Carnage continues on Thai roads: 3,175 reported dead at the scene since the start of 2019

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

It can't be fixed.  All it takes is a drive anywhere in Thailand and you'll see the most idiotic driving time after time.  It won't change no matter what the government says, no matter what they show on TV.

 

It will change if they started crushing. If people knew their vehicles and motorbikes would get crushed for drunk driving and irresponsible driving, they would soon stop.

Road fatalities would half within a week of the first 50 crushings. as long as everyone knew about it.

[dallen52]

What is it that ticks in their brains that says, "I feel the need, the need for speed", so much that they constantly overtake on the inside?

 

Its not as if they are in a great hurry to do anything, once they have got there...

 

Just a total disregard (and possibly knowledge) of the basic road laws.

 

[Thaijack2014]

4 hours ago, Youlike said:

In that case they should hire foreign experts to train the Thai police....how many people have to die first? Soon the rest of the world will watch these video's and think the Thai must be lacking braincells.

I think at that stage it is too late. Have you done the test for a Thai drivers licence? I did it two month ago and it is just ridiculous. NOBODY is required to have had driver lessons before the test. The most basic things are not covered, actions you are being taught in my country, the Netherlands, in Germany and many other countries... learning how to respect lines on the street, how to speed up your car, how to drive through a curve, where to pay attention and why and also making that a part of your examn. True, the 5 hour long interesting, but in the end boring movie you got to watch at the examn day, covers it, but really???? What do you learn from that? What stays in your mind?

I don't think it is the task of the police to arrest ignorant Thai drivers, who just don't have a clue what they are doing. TEACH them first, let them fail where safety is ignored. My test was mainly three things: how to park my car 25cm from the curve, stop at the yellow line (2 in one), then reversed parking and driving up and down in a narrow street. THATS IT! With that they let me drive on the road. Nobody in the school was concerned about overtaking another car, indicating, speeding, respecting all kinds of traffic rules.

 

How on earth do the Thai drivers know how to drive and how do they learn it? They learn all the mistakes as well. How long does it take for a motordriver in Europe and other countries to get his licence? 

 

Even if the teaching and the lessons would not be at our standard, I think a minor increase in teaching people how to behave in a proper and long way, will do more good to road accidents then any police enforcement.

[Youlike]

2 hours ago, schondie said:

I'm quite surprised at this low figure as I usually see people riding on the wrong side of the super highway, running red lights quite long after they have changed and turning onto busy roads without a care in the world, riding at night with no lights and the list goes on and on and on.

That's the reason Thai drive so slow, especially at night...they have that very dark film on their windscreen and others drive around without any light...the only way to drive safe in those conditions is by going ultra slow and holding up traffic.

[Youlike]

2 hours ago, jvs said:

I came home this morning from Bangkok.Since the governmet cleared(cleaned)up the mess in Bangkok concerning minibuses it is now much more difficult to get around in Bangkok.

Now coming from bts station Mo chit you have to take a bus to the new mini bus station or take a motorbike taxi.

The horror!This rider went the first two km. in against traffic,weaving in and out traffic.We nearly had tlee accidents and all of them would have been his fault.After he did decide to drive the right way he kept taking chances and dodging traffic.

Did we pass BIB'S? yes we did.

60 baht was the cost,so that is the value of my life.I do ot know about if he values his life,probably not.

Why didn't you take a taxi or is your life worth 60 baht?

[dallen52]

17 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

If farangs didn't live here none of this would happen

We wouldn't have a TVF and no one would know about it. 

Thais would just keep on doing their own thing. Without a care in the world. 

 

And subsequently continue to die.

 

[Youlike]

57 minutes ago, wazzupnow said:

maybe get some good driving instructors from the uk and start a real driving exam ??? ban all driving licences from before?? fine for cell phone in the car 5000 bht

drunk driving 6 months sobering up in prison? or better make them WORK !!!

Or Thai insurers could give 50% discount for drivers with a real driverslicense from abroad...

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

It can't be fixed.  All it takes is a drive anywhere in Thailand and you'll see the most idiotic driving time after time.  It won't change no matter what the government says, no matter what they show on TV.

 

Correct, you can't stop people wishing to self destruct !!

Blame the politicians, blame the police blame the roads...

It's the insane drivers who are at fault.. try curing thousands of people who just don't give a damn !!!!

[stevenl]

17 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

What is it that ticks in their brains that says, "I feel the need, the need for speed", so much that they constantly overtake on the inside?

