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Thai road carnage: Nearly 8000 dead at the scene this year - July tops 1000 - Wednesday's 76 is worst yet


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12 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Saying it is all the cops fault is so small minded, immature, naive and uneducated.

Cops here cannot and are not everyplace their ability to actually reduce accidents is very limited.

Lack of education, distracted drivers, and unsafe road environments are the biggest contributing factors here.

They need to educate and train youth when they are in high school as to the proper driving techniques, manners, rules and most importantly safety issues.  They are never trained on a major factor here of following too closely.  You know, the speed vs. reaction time and skid after braking. The road engineering is what it is in most areas.  But, accidents can be avoided if people are educated on how to maneuver properly the obstacles they face on Thai roadways.   Distracted drivers is a big factor everywhere now as many people are on their phones.

 

So, just saying it is the cops fault write more tickets will get this place no where regarding the accident numbers.  Proper education at an early age and adjustments now and in the future of the road environments will. 

 

Be safe and always be aware out there.

 

 

 

It isn't just the cops fault but their lack of responsibility on monitoring the roads is a major reason. When you catch people breaking the law, and by being aware you will, especially here, and take money from their wallets, that is the biggest teaching tool after the defensive driving course, which here means little, as it's too easy. There are many police here, especially in and around the cities, and if they actually did the job they were hired to do, protect and serve, it would maker a difference. In Texas, for one state, the minimum driving age for scooters is 15, and you have to pass a test. Here I see 8 year olds driving scooters, and on all major roads, and many without helmets. This comes from a lack of parenting skills, or inability to care. These statistics will never change until laws are followed, and made, to protect the young riders, who, if they don't get killed first, will grow to be adult drivers in trucks and cars. Going from a scooter to a car without education is a disaster. A car can't maneuver like a scooter can and what they've got away with on a scooter won't work with a car. Here I've seen that most Thais don't look anywhere but straight ahead, being ignorant of what bot behind and to the sides of them. Every day I have to pass drivers that are going too slow and driving right next to the center stripe, and when I pass them, their gaze is directly ahead most of the time. Inconsideration for those around and behind you, not moving over to let others pass because you are going too slow, is a recipe for disaster. Whether it's ignorance or being inconsiderate, this is something taught in classes in the US, and in most places, you can get a ticket for driving too slow on a highway. The road department leaves much to be desired here also, with potholes on most major roads that aren't fixed for over a year at times. The 30% of children left with grandparents to raise doesn't help either, as these kids aren't watched and are allowed to do whatever they please, including driving scooters at age 8 and less and without helmets. Education costs money, and that's the governments job. If they want to save lives, they would do something about this.

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17 hours ago, hotchilli said:

And nothing will be done.

That's true, they are more interested in sending their plods round the bars to make sure they are sticking to the 22 rules and making sure they close at midnight.

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16 hours ago, geoff65 said:

 Yes these U-turns are madness and a death sentence, the only really way to solve the problem is roundabouts, It might take some time for the Thais to understand how it works but it will save lives  slow and keep the traffic flowing at a steady pace.

The majority of Thai drivers would not have the brains to use roundabouts properly.

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23 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

That's true, they are more interested in sending their plods round the bars to make sure they are sticking to the 22 rules and making sure they close at midnight.

And they're failing miserably at doing that too...

only capable of taking bribes and looking the other way.

2 very recent cases

the Rad bull fiasco... paid off to do nothing
and the major gambling den bust... bribed to look the other way.

Edited by hotchilli
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13 hours ago, Michael19641965 said:

Yes, Thailand needs a complete lockdown of motorbikes and cars! Everybody stays home. No one goes to work. 

We save lives!

Really, life has to go on.

Every day people will die from travel accidents, cancer, heartattack and also from some viruses like Dengue, Flu, Covid etc.

Covid?? Not in Thailand.

