Thailand road carnage: Nearly half of all bikers don't have a licence - almost two dead PER HOUR

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, johnhender said:

Why no just take away the Motorcycle till they come back with a valid license and charge them for every day of storage , put stop light camera and speed cameras everywhere like here in the states and change their locations all the time. Don't pay the ticket lose your right to drive and go to jail. The Police need to do their job for once 

You don't get how Thailand works... police take the fine, let them go.

Fine them again next time, let them go... fine them later, let them go

Can you see a pattern emerging... now you understand how Thailand works.

[whitfield]

Compare with Vietnam.  When they made helmets compulsory the next day not a single rider or passenger was seen without one.  Instead of fining them confiscate their bike for a week and then you'd see compliance.

[Excel]

2 minutes ago, whitfield said:

Compare with Vietnam.  When they made helmets compulsory the next day not a single rider or passenger was seen without one.  Instead of fining them confiscate their bike for a week and then you'd see compliance.

Good idea but for that you need a police force who are not lazy or corrupt and have an understanding of the law and a government who is concerned about the safety of the general populace to ensure effective management of the issues.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Police checkpoints in Chiang Mai will return after tourists come back.

Easier for them to collect.

All the Thai people without helmets and license or insurance / road tax will not pay their fine anyway.????

[MarcIssan]

I was thinking about that the other day and concluded it is a systemic problem.  What good are motorway rules if no one is held accountable for breaking them?  Let's see..don't ride or drive on the wrong side if the motorway, don't ride your motorbike on the sidewalks, don't speed, wear helmets, no more than 2 riders on a motorbike and each rider must wear a helmet, make sure your vehicle or motorbike is up to safety standards and all lights operate properly, all headlights are white all taillights are red, both signals work front and rear, don't drink and drive.  All are good ideas but where are the police to 'train' offensive and unsafe drivers and riders?  Where is the system to track repeat offenders and either incrementally fine or impound the vehicle if the driver or motorbike rider keeps offending?  And if offenders can pay-and-go, how can repeat offenders be tracked and properly managed?  CCTV cameras provide evidence of an event but the police, via patrols and proper ticketing, can eventually teach or take off the motorways the drivers who habitually do not follow safety rules of the road.  But that will never happen here!  Either the system is too broken, too entrenched, or too corrupt.  Please edit out any of my comment that might be offensive or might land me in jail!

[Road Warrior]

no license makes NO difference ,it IQ and education how to drive safely ,such as  NOT undertaking  common practice !!! 

Thais will never change ,its way of life 

[pixelaoffy]

1 minute ago, Road Warrior said:

no license makes NO difference ,it IQ and education how to drive safely ,such as  NOT undertaking  common practice !!! 

Thais will never change ,its way of life 

Absolutely. Been here 12 years and rationality and commonsense not in their though processes 

 

25 minutes ago, whitfield said:

Compare with Vietnam.  When they made helmets compulsory the next day not a single rider or passenger was seen without one.  Instead of fining them confiscate their bike for a week and then you'd see compliance. 

Really ? You don't understand how Thailand works ! Confiscate their bikes has been done . But when they get them back or get another bike nothing changes ! Oh and helmets are 'compulsory'.  ... But umm.  Work if out !

[ThailandRyan]

12 minutes ago, MarcIssan said:

I was thinking about that the other day and concluded it is a systemic problem.  What good are motorway rules if no one is held accountable for breaking them?  Let's see..don't ride or drive on the wrong side if the motorway, don't ride your motorbike on the sidewalks, don't speed, wear helmets, no more than 2 riders on a motorbike and each rider must wear a helmet, make sure your vehicle or motorbike is up to safety standards and all lights operate properly, all headlights are white all taillights are red, both signals work front and rear, don't drink and drive.  All are good ideas but where are the police to 'train' offensive and unsafe drivers and riders?  Where is the system to track repeat offenders and either incrementally fine or impound the vehicle if the driver or motorbike rider keeps offending?  And if offenders can pay-and-go, how can repeat offenders be tracked and properly managed?  CCTV cameras provide evidence of an event but the police, via patrols and proper ticketing, can eventually teach or take off the motorways the drivers who habitually do not follow safety rules of the road.  But that will never happen here!  Either the system is too broken, too entrenched, or too corrupt.  Please edit out any of my comment that might be offensive or might land me in jail!

