]

I cannot beIieve the amount of "Likes" that the posts, condeming Thai driving standards, are getting concerning this subject (or maybe I can).

 I absolutely agree, I have never experienced such atrocious driving as I have in Thailand, and I have driven in many different countries. 

But is this not a tragic situation that needs urgent attention.....and not a great excuse to let off the usual knocking smeers and attempts at clever soundbites......It is by far a too serious situation when so many lives are being lost daily and so many families are left heartbroken.

[Moti24]

I just realised that I skip through most posts on TV, probably because it's the same kind of news that I've been reading every day.  I'm starting to wonder if anything will surprise me at any time in the future.  Perhaps I need to re-locate, like so many expats have already done.

[Odysseus123]

9 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

I cannot beIieve the amount of "Likes" that the posts, condeming Thai driving standards, are getting concerning this subject (or maybe I can).

 I absolutely agree, I have never experienced such atrocious driving as I have in Thailand, and I have driven in many different countries. 

But is this not a tragic situation that needs urgent attention.....and not a great excuse to let off the usual knocking smeers and attempts at clever soundbites......It is by far a too serious situation when so many lives are being lost daily and so many families are left heartbroken.

In my 56 years of existence in a Nanny State (Australia) I attended precisely one funeral for a road traffic fatality but In my 7 years of living in Isaan I attended 12.

 

They were killing themselves off like flies.

 

After a while I refused to attend any more but did carry on with the customary funerary donation.                         

[tgeezer]

I was driving on the Chonburi - Bangna elevated road yesterday and witnessed three examples of high powered cars weaving between cars at high speed. using all lanes including the hard shoulder.  I remarked that the risk was n’t worth it for the time saved and it was pointed out to me that they do it for the thrill of it!  This had never occurred to me, the pick-up, I could understand but one car was a Merc with red plates, probably 5 million baht.  

[peperobi]

Is time to release the 365/365 road regulation and instruct the police officers how to handle the traffic...

[joebrown]

12 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Please, tell us if you travel in Europe< Canada, and the USA, if you see many police "managing traffic" because when I travel in other countries it is a rare occurrence to see police unless they are hiding somewhere with their radar guns or controlling traffic at collision scenes, etc.  While Thailand has a poor record other countries do not necessarily fare better, regardless of reports from worldwide agencies.

14 years ago, I drove through Switzerland on an autoroute, and decided to use my mobile phone for a quick call. Whilst talking on the phone, I noticed 2 motorcycle cops parked and chatting on the other side of the autoroute. I closed my phone quickly and proceeded to the next toll booth about 10km further on. I paid and dove through thinking I'd 'escaped', but then to my dismay, I was stopped, lectured and fined by the same 2 cops. I forget how much  I paid, but I was given a numbered receipt as a reminder of my folly. Thereafter I never used my phone whilst driving, until I came to Thailand, where there is negligible enforcement of any road traffic law.

[Cake Monster]

This comes as no surprise to many people.

 

An ( What appeared to me ) extra long Christmas / New years holiday for many turned the 7 deadly days into 14 or more days 

 

14 days holiday + booze will always = the above headlines.

 

The most sickening aspect to all this carnage is that the powers that either have no clue on how to stop the accidents ( Eg. Chicken Broth ) or they just dont care about the citizens, or visitors in this country.

 

Shame on them

 

The new figures do not have far to go on a monthly basis to catch the statistics of people now killed by bombs in Iraq during a year

[hansnl]

13 hours ago, gunderhill said:

Excellent  news, well done Junta, well done Thailand, but basically well done Thai People.

Well done, Junta?

Unbelievable, how stupid can one become?

Simply said, it is a combination of growing traffic, bad driver education, failing police control and mentality.

 

[spidermike007]

44 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

It could change next week if they changed the incentive scheme for the cops and awarded them a percentage of the fines, but only for moving violations that put lives at risk.  Not for the crap they enforce at a typical checkpoint.

 

Thank you. A highly observant post. All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. 

 

Real men do what is necessary to save lives. Kids and highly underdeveloped people make promises, tell lies and engage in deflection.

 

Little P.  - Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking, alarming, and astonishing pace. 

[tigermoth]

13 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I just drove from Pattaya to Phrae and back and encountered seriously awful driving continuously. Tailgating on the Motorways, when they can clearly see dozens of vehicles ahead of you, especially pisses me off, especially since every 30km or so, you could see 2-6 cars involved in dents and insurance claims from such stupidity. Cars overtaking the other way, not letting your lane free was pretty common.

