MaxYakov

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

You can't answer my questions.   

Do you mean answer your dictates? Why should I or anyone else waste any more of my valuable time on your falsely-premised statements/questions and ignorance? Again, review my questions HERE and get serious about some answers.

On 4/21/2018 at 11:01 AM, boomerangutang said:

The older (and wiser?) I get, the more I see a need for the US to eliminate military-grade weapons from non-uniformed citizens (...from people who don't need them as part of their jobs).

 

Interesting that several posters say guns can't be curtailed, because there are so many guns.  That's like saying a sick patient can't be cured because there are so many bacteria in his system.  I differ. Policies can be put in place to lessen military-grade weapons in the US.  It will be painful medicine for some, but so be it.  Just as mustard gas and hand-grenades are outlawed, so too can military-grade weapons.  It won't be easy, but if I was prez, I would put action behind it, even if I had to use swat teams to batter down doors to do it.  .....same if I was taking action to close down bomb-making facilities in private houses.

Can you tell us who has "military-grade" weapons in the USA? Do you think the AR-15 and similar semi-automatic carbines commonly sold in the USA at retail are "military-grade"? Maybe you should research these questions to determine whether your parenthetical "and wiser?" actually applies to your knowledge of firearms ownership in the USA as well as other US-related topics.

So, if you "was prez" [sic*], you would put action behind the use of "swat teams" [sic*] to "batter down doors" to (I guess) confiscate "military-grade" weapons, would you? Again, do the research, above. Also, you should be reminded that the USA is, generally, already a nation of laws and not of the unlawful decisions of politicians (or tries to be) and fought several long, difficult and deadly wars claiming millions, of US citizens' lives to prevent or stop the actions you are advocating in your reply. Perhaps you should do some research on US History as well as US Federal and State law as well as on "military-grade" weapons.

PS (sic* = ): The "Subjunctive Mood" is a feature of the English language. Read all about it HERE. The initialism "SWAT" is typically capitalized, since it refers to the "Special Weapons And Tactics" descriptive term. Thank me very much!

Statement to police: "Ok, this is the gas pedal and this is the brake pedal. Or is it the other way around? I get so confused between the two!"

That truck appears to be jacked-up pretty high since only the very top of the biker's helmet was above the hood line. The driver still should have felt/heard the impact with the motorbike. Yet another reason that it's risky business for motorbikes (and bicycles) to not be sharing the road ("motorbike disease") with larger, four-wheeled vehicles.

Brandon Tatum's cut on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoUv-qSi9yk

4 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Install a proper good HD dash-cam witch is able to read/ record plates also in every ambulance and then together with the vdo footage make a complaint at the proper police station. Maybe is helps a bit in future. It's not expensive nowadays.

The perp could say he/she/it was making an emergency text (sext?) on a life-or-death issue - case dismissed.

20 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

Interested to know the causes of the other 50%, was it simply just Thai driving?

And what percentage of "the other 50%" was "smartphone zombieism" as it is very common just everywhere else in Thailand? Or motor vehicles in need of psychotherapy "losing control? Or just straightforward, routine "bad karma".

On 11/26/2017 at 8:58 AM, ezzra said:

When i travel long distances, what i don't see on the roads is police

presence on bikes and cruisers, and when i see them, they pay no

minds to the traffic around them, you can fly by them speeding and

you'll not get stopped, a lot more police cars and bikes needed to be

patrolling the roads keeping drivers honest, stop and search for alcohol

and drugs use, and heavy fines on the spot for badly behaving drivers, 

put the fear in the hearts and minds of all drivers, show of force urgently

needed, not just the occasional  road blocks....

What!? Want to turn Thailand into a police state just to save lives?

If they really want to save lives, next Songkran they should forbid all motorbike use for the entire seven days. Maybe it will start a trend (or maybe not). I guess I should wake up now.

Another "drink driver"? (or should it be in-the-drink driver?). Whichever - RiP and condolences.

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Where are the latest figures?