Or land you with a Job....

[Confuscious]

You can teach a monkey to do tricks, but at the end of the day it is still a monkey.

Meaning:

You can do everything you want to reduce the accidents in Thailand, but as long as the Thais have the same mindset about driving a vehicle and the RTP doesn't give a flying f..c about that, all the efforts are in vain.
 

[lookchine]

23 hours ago, JoePai said:

If they want to die let them - just don't hit my car when doing so ????

and on your side, stop believing that the road belongs only to cars, and under the pretext that you are protected by the framework of your vehicle does not in any way give you the right to cut the priority to bikers, most of the time  bikers die on the roads of siam due to the lack of attention and civility on the part of car drivers who often have no prior training before driving their car

[bloodyholly]

8 hours ago, OffshoreMig said:

To make a more considered comment you would need to know more as to the circumstances and cause of most of the Deaths - Alcohol related, Collision with cars. Not wearing helmets.

I think Thailand could use dedicated bus/bike lanes separating Bikes from cars/trucks  It does not need to be a physical separation. just road line marking would help

“.... just road line marking would help”.

 

I’m afraid not. Thais, & foreigners that have been driving in LoS for too long, simply ignore ‘road line markings’. Education and enforcement of the meagre laws in existence would be a start.

[lookchine]

Is it normal while in many countries vehicles are categorized according to their engine power and in Thailand the law on these said vehicles has not been changed for generations, motorcycles over 750cc  are considered as bicycles and are to be driven on the left line with heavy vehicles, bus tractors, etc. High horsepower motorcycles above 750cc are still not allowed to use highways and motorways .....  I am a car driver and I am also a biker I have a large engine 1800cc motorcycle weighing 320kg and power equivalent to a car and I am prohibited by an old law dating from the time when motorcycles over 750cc did not exist... Maybe it would be time to change a law which brings only danger and risk for users of heavy motorcycles over 750cc and these big bikes to be considered the equal of cars of the same power

[SmartyMarty]

230,000 police in Thailand. Shouldn't be hard to catch all those riders without a licence.

[Grusa]

14 hours ago, itsari said:

I ride a bicycle every day here in Thailand . When I go into the middle  of the road to turn right I put my right arm out to indicate what i intend to do . Very often motorcycles then pass on the right side of me oblivious to the fact i have shown that I am turning right . The average Thai motorcyclist has no idea about basic road rules . License or not . Many other instances I could add where this lack of knowledge is clear . 

70 to 80 percent of the deaths are on motorcycles yet I am quite sure many of these deaths are caused by incompetent vehicle drivers .

Slightly off topic, but when I passed my m/c driving test in UK, in 1967, I was required to make hand signals. So far as I remember, removing my right hand from the throttle was not a problem, there must have been friction in the grip.

Now, on my CBR, removing my right hand causes the throttle to close, making an early right turn hand signal impossible - I have to depend on the winkers, to notify the <deleted> behind me.

I know that all these automatic bikes are less dependent on the possession of a full set of limbs, and brains.

My question: when did the manufacturers, governments, etc., decide that throttles should not have a friction adjustment? (I can understand why they did it).

[farq]

22 hours ago, starky said:

And any of this surprises who? I would imagine the figures regarding licenses are way off. Do they mean of all people of riding age less than 50% have a license? That potentially would be more accurate are the 1000s (hundreds of thousands?) Of children riding motorbikes, samlaw, etc included in the stats?

It's not just the figures regarding licences that are way off. The junta deliberately fudges the figures for road deaths in general by only counting a dead body on the road as a road death! If you croak off on the way to the hospital or, as in Western civilisations, within one month as a result of injuries from that accident, those deaths are not counted!

[paulikens]

surely there shouldnt be any accidents in thailand now, because they're all wearing their masks on the bikes 

[farq]

1 hour ago, MarcIssan said:

Either the system is too broken, too entrenched, or too corrupt. 

ALL of the above!!

[Forza2002]

40 minutes ago, SmartyMarty said:

230,000 police in Thailand. Shouldn't be hard to catch all those riders without a licence.

Problem is 95% of your quoted number stay inside their nice aircon office playing with their phones as it's so hot outside...