Giving right of way? Yeah, Right!

Over a 750 Km journey, each direction, I saw the cops twice. And both times were paperwork check or search, not one out there managing traffic.

And then they wonder why the death toll is up? Hmmm! I think I know! No one is stopping idiots driving like buffaloes.

Correct. Tailgating is really bad. I try and drive the correct distance behind the car in front of me so that if he has an emergency I can stop in time but it never works as it just encourages the speeding vehicle behind me, usually only about 2 or 3 metres  back, to take advantage of the space and overtake me and go into the space I have left.

[fdimike]

Congratulations should go to the Thai police who do close to nothing to enforce traffic laws!!

[laislica]

The roads themselves are badly designed.

Motorways with U Turns?

The only usable road between towns is usually a Motorway!

 

In many other countries, there are parallel non-motorway roads that allow folk to change direction more easily than driving to the next U Turn.

So what do they do?
Simple, drive the wrong way along a motorway!

Missed your turning, never mind, just reverse a few hundred meters!

(Try that in other countries LOL)

 

The police do not enforce traffic rules, they are only there to extract tea money.

 

The lack of enforced rules allows for common practice rules and everyone obeys these:

 

Avoid police check points, they only find a reason to take tea money from you.

 

If you are in control of any vehicle, you MUST drive in such a fashion that you are always in front of all other vehicles. Change lanes without warning to achieve this.

 

4 wheels or more, generally drive on the left, unless driving on the wrong side will save several Km of wasted travel to safely get to where you need to be.

 

2 wheels: There are no rules, drive where and how you like. The road will always be clear for you because everyone else is taking care not to collide with you.

 

Loads: It is important to load as much as possible onto any vehicle, the stated load carrying weights from the manufacturer are only a suggestion.

 

etc. etc.

 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm.....what can you say?...... something very Darwinian about these figures.....TIT

[spidermike007]

46 minutes ago, captspectre said:

best watch you ass in california! the highway patrol has unmarked cars on most freeways and they will get you! and one more thing, they LOVE their job! the have radar guns and they use them. i have been bagged a couple of times and the fine is at least a hundred dollars and up depending on the speed and if you go fifteen miles over the speed limit you have a court date, can't pay your fine by mail, have to see the "judge"

 

 

Now, the fines are $200 and up. The last moving violation I got in California was nearly 10 years ago, and it was $517. And some cities allow you to ask to set a date for trial. And some of those cities give the officer a 3 hour grace period to show up. Which means you might have to dedicate most of the day to your "trial". And many of those same cities have only mock trials, and always (100% of the time) rule against you. I have had policemen tell me that. And the fines must be paid in advance, in order to request your trial. So, even requesting a trial, which used to be effective due to the officer not showing up occasionally, does not seem to work anymore. The system is fixed. 

[johnny49r]

12 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Please, tell us if you travel in Europe< Canada, and the USA, if you see many police "managing traffic" because when I travel in other countries it is a rare occurrence to see police unless they are hiding somewhere with their radar guns or controlling traffic at collision scenes, etc.  While Thailand has a poor record other countries do not necessarily fare better, regardless of reports from worldwide agencies.

Dear Wotsdermatter, drivers in other countries have a justifiable fear of the police where they are actually involved in law enforcement. This contributes greatly to safer driving. US and Euro drivers also receive far superior driver training. Finally are you saying that there is a conspiracy in the rest of the world to hide accident figures and only Thailand reports these figures accurately? From your perspective the earth must seem very flat indeed!

[bert bloggs]

Well ,Thailand does like to be the "HUB" of things , mind you hub of road deaths just doesnt seem to have that nice ring to it .

[bkksiam]

Yesterday, I took a taxi in which the driver had one hand on the wheel and in the other was his phone, through which he was scrolling with his thumb while driving. I politely asked him to not use the phone while driving b/c it was dangerous. He looked at me and laughed then continued scrolling. I asked him to stop the car, paid the fare, got out then got another taxi. 

[HuaHinHim]

I like the headline “Road carnage goes through the roof” in most countries a large increase like that would be described as going to the moon, which last time I check is a bit further than the roof. As has been said by many, no education no enforcement and Thais in general (not all) have no respect for other Road users.