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3 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

It isn't just the cops fault but their lack of responsibility on monitoring the roads is a major reason. When you catch people breaking the law, and by being aware you will, especially here, and take money from their wallets, that is the biggest teaching tool after the defensive driving course, which here means little, as it's too easy. There are many police here, especially in and around the cities, and if they actually did the job they were hired to do, protect and serve, it would maker a difference. In Texas, for one state, the minimum driving age for scooters is 15, and you have to pass a test. Here I see 8 year olds driving scooters, and on all major roads, and many without helmets. This comes from a lack of parenting skills, or inability to care. These statistics will never change until laws are followed, and made, to protect the young riders, who, if they don't get killed first, will grow to be adult drivers in trucks and cars. Going from a scooter to a car without education is a disaster. A car can't maneuver like a scooter can and what they've got away with on a scooter won't work with a car. Here I've seen that most Thais don't look anywhere but straight ahead, being ignorant of what bot behind and to the sides of them. Every day I have to pass drivers that are going too slow and driving right next to the center stripe, and when I pass them, their gaze is directly ahead most of the time. Inconsideration for those around and behind you, not moving over to let others pass because you are going too slow, is a recipe for disaster. Whether it's ignorance or being inconsiderate, this is something taught in classes in the US, and in most places, you can get a ticket for driving too slow on a highway. The road department leaves much to be desired here also, with potholes on most major roads that aren't fixed for over a year at times. The 30% of children left with grandparents to raise doesn't help either, as these kids aren't watched and are allowed to do whatever they please, including driving scooters at age 8 and less and without helmets. Education costs money, and that's the governments job. If they want to save lives, they would do something about this.

In general, I believe your comment makes some good points but one thing: What makes you think it's the Royal Thai Police's job is to "protect and serve"? I have read their sort of mission/behavioral statement at the Government Complex at Chaeng Wattana and it is, indeed, an impressive document. However, watching them in action and by their very name I believe that have "higher" priorities. I would hesitate to use the "stated" USA model of "protect and serve" when describing the role of the RTP.

 

Don't fall into that common trap of assuming things operate in a foreign country (especially Thailand) as they are said to work in the USA - Thailand is not the USA and one should be careful when comparing it or to any other country.  Capeesh?

 

I also take issue as to whether it's the "governments[sic] job" to educate, rather than what they actually do in the classrooms in Thailand, but that's another subject and I'm trying to keep this short and it would probably be flagged as off-topic and political.

 

 

Edited by MaxYakov
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18 hours ago, alien365 said:

My area has a few and naturally they are always jammed as they require users to give way to other vehicles. It's biggest vehicle or most reckless approach that gets priority

There is one in Khampaeng Phet amd very few people understand it, let alone what the yellow cross hatched boxes mean.

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1 hour ago, MaxYakov said:

In general, I believe your comment makes some good points but one thing: What makes you think it's the Royal Thai Police's job is to "protect and serve"? I have read their sort of mission/behavioral statement at the Government Complex at Chaeng Wattana and it is, indeed, an impressive document. However, watching them in action and by their very name I believe that have "higher" priorities. I would hesitate to use the "stated" USA model of "protect and serve" when describing the role of the RTP.

 

Don't fall into that common trap of assuming things operate in a foreign country (especially Thailand) as they are said to work in the USA - Thailand is not the USA and one should be careful when comparing it or to any other country.  Capeesh?

 

I also take issue as to whether it's the "governments[sic] job" to educate, rather than what they actually do in the classrooms in Thailand, but that's another subject and I'm trying to keep this short and it would probably be flagged as off-topic and political.

 

 

I don't assume things to be like other countries. I understand they are many years behind us, even though they try and copy our pop music and soap operas. both worthless entities. If they would adopt other overseas (and europe) habits, they would improve things here. I know that takes time, and some look at the US as a disgrace because some there are arrogant (Covid) and won't listen to reason, but as far as protecting their fellow countrymen, they would be wise to take heed. At least as far as policing things. A policeman's job anywhere is to protect and serve. Higher priorities don't help the average Thai citizen. I didn't mean it's their governments job to educate in schools but rather in the motor vehicle association here, meaning more stringent tests in both written, driving and video form, borrowing from other countries that have safer roads.

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76 road deaths on Wednesday after 2 days or more of national holiday and a weekend.

 

Multiple choice (aka guess) hypothesis:

 

1) People had forgotten how to operate motor vehicles after 4 days of holiday

2) People were suffering from severe hangovers from drinking too much

3) People were still inebriated from the celebrations

4) People were simply having a "bad road day"

5) All of the above

 

 

Edited by MaxYakov
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19 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

76 road deaths on Wednesday after 2 days or more of national holiday and a weekend.

 

Multiple choice (aka guess) hypothesis:

 

1) People had forgotten how to operate motor vehicles after 4 days of holiday

2) People were suffering from severe hangovers from drinking too much

3) People were still inebriated from the celebrations

4) People were simply having a "bad road day"

5) All of the above

 

 

5

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On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2020 at 5:41 PM, geoff65 said:

Education Education Education.

