Man dies as car slams into pickup making U-turn on bypass road

[snoop1130]

Man dies as car slams into pickup making U-turn on bypass road

By Eakkapop Thongtub

 

The view from Mr Panuruj’s dash cam before his car slammed into the pickup truck. Image: Supplied

 

PHUKET:-- A man died after his car slammed into the side of a pickup truck waiting to make a U-turn on the bypass road this morning (Jan 25).

 

Capt Surachat Thongsai of Phuket Provincial Police was notified of the incident, at the U-turn in front of the Premium Outlet centre, at 10:50am.

 

Officers and rescue workers arrived to find Panuruj Petchoi, 60, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, dead at the scene.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/man-dies-as-car-slams-into-pickup-making-u-turn-on-bypass-road-70160.php#5rzpjeWHoMjtx3t9.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-01-25

[Vacuum]

8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

A man died after his car slammed into the side of a pickup truck waiting to make a U-turn

Case closed. Next.

[KhunBENQ]

How blind can a driver be to overlook that he is on a U-turn lane with this very clear road paintings?

Terrible.

Hope the pickup driver recovers fully.

[Moonlover]

16 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

How blind can a driver be to overlook that he is on a U-turn lane with this very clear road paintings?

Terrible.

Hope the pickup driver recovers fully.

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

[KhunBENQ]

22 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

  

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

Agree.

It's hard to believe that a driver slams into another car in such a way fully conscious.

I am 61

 

 

[gravity101]

27 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

If you know that 'junction', you'll know that right hand lane IS the right hand lane, everyone uses it as the fast lane, cause that's what it was, no amount of paint will change that here. The blame lies squarely with idiot who decided to chevron the right hand lane into a u-turn lane.  Surprised there are not more accidents there. Whats worse, is 400 meters further down there is a much safer "proper" dedicated u-turn lane. He clearly didn't wait and did assume that lane was dedicated to himself, a foolish decision - hence the accident.

[NanLaew]

26 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

Yes he did have a clear, dedicated acceleration lane ahead but K Panuroj was already flying down the outside 'acceleration lane' in an already unavoidable broadside.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

How blind can a driver be to overlook that he is on a U-turn lane with this very clear road paintings?

Terrible.

Hope the pickup driver recovers fully.

Problem is that that U-turn lane was the fast lane before the U-turn., And the slow lane just stops.

Terrible signage at the turns on this road.

[Seismic]

4 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

Thai's have no understanding of the term "Merge with traffic". so whenever they encounter a merging lane, they simply stop or slow down and wait for the other traffic. I see this every day on Bang Na Trad road.

[kannot]

5 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

How blind can a driver be to overlook that he is on a U-turn lane with this very clear road paintings?

Terrible.

Hope the pickup driver recovers fully.

=  good  overtaking spot..............certainly  round by  me. let them die, retards all

[kannot]

4 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

they are  clueless  to what ANY road markings  mean

[hkt83100]

11 hours ago, Moonlover said:

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

As usual for drivers over here I guess he was too lazy to completely steer to the right. In addition pickups tend to have a big turning radius which is not good for u-turns.

[tifino]

This is an identical situation that U-turning lane drivers face over in Chang Mai, around the Old City Moat loops road (till now I always thought it was only a CM problem,... now is a universal glitch! that encompasses Phuket roads also)

Straight thru drivers ignore the vectored lines that indicate the Right lane is no a Through Lane, over the NoManland lines...

 

Ute driver (victim) here, responds just like a rabbit at night...

stops and stares into the oncoming headlights! syndrome.

[AhFarangJa]

11 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

I too thought why did the pick up not use the acceleration lane, and came up with two scenarios....1 - He does not know what it is, and 2 - just maybe a bit more likely is that he saw the car barreling towards him and thought he was going to carry on along the road using the acceleration lane as a fast lane....

[essox essox]

boils down to bad driving and lack of good driving skills. These people CAN NOT "READ THE ROAD", foresee anything can not anticipate, have NO perception, and should NOT be on the roads !!

[tifino]

... that last bit (excerpted from the linked article)

 

 

"...Police have yet to comment on whether any charges will be pressed regarding the accident."

 

 

it is a bit difficult, to Charge a dead man!

[sammieuk1]

To much slamming and no time thinking this is going to hurt????

[tifino]

 

Thai roads are just like playing basket ball!

 

they are either Slamming or Dunking

[singhajim]

U turns on high speed roads are always going to cause trouble. RIP.

[NightSky]

Those U turns are scary on the main roads. Traffic oncoming at 80-90km/hr whilst motorbikes and cars inch their way into the fast lanes hoping the fast lane traffic will pull up and stop.

 

It doesn't help that more motorbikes and cars then cut in front of all and block all view of said oncoming traffic making danger even more apparent. 

 

Tackling air pollution and road safety should be number one priority.  

 

 

[Vacuum]

8 hours ago, kannot said:

they are  clueless  to what ANY road markings  mean

The question is: Do the look for them?

[Grusa]

13 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

Some of these U-turns are too too tight for the turning circle of a pickup - it would have to encroach onto the next lane. Hence the wait, for two or more lanes to be clear. As for busses and trucks...............

