British tourist kills police in crash

[berybert]

just hit a dog with your cat at 90 km/h , and you ll see the face of car . you speak about something that you don't know . it's crazy .... are you all experts of what ??? and even if he was driving to quick , is that a reason to be guilty of murder ? the title say : - a brit killed a motorbike policeman driver .... KILLED ???? beter say : a motorbike policeman driver die after accident with a car . a why say that the driver is brit ??? how many expats or tourist die after accident with thai-drivers ( drunked , who takes jaba , who fall asleep , who drive crazy ) ? anyway , the brit will be guilty just cause he's farang so everybody will be happy , even you the expats . you disgusting me .

I once hit my cat with a dog. Other than some spilt fur, nothing.

[richard_smith237]

Nearly every Farang I know who drinks and has transport, drinks and drives on a regular basis, of course none of these would be ThaVisa members nor would they be known to any other ThaiVisa members bar me.

In ThaiVisaland it's always the Thai that's at fault.

In Bangkok, the foreign friends I know who have a car take a taxi when going out for a drink or meal, or their Wives drive home.... In contrast the none of my Thai friends take a taxi, instead choosing to drive.

None of my foreign friends have ever had a drunk driving related accident, all of my Thai friends have. This is not Thai bashing, this is fact as I know it in my circle of friends.

Back on Topic:

As others have said, the damage to the Mercedes is significant.... it looks more like 'car-on-car' damage.

I wonder how they can estimate or calculate the speed the Mercedes was travelling at and what that estimation / calculation would be.

The other questions: Blood Alcohol can be readily answered if the checks were carried out on the driver and the unfortunate deceased.

IF (a big IF at the moment) the Mercedes driver was proven to be speeding and drinking I wonder how this would play out, especially when making a direct comparison with the Red-Bull heir driving his Ferrari at speed while under the influence (of narcotics, alcohol too?) and killing a Policeman on his motorcycle.

[uptheos]

I think it is silly to assign blame at this time in the proceedings. We have no idea who's at fault and it could be that they were both in the wrong. The Brit for speeding and the Thai officer for making an ill-advised U-turn in front of an on coming car.

The person making the U turn only does so if sound judgement suggests the road is clear enough.

Speeding has to be proven, turning into oncoming traffic seems pretty clear cut already.

[Jim walker]

RIP to the police officer and condolences to his family and friends Good chance that the Brit prat will just pay his dues same as any other rich person in Thailand and just jump on a plane head for home and forget this bad holiday incident at least he did not run from the scene of the accident which makes a change for a motoring fatality story in Thailand

[casualbiker]

Firstly. RIP to accident victim.. Secondly. If the bike had actually been diagonal to the car's bonnet (hood) then it could well have done that much damage even at 90kmh. But reasonable speculation is that he was doing more, how much more !!!!

[Happy Grumpy]

It's gonna cost him.

[Torrens54]

Hurled the motorbike 200 mtrs, from the damage to the front of the Merc, it seems the M/C was hit side-on.

Driver allegedly admitted speeding. Hope this serves as a warning for others who flout the laws of our host country and trust the culprit spends a long time in a Thai prison contemplating his stupidity.

RIP Young Officer, deepest sympathy to his family.

[kannot]

As far as I can see from the report the British driver was not at fault.

No evidence he was speeding or drunk.

Thai making a u-turn on an unregistered, uninsured, untaxed m/c.

Thai happens to be an off duty policeman ...... so what.

Was the Thai drunk? No evidence presented, but he was breaking the law.

Unregistered un taxed uninsured.........all sadly irrelevant here, wonder if he had a helmet on too?

[kannot]

Definetly speeding by the looks of the 'Mercedes''.....

Drivel...cars are meant to collapse on impact to ease the force on the driver and save his/her/its life

[kannot]

Nearly every Farang I know who drinks and has transport, drinks and drives on a regular basis, of course none of these would be ThaVisa members nor would they be known to any other ThaiVisa members bar me.

In ThaiVisaland it's always the Thai that's at fault.

you know some odd farangs then, I dont know any who do that.

You couldnt apologise more if you tried could you?