Yes quite right. Thailand uses the Education way, Education Education Education, something that has been demonstrated as not working. Same for cigarettes.

Must try something else, and quickly.

For the way they drive, hit their pocket, enforce the road laws, and levy greater fines. Giving fines for not wearing a helmet, is still the easy way of doing police work and getting money. Useless. Fear of the police and of paying fines, well, that does the job in other countries.

For cigarettes, write in plain words on cigarette packs that smoking is stupid. Losing face they might not like. Nothing else seems to work.

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37 deaths at the scene per day since January 1st. That is almost the sum total of COVID-19 deaths in Thailand in a single day. If only they were as paranoid about driving as they are about the virus 

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7 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

Bloody posters at every school with images from accidents might work, but a few weekends at the emergency of a hospital might cure a lot of these people

I recall being on the main roads near Chiang Mai about ten years ago and there were large advertisements at the side of the road every 500 yards depicting  gruesome RTA photos with the obligatory warning that if you drive like a loon/drunk then you'll end exactly like this dotted every 500 yds up the highway. There wasn't any pixelation of the images, it was just outright gore. I understand what the authorities were trying to do but that didn't work either.  

 

Eventually the government will realise that they need a comprehensive driving test for learner drivers and an effective police force.

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1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

That's like 14 Airbus 380's crashing in Thailand this year !

if only 2 or 3 crashed imagine the uproar and inquiry as

how could this happen and why.

 

In the meantime it's carnage as usual on the roads,while

the Government puts so much effort into controlling Covid.....

regards worgeordie

The government is controlling their cash income, nothing else. Do they really care about others' wellbeing?

 

I pretty much doubt it, sir. 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, teacherclaire said:

The sad part is that way too many Thais believe that wearing a helmet is only for the police, not for their own safety. Again, it's the lack of education. 

Yes, education is important, but morality and virtue are also important and largely originate in the family with a moral and virtuous parents and society. An immoral and virtueless people cannot be governed/participate in an effective society - it results in anarchy: Nobody see, nobody know - a quote from a Tuk-Tuk driver who had thrown his styrofoam food container into a storm drain on Sukhumvit Road. 

 

 

Edited by MaxYakov
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When driving on the bigger roads in Thailand, there's at least a few dangerous situations I encounter at least every hour or so, but if the roads are busy, likely many more. Some of the stuff can drive me a bit crazy.

 

One of the biggest annoyances for me is the tailgaters. This seems to be very much ingrained in Thai culture, I see this behaviour so often.

 

Another annoyance is just no courtesy. For example if I go to the nearby city and I'm on the left side of the road but make a light indicating I need to go to the right side of the road to get onto the U-turn, most if not all Thai drivers just ignore my light and keep driving full speed, giving me no room to change lanes. 

 

The light flashing is annoying as well, which also happens often around U-turns. I am guessing people flash the light to indicate: "I won't stop for you, take U-turn at your own risk". Again, just not caring about other drivers on the road.

 

When I started driving here in Thailand my girlfriend told me to not worry too much about the rearview mirror / don't bother much with the people driving behind me. This is crazy. I really want to know what's happening behind me at all times with the crazy drivers over here. I'm guessing many Thai people don't bother to look into the rearview and/or side view mirrors.

Edited by wolf81
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6 hours ago, wolf81 said:

When driving on the bigger roads in Thailand, there's at least a few dangerous situations I encounter at least every hour or so, but if the roads are busy, likely many more. Some of the stuff can drive me a bit crazy.

 

One of the biggest annoyances for me is the tailgaters. This seems to be very much ingrained in Thai culture, I see this behaviour so often.

 

Another annoyance is just no courtesy. For example if I go to the nearby city and I'm on the left side of the road but make a light indicating I need to go to the right side of the road to get onto the U-turn, most if not all Thai drivers just ignore my light and keep driving full speed, giving me no room to change lanes. 

 

The light flashing is annoying as well, which also happens often around U-turns. I am guessing people flash the light to indicate: "I won't stop for you, take U-turn at your own risk". Again, just not caring about other drivers on the road.

 

When I started driving here in Thailand my girlfriend told me to not worry too much about the rearview mirror / don't bother much with the people driving behind me. This is crazy. I really want to know what's happening behind me at all times with the crazy drivers over here. I'm guessing many Thai people don't bother to look into the rearview and/or side view mirrors.

why are there many many motorbikes on the roads WITH NO MIRRORS....I see brand new bikes on trhe roads WITHOUT MIRRORS....why are they allowed to be sold and put on the roads ???

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