HERE (That is if you're looking for the successful death and destruction figures for the first four days)

22 hours ago, ncc1701d said:

Is there a web site showing where each accident has been?

Go to Google Maps, Thailand. Choose Satellite, Street View for any street road or highway. 

1 hour ago, robblok said:

You got a strange / extreme opinion about motorcycles its interesting probably given in by your dangerous habit to go biking in Thailand. You just seem to want to get rid of the motorbikes for your own selfish reasons.

 

The topic was drink driving, I personally don't care much if someone kills himself while he is drunk. Now on a motorbike its easy to do, however cars on the other hand usually don't result in own death but in others death. So yea when driving and drinking i rate cars as far more dangerous than motorbikes as the motorbike in general kills himself with less collateral damage then a car when driven drunk.

 

The bigger the more risk of course to damage others when driven drunk, I think that is obvious you on your bike driving drunk you would probably only harm yourself (unless in special circumstances) a Truck driven drunk.... 

All you motorcycle/motorbike operators in Thailand - Listen Up if you don't want someone to have to chose between cremation or casket for your lifeless body and/or spend a lot of time and money in a hospital due to some screw-up on the road!

Actually, I avoid all motor vehicles as much as possible when cycling in urban Bangkok and have many rules in place to do so. My most serious injury was from a bus at speed that made a reckless lane change, trapping me between it and a carelessly parked car and knocking me off my bike. My most recent was a van driver making a right turn into a driveway and didn't see me when I was perfectly visible with a high-visibility vest and not even moving fast. Hit and ran over my rear wheel, bending it beyond repair, and knocked the bike out from underneath me. Cost him 2,400 baht and my time and trouble, but I was lucky that he bent only my wheel and missed me entirely. I have yet to be hit by a motorbike, although I did T-bone one the other day on Rama IV. He thought he could get in front of me with impunity and I was supposed to stop for him.

The risk of the motorbike operator road is similar to that of a cyclist on the road - light, two/three-wheeled vehicles with minimal crash protection should not share the same road with heavier and potentially much faster and more stable vehicles. This is because bicycles, motorbikes and Tuk-Tuks do not have the personal crash protection and stability that modern cars and trucks have - controlled impact resistance, dynamic suspensions, seat belts, air bags, etc. This puts motorbike riders at a severe disadvantage come crash time, even if another vehicle is not involved. The advantage the cyclist has over the motorcycle is that they are usually not traveling at a high enough speed to cause severe injury or death and they can travel on safer parts of the road or even on the sidewalk if things get too crazy on the road.

But maybe the facts of the above escape many motorbike operators due their lack of common sense and ignorance of physical laws such as (K.E. = 1/2 mv²)

19 minutes ago, robblok said:

I prefer to risk my life being able to ride a motorbike thank you. Its a personal choice and causes far less pollution as cars. Seems you got a problem with motorbikes, that much is clear. Telling people to take  bike or walk.. your funny guy. You know that bike riders die easy too. Maybe should forbid that too.. i bet you would not like it.

 

My point was that someone driving a car badly or drinks and drives with a car does far more damage and more often to others than to themselves. A drunk motorbike rider (not that i condone drinking and driving I hate it) normally only kills himself. A car driver usually is protected enough not to kill himself but usually takes a few others (motorbikes) out in an accident. 

This thread is about Thailand's road carnage, not about specifically you or me. Try to stay on-topic, please.

However, I do find your anti-car, pro-motorbike position comparing the potential for death or injury of each very interesting. How would you rate heavy vehicles such as buses and semi-trailer trucks for their potential for death and injury w/r other, lighter and smaller vehicles? Should we keep those off the road? 

7 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Since motorcycles comprise about 80% of accidents/deaths it seems to me something should be done first about ridding Thailand of the "motorcycle disease" rather than crushing cars. Of course we'll see that happen about the same time we see RTP officers patrolling on bicycles in urban areas - not any time soon. Will Thailand ever shift to electric motorcycles? No, because they don't make enough noise, of course.