[cnx355]

Benz are well built car and have excellent braking power; considering the damage at the front end caused by hitting a medium size motorcycle, the impact happened at high speed . The bike must have been close to a 90 degree angle at the moment of collision.

Either the u-turn was made suddenly in front of the car or the bike was initiating the turn but the car was at very high speed and the bike did not have time to complete his turn. Impact point would determine where the bike was at the moment of impact.

Alcohol may be a factor in the drivers condition , especially during Songkran; does the bike had headlight on ? May people here drive older bike and do not turn on the headlight.

Difficult to guest the cause without a complete scene reconstruction. This is not often done in countries around here.

[redandyellow]

Another farang that fancies himself invincible until he isn't. How many Darwin awards are we at this week so far? I reckon about a dozen, and we have 3 days left to go..

They'll have to open a new factory in China, and use less expensive metal, not silver.

Then they can tackle the root causes, after they answer why the perfect storm of foreigner fatality factors in LOS remains un addressed at every level..

[technologybytes]

its too early to start talking about blame, not enough information is available.

It seems unlikely this guy is a tourist, and at that time in the morning during songkran the question has to be asked about how sober the motorcyclist is.

In this context the fact that the motorcyclist was a border policemen should be irrelevant, makes no difference if he is a policeman or a farmer as he was not on duty.

[BwindiBoy]

I trust any punishment dished out will be in line with how they've handled the Red Bull heir's case...

[catman20]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I hope tha they lock this guy up and just throw the keys away.

hold on they said that the policeman made a sudden U-turn, ive been driving here 15 years and have to say nothing every surprises me here the way Thai people drive, give the man a break until we all know more details.

[recom273]

Sorry to hear this .. it could have been any of us behind that wheel, we all know drivers / riders, just pull out with total disregard at U-turns.

Hope the guy has a good lawyer.

[Adeeos]

The article states the air bags deployed,,, with modern cars, (esp a MB I'd guess),,,, it's as simple as plugging it into a dealers service computer, and the CAR'S computer, will tell you exactly the speed at impact, the angle of the impact,, were the brakes being applied, how strongly, etc, etc,,, BUT,,, will anyone investigating this bother to see that through?...

[sensei]

"Pol Lt Nonthawat Thongkham, an officer on duty of Hua Hin police station, said the accident happened on the outbound Phetkasem Road at the U-turn spot in front of the Hua Hin Hospital at 2:40 am.

After alerted of the accident, Nonthawat and rescuers of the Sawang Hua Hin Thammasathan Foundation rushed to the scene."

If I am getting this right, it all happened IN FRONT of a hospital and the Sawang Rescuers still got there ahead of everyone else...

[malcoml]

As far as I can see from the report the British driver was not at fault.

No evidence he was speeding or drunk.

Thai making a u-turn on an unregistered, uninsured, untaxed m/c.

Thai happens to be an off duty policeman ...... so what.

Was the Thai drunk? No evidence presented, but he was breaking the law.

There was clear evidence he was speeding by the fact the motorbike was 200 meters down the road. Given the distance one could comfortably say he was well over the speed limit.

Bike obviously pulled out in front of the car but likely misjudged how long it would take to get to him given the cars speeding.

Speed kills.. RIP

[piersbeckett]

Know where the accident happened, it is within city limits,good road, max speed allowed 90km/h.

Look at the pic in the OP, no way Mr Benjamin was going 90, more likely 200............

And that would probably explain, why the officer crossed the road. He never expected the car to be approaching that fast.

We don't know, but not another Thai bashing thread please!!

We don't know, as you say but your assessment sounds likely, probable even especially when the small size of the car as well as its dark colour is added to the equation.

[kingstonkid]

Forget emotion this guy better get a good lawyer and the Brit Embassy better get involved pronto. This guy is in trouble no matter what

[konying]

So many of you are truly amazing .

Firstly , as if no one speeds in Thailand . Everybody speeds on daily basis and gets away with it

Secondly as if police never break any road rules or do not drive drunk.

Accidents happen for variety of reasons.