[Surelynot]

2 minutes ago, Forza2002 said:

Problem is 95% of your quoted number stay inside their nice aircon office playing with their phones as it's so hot outside...

....and how do they get into those uniforms?.......I mean even the skinny ones (few and far between) have skin-tight uniforms.......they look incredibly uncomfortable.

[doctormann]

5 minutes ago, paulikens said:

surely there shouldnt be any accidents in thailand now, because they're all wearing their masks on the bikes 

Well, the masks may serve some useful purpose, if only to filter out some of the black cr*p spewing from the buses and trucks.  Whether or not they reduce accident rates is rather unlikely!

 

[RocketDog]

22 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Please remove the last six words.....the first six words cover it !

Exactly right. 

All this talk of police, training, licenses, fines, seizing/crushing bikes, etc is all total nonsense. 

 

Traffic carnage will stop only when every man, woman, and child in Thailand refuses to watch their families, neighbors, and friends die AND kill on the roads. Not before.

It's in their hands entirely and any blood is also on their hands. 

 

Depending on external forces to keep yourself and your loved ones alive is a cowardly fool's game. 

[tifino]

5 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Well, the masks may serve some useful purpose, if only to filter out some of the black cr*p spewing from the buses and trucks.  Whether or not they reduce accident rates is rather unlikely!

 

the No Masks serves just the same purpose as No Number plates...   they think it makes them as anonymous as a single shrubbery in a forest

[Xonax]

On 3/27/2021 at 10:40 AM, ChipButty said:

Nowhere in the New TV article were the police mentioned. 

 

She already knows thats a waste of time

 

Or maybe she is just afraid of being accused of bullying the police?

[herfiehandbag]

9 hours ago, OffshoreMig said:

To make a more considered comment you would need to know more as to the circumstances and cause of most of the Deaths - Alcohol related, Collision with cars. Not wearing helmets.

I think Thailand could use dedicated bus/bike lanes separating Bikes from cars/trucks  It does not need to be a physical separation. just road line marking would help

It would be a good idea - but you would need a physical separation - painted lines would be ignored

[Forza2002]

This nonsense about a big bike license (>400cc) keeps rearing its head. What % of motorbike accidents involve a motorbike >400cc, probably <1% , so what is the point?

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, Forza2002 said:

This nonsense about a big bike license (>400cc) keeps rearing its head. What % of motorbike accidents involve a motorbike >400cc, probably <1% , so what is the point?

They are just higher profile and someone decided it was a good idea.

[AMFWolfie]

On 3/27/2021 at 9:51 AM, Dellboy218 said:

I agree.  You don't need a license to know that  you stop at a red light and road markings are purely for decoration.  After 30 odd years here it is  getting worse, certainly more selfish.  It should start in schools but the Police and teachers generally know no better.

I wonder how they come up with the figures regarding no license. Is that taking into account all the 10-17 year old riders not legally able to have a license, have no insurance, no road skills whatsoever and when one of them crashes into you, its your fault. Schools are the worst offenders with police waiving bikes out through school gates with 3-4 young passengers and not a license or insurance between them. When you question senior police why they allow it, the response is "Well they don't have far to go" Obviously don't read world statistics where most accidents happen within a mile of home. I did a Thai motorbike test and apart from the computerised highway code test, the actual driving test with simulated stop, give, way, traffic lights, zebra crossing etc was an absolute joke. As for the safety movie compulsory to sit through, near everyone was playing on their phones. Change the system or nothing will ever change....

[Moo 2]

Covid-19 News should only come second behind Thailand road road carnage has it's by far over taking people dying on the road. Two dead per hour and most of it we are talking about the future Thai generations!

[Pinot]

The BIB don't enforce traffic rules. They're not trained for it and don't have the vehicles needed. The biggest reason they don't enforce traffic rules is there's no money in it. In 10 years I've never heard of anyone stopped for a moving violation. It will take a cultural change to do anything about the carnage and no real support for it. 10 year olds tear around the ban on scooters. I just shrug my shoulders at this point. 

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, Pinot said:

It will take a cultural change to do anything about the carnage and no real support for it.

 

It will take an change to different cultural values for foreigners to adapt and stop whinging all the time.