1 hour ago, robblok said:

So you want to deny poor people the right to transport.. because poor people use motorcycles.

 

That 80% of the deaths come from motorcycles does not mean much it could be a drunk car driver taking out motorcycles as its unlikely for a motorcylce driver who is drunk to take out a car.

 

I think you should think a little bit more about why there are so many motorcycle deaths.. that is not ONLY because of bad motorcycle drivers but often just bad driving cars taking out motorcycles. As a motorcycle its almost impossible to take out a car worst a drunk motorcycle can do is taking out an other motorcycle or himself.. druk car drivers on the other hand are a far larger danger as they almost never kill themselves during the accident. A motorcycle driver that is drunk will take himself out of the gene pool with far greater ease then a car drunk car driver who more often then not kills innocents.

No, I would deny most of them the privilege of transport by self-operated motorcycle, not deny them their general right to transport. In most countries operating a motor vehicle is a privilege and not a right. And I wouldn't limit this denial to just the motorbikes either, but given the 80% accident/death factor and other abuses, motorbikes would be the best place to begin to save the most lives, IMHO.

Many motorbike operators abuse their privilege, assuming they actually legally have it, by operating them in an unsafe manner, particularly speeding, and by not wearing proper safety equipment. Many more abuse their privilege by modifying their exhaust systems to produce ridiculous levels of hearing-damaging noise. Others misuse motorbikes by using them frivolously for short trips when they could have walked or ridden a bicycle. And it's not just the "poor people" who are abusing their motorbike operating privileges. There are plenty of more well-off motorbike operators with high-performance motorbikes that use (as an example) Rachada Phisek and Sukhumvit as their personal high-speed race track. I see and hear them every day I'm out there.

I know because I've been cycling and observing while sharing the road with all types of motor vehicle operators for the last 10 years in urban Bangkok, often up close and way too personal. I've been told the situation in the rural areas is even worse than urban Bangkok.

Frankly, the last two sentences in your reply make little sense to me. Anybody?

1 hour ago, MaxYakov said:

Yep, Peace and Order as opposed to Peace and Prosperity, the more common American (and other nations?) pairing of the "peace" word.

 

Is there any wonder why Thailand may be in fear of being in the theoretical, developing country "middle income trap"?

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

It already is.

Thanks. I guess so and little wonder if it stays in the MIT for a long time without a massive shift of culture, huh?

Peace and Order!

Yep, Peace and Order as opposed to Peace and Prosperity, the more common American (and other nations?) pairing of the "peace" word.

Is there any wonder why Thailand may be in fear of being in the theoretical, developing country "middle income trap"?

If the society has this kind of drinking problem on the road when severe injury and death or reest could be the outcome, imagine the magnitude of the off-road, day-to-day alcoholism problem.

Since motorcycles comprise about 80% of accidents/deaths it seems to me something should be done first about ridding Thailand of the "motorcycle disease" rather than crushing cars. Of course we'll see that happen about the same time we see RTP officers patrolling on bicycles in urban areas - not any time soon. Will Thailand ever shift to electric motorcycles? No, because they don't make enough noise, of course.

2 hours ago, Naam said:

larger yes, slower no. cruise missile max speed 'Mach 1', Tornado max speed 'Mach 2.2.

Yes, but I'd bet the Tornados weren't attacking at Mach 2.2. Maybe they were sent to protect the cruise missiles from Russian night fighter interception/shootdown? (A cruise missile escort fighter? - just jesting, of course). It does raise the question, though, as to what exactly were the roles of the Tornados?

It seems to me the driver of the white car was also "asleep" or distracted as he/she did not change lanes to avoid the wrong-way black car and then seemed to lose it after the black car had passed. Was he/she startled out of a phone call or sending an SMS or something else? Dash-cam car did change lanes before passing the black car but failed to stop for the accident.

Black car was on road's shoulder so it was unlikely he/she was asleep. I think "looney" was a better description of the black car's driver. It looks to me like there was actually more than one "looney" on the road, which would not be a surprise.