Sure condolences to the cop and his family, but absolutely no reason to put entire blame on the foreigner and cheer for his blood

[maddermax]

U-turns are the biggest contributor to road traffic accidents. That's why they are deterred in more developed countries with more established traffic systems. I have never understood why the police close down a cross road and move the traffic 50 m down a road to a U-turn which is more dangerous than crossing at an intersection. TIT!

[jacko45k]

Know where the accident happened, it is within city limits,good road, max speed allowed 90km/h.

Look at the pic in the OP, no way Mr Benjamin was going 90, more likely 200............

And that would probably explain, why the officer crossed the road. He never expected the car to be approaching that fast.

We don't know, but not another Thai bashing thread please!!

I would be surprised if he was doing 90kph or less, driving a fast vehicle like that and away from the gridlock of Bangkok ..( we see how the Bangkok plated vehicles behave in Pattaya and often it isn't good).

Hard for a driver to judge distance at night, and these low profile vehicles give an impression of being further away.

There is also the local habit of pulling into traffic without due regard, from any side........

U-Turns on highways are danger-spots, I live near Rt #36, accidents at U-Turns and people driving too fast is common.

[AlphMichaels]

Note to current leader and something that is long overdue (too late here)..., establish a highway patrol. Enforce the laws of the roads and do it with prejudice. It will take years for it to be effective but you have to start.

[landslide]

I've driven that road numerous times, and it is very poorly lit. For me, it is usually the virtually unlit trucks traveling 30kph in the right lane that scare the crap out of me.

[Coaster11]

Hmm, sounds like one of those, I'm making a U-turn now, and don't give a damn about on coming traffic situations ....

If I had a baht for each time I had to break like crazy because one of these idiots cut me off, I'd be a very rich man ...

luudee

Plenty of those types around.

The amount of paint on the road marking previous crashes is testament that you are putting your life in the hands of people who don't give a damn about yours,or theirs. You just gotta slow down at those u turn places...even more so at night as Thais just can't judge oncoming speed and expect others to yield if they put themselves in your path.

This one seems clearly a case of the car travelling way too fast.

[kiwikeith]

Crazy Brit. You don't visit a foreign country, rent a car, and drive with reckless abandon. You don't know the roads and you are a guest.

I hope they lock up Mr. Benjamin in a Thai prison cell for a few years and not just let him go back to the island after paying off the officer's family.

My condolences to Police Lance Corporal Wiroon's family and friends. Terrible that this happens at the end of the Songkran holiday.

Who said the car was rented?

What makes him a tourist? Maybe just his visa?

The police officer's motorbike had no license plate at all

Yet, you condemn the guy to a prison sentence. What if it's found out that the car driver had not a trace of alcohol or other substance and that it was an accident at 2:40am.

Then again, i'm sure you'll find some other answers.

And! the motorbike turned in front of the car.

What was the speed, who knows?

My partners father was killed by a drunken cop in Hua Hin he paid to the family, he was posted south and never prosecuted.

Was the motorbike rider drunk?

[bridge2bridge]

He must have been SPEEDING considering the motor cycle was thrown 200 Meters.

Should be punished for causing a death due to this.

Crazy Brit. You don't visit a foreign country, rent a car, and drive with reckless abandon. You don't know the roads and you are a guest.

I hope they lock up Mr. Benjamin in a Thai prison cell for a few years and not just let him go back to the island after paying off the officer's family.

My condolences to Police Lance Corporal Wiroon's family and friends. Terrible that this happens at the end of the Songkran holiday.

Who said the car was rented?

What makes him a tourist? Maybe just his visa?

The police officer's motorbike had no license plate at all

Yet, you condemn the guy to a prison sentence. What if it's found out that the car driver had not a trace of alcohol or other substance and that it was an accident at 2:40am.

Then again, i'm sure you'll find some other answers.

[brfsa2]

Un-plated bike does not mean illegal.

this bike is just recently launched in Thai market, so to get the plate it will take 3-4 months.

but yes, making a u-turn on a high speed highway was a mistake he made, but, if the car driver was speeding he should be investigate and be trial here.

Whether he was driving at speed limits (100Km/h) would he be able to stop on time?