 

Its not as if they are in a great hurry to do anything, once they have got there...

 

Just a total disregard (and possibly knowledge) of the basic road laws.

 

Why are you being overtaken on the inside? Could it be you're driving too slow on the fast lane?

You do know that on 4 lane roads overtaking on the inside is legally allowed?

[Pilotman]

31 minutes ago, Jaxxper said:

Have to say that although the standard of teaching and subsequent poor driving habits / skills from Thais you see on the roads here  many many farang have gone "native" with their driving habits. I have friends that I see breaking the rules of the road through impatience and taking unnecessary risks to save 10 seconds or less. My comment is always if you want to do it, don't do it while I'm in the car and if you wouldn't do it at home why would you do it here? Just an observation.

That is true , but I would add a caveat.  To a certain extent you do have to drive like the Thais to survive here.  For example, indicating that you are turning left  doesn't mean that motorbikes will not undertake you, so you slow down far too much to accommodate those idiots, or rush into the turn.  When  you indicate to turn right, there is no guarantee that some idiot coming up at speed behind you won't try to overtake you on the right, so you either speed up to get the turn in quickly, or slow down in the outside lane to let the idiot pass   So, you adapt to survive.  I have never known a place where defensive driving is a must at all times. Thai drivers here are a total menace and it's almost universal, in that finding a good Thai driver is like finding  a unicorn.  

[bkk6060]

9 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Correct, you can't stop people wishing to self destruct !!

Blame the politicians, blame the police blame the roads...

It's the insane drivers who are at fault.. try curing thousands of people who just don't give a damn !!!!

Certainly, you seem like a mature think outside the box person.

It is a cultural, education issue here.

They need to start with training regarding this issue when people are young.  In elementary school.

The numbers could be reduced in half I believe with proper education.

But sadly, probably will never happen.

[Youlike]

1 minute ago, Pilotman said:

That is true , but I would add a caveat.  To a certain extent you do have to drive like the Thais to survive here.  For example, indicating that you are turning left  doesn't mean that motorbikes will not undertake you, so you slow down far too much to accommodate those idiots, or rush into the turn.  When  you indicate to turn right, there is no guarantee that some idiot coming up at speed behind you won't try to overtake you on the right, so you either speed up to get the turn in quickly, or slow down in the outside lane to let the idiot pass   So, you adapt to survive.  I have never known a place where defensive driving is a must at all times. Thai drivers here are a total menace and it's almost universal, in that finding a good Thai driver is like finding  a unicorn.  

If you indicate left you drive as left as possible so they won't even fit in that space.

Same goes for turning right.....but if you do it too slow they'll pass you from behind anyway.

[DrTuner]

24 minutes ago, Youlike said:

That's the reason Thai drive so slow, especially at night...they have that very dark film on their windscreen and others drive around without any light...the only way to drive safe in those conditions is by going ultra slow and holding up traffic.

Yup gotta have that 80% black screen so no one can see your gansta arse. Darwinism 101.

[thecyclist]

It looks like that LOS will regain its no. one spot in number of road fatalities in the world, a place it lost last year to some African country. Together with Chiang Mai being the most polluted city in the world, Thailand is doing very well in the record books. MTGA=make Thailand great again. 

[ToddinChonburi]

Thailand is trying to move into the future when way to many are stuck in the past. These motorbikes and larger vehicles do not mix. Lack of simple education here is huge. Most Thais think it's meant to be.

[GinBoy2]

You could have a thousand of these stories every day

You only have to had driven in Thailand for a couple of years to know it's totally insane.

They drive on the left....except if driving on the right gets you there quicker, hazards lights flashing of course, for safety!

The lunacy of motorbikes is beyond comprehension. No lights, 3, 4 people, no helmets, no mirrors, cos they dont look cool. You could go on and on 

 

I'm sure they will enact a couple of hundred more laws, which combined with the thousands already on the books will be duly ignored

 

And the carnage will continue!

 

[wvavin]

Who cares? The country is not doing anything so why we bother?

[kingstonkid]

The problem is that no matter what the government does it I'd screwed.  If they enforce the rules then they are depriving the poor farmer his only means of transportation or costing him to much because he has to buy a helmet or stay over night.

 

If they start raising the age and enforce it they are picking on young people 

You can blame the junta but this has been going on since people found cars and bikes and will keep going on long after most of us are long gone 

[joloit]

So sad and yet the daily carnage will continue. Thailand, please wake up and admit that you can not handle this issue yourself. Next step would be asking for help from the global community in tackling this incredible homemade problem. It is IMO the only way you will stop these unnecessary deaths on Thailands roads. I would even think, that there are many farangs willing to help in this matter without being paid.......  