[NoshowJones]

12 hours ago, Thian said:

In Europe there are undercover cops in cars who also have videocams at all sides. If you drive too close to another car or stay on the fast lane when the slow lane is empty they will give you a huge fine...for speeding they have camera's littery everywhere, the ticket will come to your home. They also use cars with computerequipment who can read licenseplates and check if the car is insured or checked for safety yearly.

 

They also register the licenseplate and do it again after 50 km or so, they then calculate the travelled speed over that distance and will send a fine if necessary.

 

There's no way to do drive like a Thai in Europe, you'll get stopped by police within 10 minutes...and there's no way to bribe them at all. When they stop you for an offence they also check the whole car if all is working properly, if not more fines are written.

 

What you see on the Thai roads every day is unbelievable for the Europeans. It can be a primetime tv=show for them to watch Thai traffic.

 

I really can't understand why Thailand let this all happen, they do have police but they won't do their job...and even a big general can't fix that.

Soon the whole world will make jokes about driving like a Thai...and they totally deserve it.

 

The Thai police are too busy looking in the mirror admiring themselves, with their ribbons, badges etc, of their fancy ranks, ie Lt/Cols, Major/ Gens etc, for which they paid for, to do anything about the road carnage.

[Sydebolle]

If you see the infantile driving tests ........... 

Introduce proper driving schools with proper test and reintroduce the lifelong license for those who deserve it and you free hundreds if not thousands of staff at the DLT to take their job more serious. 

Thailand - the mother of all traffic accidents, hurt and deaths! 

[Reigntax]

14 hours ago, Stoker58 said:

They're not going to give up that no.1 spot any time soon. What you see when you watch the dashcam and CCTV videos is amazing. I saw one guy on a motorbike pull out to overtake and he just drove straight into the front of a bus, and you think "<deleted> man? Didn't you see that coming?"

 

No because the bus wasn't there last time !

[Reigntax]

17 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

Well ,Thailand does like to be the "HUB" of things , mind you hub of road deaths just doesnt seem to have that nice ring to it .

 

Except to the undertaker where business is booming.

[hashmodha]

I just drove from Pattaya to Phrae and back and encountered seriously awful driving continuously. Tailgating on the Motorways, when they can clearly see dozens of vehicles ahead of you, especially pisses me off, especially since every 30km or so, you could see 2-6 cars involved in dents and insurance claims from such stupidity. Cars overtaking the other way, not letting your lane free was pretty common.
Giving right of way? Yeah, Right!
Over a 750 Km journey, each direction, I saw the cops twice. And both times were paperwork check or search, not one out there managing traffic.
And then they wonder why the death toll is up? Hmmm! I think I know! No one is stopping idiots driving like buffaloes.

Just keeping 2 cars distance in front..3 ,cars distance takes into safe zone....same for over taking.....as one gets older this rule automatically slows us down...safe driving...they overtake me when I have nearly stopped to turn with my indicators....hand signal....they flash and 2/3 at a time..and I live at the seaside...God knows what it is really like elsewhere!

Please Excuse spelling mistakes/Misunderstanding/Grammar! :-)

[nong38]

There are many issues here which contribute to the figures.

The road designs are not the best but a good start would be close all U TURNS which do not use bridges or tunnels.

Thai vehicles should all be automatic, wont start until the seat belt is connected and have a speed limiter fitted that cannot be interfered with.

Thais in general don't consider or look for other road users which is big scorer in the figures and finally, from me, I am sure you can add but I also notice that whoever has the right of way ( I know they don't have a clue because they have never read the highway code ) its size that counts and you give way regardless!

What is needed to start to make things better and I cannot see it happening is to get the police out in force at a busy place and make life uncomfortable for the bad motorists, hit them where it hurts, cash and a walk home, maybe confiscate the machine make then buy it back or crush it.

Shock tactics are required.

[kaorop]

9 hours ago, choff56 said:

The closer Thailand gets to revolution the more carnage you will see on the roads. It only makes sense. Frustrations have to be vented somehow, and in a "don't lose face" kowtow society , the roads are the perfect place.

Yes ive thought the same, as is oft quoted, "when you make peacful protest impossible you make violent protest inevitable"  and the roads are place where it begins as with this increase and ends with an overthrow, will the overthrow come is anyones geuss..but fersur its going to get worse on the roads..