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, essox essox said:

boils down to bad driving and lack of good driving skills. These people CAN NOT "READ THE ROAD", foresee anything can not anticipate, have NO perception, and should NOT be on the roads !!

Disagree with your first sentence, the road designs plays a major part as well.

[farcanell]

53 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Disagree with your first sentence, the road designs plays a major part as well.

100% correct.

 

the u turn points on a good deal of Phuket’s roads (particularly from Rawai peir to central, for my traveling) are, in my opinion, the most dangerous part of island driving or riding, with road marking simply veering to the left, to provide a turning lane, in most instances.... it’s bizarre and dangerous, requiring drivers to constantly weave across the road, contrary to all norms.

 

my wife drives the full soi saiyuan left hand circuit, just to avoid having to do u turns, and I don’t blame her. I obstinately refuse, and instead live in fear of dying at a u turn.... lol... which has seen me use the steed less and less, the longer I’ve been here.... riding is where I feel most vulnerable, and as a consequence, it’s been a couple of years since it’s been further north of chalong circle, than homepro

[spidermike007]

And why are these drivers speeding or driving recklessly in the first place? The primary reason is the toy police force. Nobody, and I mean nobody takes these guys seriously. There is absolutely nothing in the way of a deterrent here, and both the local governments, the central government (weak Little P.) and the police do not take traffic safety seriously. Not even one iota. The safety of the public means less than zero to the small men in charge here. Nothing. They show that on a daily basis.

 

They will not do a thing. Why? They do not care about the people one iota. Not the common people. Not the average pleb. No way. Never have cared, and may never care in the future. It is all about protecting the elite, the super wealthy, those that are connected, and those in power. The rest of the population? They do not matter. The ex-pat community does not matter. And the police will not get involved unless an accident has already occurred. There is no prevention. None. The idea of getting the police more involved, is an interesting one, and it would be an effective one. But, the issue is money. They are grossly underpaid, and until the government steps up, and spends the trillion baht on updating the police equipment, and paying each cop a living wage, it is not going to happen. Until then, they will just work the franchise. 

 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. 

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer. 

 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

[KhunBENQ]

10 hours ago, kannot said:

=  good  overtaking spot..............certainly  round by  me. let them die, retards all

As if there were not better examples.

In Khon Kaen those types of U-turn are all fully bordered by plastic bollards.

I don't have an up-to-date image.

This one from StreetView shows an interim status when they started to build up.

Nowadays they are properly fenced with big bollards, road paint etc.

 

 

From the comments of the locals it sounds to me this 60 yr might not have had a medical problem but indeed being a hooligan using this for overtaking. Last attempt.

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

As if there were not better examples.

In Khon Kaen those types of U-turn are all fully bordered by plastic bollards.

I don't have an up-to-date image.

This one from StreetView shows an interim status when they started to build up.

Nowadays they are properly fenced with big bollards, road paint etc.

 

 

From the comments of the locals it sounds to me this 60 yr might not have had a medical problem but indeed being a hooligan using this for overtaking. Last attempt.

Strange conclusion. This lane was the fast lane, used for overtaking, but is suddenly the dedicated U-turn lane. At the same time the left lane totally disappears out of nowhere.

He may have been overtaking there, but that is the standard. Calling him a hooligan is not done IMO, it is much more the road design to blame than the individual.

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Could have been a heart attack or a stroke. The guy was 60.

 

One minor observation is what was the pick up driver waiting for? He had a clear dedicated acceleration lane all to himself.

He was probably doing what I do at a U-turn point, even with a dedicated turn lane...

look, look, look, look again, double check, triple check, then pray, then go !!!

[silver sea]

3 hours ago, tifino said:

This is an identical situation that U-turning lane drivers face over in Chang Mai, around the Old City Moat loops road (till now I always thought it was only a CM problem,... now is a universal glitch! that encompasses Phuket roads also)

Straight thru drivers ignore the vectored lines that indicate the Right lane is no a Through Lane, over the NoManland lines...

 

Ute driver (victim) here, responds just like a rabbit at night...

stops and stares into the oncoming headlights! syndrome.

 

 

These are three of the photos from the linked article.

 

I am not sure that I would agree that the victim was responding like a rabbit frozen in headlights at nighttime. If he had pulled forward and turned right he could not have accelerated away quickly enough to have avoided being rammed up the backside by the car.

 

Maybe, he stopped, because there was not much traffic in the left lane and he was hoping that the car driver would swerve to the left, and go round the front of the pickup and then go back into the right hand lane to avoid the other traffic in front of him.

 

Unfortunately, the car driver was simply not paying attention, and was driving too fast to take advantage of the space that the pick up driver had left him.

 

The car driver not only flipped over the pick up onto its side, but demolished the road signs behind as well. He must have been going very very fast. There was nothing the pickup driver could do to avoid being hit; the poor man was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Moonlover]

18 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

He was probably doing what I do at a U-turn point, even with a dedicated turn lane...

look, look, look, look again, double check, triple check, then pray, then go !!!

If that's the case, and it is possible, it's very unfortunate that his hesitation actually resulted in him being involved in an accident!

 

I hope he makes a full recovery and that he is fully compensated for his looses.

 

By the way. Never get out of the habit. ????