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[lingyaiyai]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

You could have a thousand of these stories every day

You only have to had driven in Thailand for a couple of years to know it's totally insane.

They drive on the left....except if driving on the right gets you there quicker, hazards lights flashing of course, for safety!

The lunacy of motorbikes is beyond comprehension. No lights, 3, 4 people, no helmets, no mirrors, cos they dont look cool. You could go on and on 

 

I'm sure they will enact a couple of hundred more laws, which combined with the thousands already on the books will be duly ignored

 

And the carnage will continue!

 

A couple of years?

Did you mean minutes?

 

Apart from that I agree with every word you wrote!

[fresher]

6 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Its becoming hard not to arrive at the conclusion that these people are not best suited to driving motor vehicles .. They should return to olde times and just ride Buffalo's around for the sake of self preservation of future gen's if nothing else the way they are going here .. 

But I see farangs doing the same stuff - no helmets or not secured, undertaking, weaving, too fast, etc., etc.. Maybe it's nothing to do with Thai 'people'/culture; and all to do with ineffective enforcement.

[Notout]

I know you can't compare apples with oranges. As they say a question without notice gets a reply without thought. Just checked the death toll from Australia 12 months period ended February 2019. 1,172 deaths. Deaths in February of this year was 93, an 11.5% increase over the past 5 years. Annual deaths per 100,000 is 4.7.

Area of Australia is nearly 7.7 miilion square kilometres. Area of Thailand is a smidge over 513,000 square kilometres. Population of Australia 24.5 million.  Population of Thailand roughly 66.2 million.  Road deaths in Thailand so far THIS year is 3,175. We all know there is a problem "somewhere".

We can all talk til we are blue in the face.

[Trevor Collins]

According to my calculations, that's an average of 43 people a day being killed at the scene and doesn't include those subsequently dying or being seriously injured/maimed for life. No other country in the world is as dangerous for driving as Thailand.

[ocddave]

Nothing new here, see it every day here in Bangkok, I would say 90% of the drivers on the road don't follow road rules, the other 10% I imagine have traveled or lived abroad and know better. Its pretty sad to see nothing being done by the police, in fact most of them encourage the reckless behavior, or do the same themselves. Take for instance the highway police encouraging drivers to enter on-ramps and off-ramps to pass at high-speed in heavy traffic and then cross hash-marks as they zoom down the breakdown lane at 120-140km hr, this is the most dangerous thing I can imagine, and the highway police support it.....they should all be fired, or hanged on public TV. I even had a motorcycle cop today fly down the wrong side of the road, then cut back in before a concrete center island I am approaching while in the far right lane, he did so right over a solid line and almost got squished up against the cement block and between my car. These people have no care in the world about their own safety, let alone anyone else on the road, I assume they are just suicidal. 

[Justgrazing]

56 minutes ago, fresher said:

But I see farangs doing the same stuff - no helmets or not secured, undertaking, weaving, too fast, etc., etc.. Maybe it's nothing to do with Thai 'people'/culture; and all to do with ineffective enforcement.

Yes sure I've witnessed farangs here act daft on motorcycles and if it ends in tears they then have no one to blame but thereselves .. But the death toll here speaks volumes .. well over 3,000 dead in 73 days of this year so far says there is something seriously wrong .. 

[KarlS]

3 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

Yes sure I've witnessed farangs here act daft on motorcycles and if it ends in tears they then have no one to blame but thereselves .. But the death toll here speaks volumes .. well over 3,000 dead in 73 days of this year so far says there is something seriously wrong .. 

The actual death toll is much larger because those who die in hospital are excluded from the figures. 

[FarangDoingHisThing69]

Are these numbers broken down by city anywhere?

[Huckenfell]

10 hours ago, Youlike said:

In that case they should hire foreign experts to train the Thai police....how many people have to die first? Soon the rest of the world will watch these video's and think the Thai must be lacking braincells.

Perhaps this is the reason that foreigners cannot teach Thai Police how to drive.

[Huckenfell]

8 hours ago, malibukid said:

get the LAPD over here pronto in a joint training exercise.   many LAPD officers are fluent in Thai.  half the GD traffic lights don't work here. i will never drive here.  giving a car to a Thai is like giving a loaded gun to a  child.

Or an American Policeman !