Boy, 13, dead as pickup slams into motorcycle head-on in Phuket

[rooster59]

Boy, 13, dead as pickup slams into motorcycle head-on in Phuket 

Eakkapop Thongtub

 

 

PHUKET: A 13-year-old Phuket motorcyclist died at the scene after he was struck by a pickup on the main road in Pa Khlok yesterday (Oct 20).

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At 2:40 pm yesterday (Oct 20), Lt Sunan Petchnoo of Thalang Police received information of a fatal road accident close to Baan Para School in Pa Khlok Sub-District.

 

Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a Bangkok-registered golden bronze Toyota Hilux pickup and a wrecked Suzuki Smash motorbike stuck in the front of the truck.

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/boy-13-dead-as-pickup-slams-into-motorcycle-head-on-in-phuket-64390.php#wpmbOdF822ooCyoS.97

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-10-21

 

[alant]

A driver crosses over to the wrong side of the road and kills 13 year old rider of the bike!!! A little stunned for words.

[LivinginKata]

14 year old = no drivig licence - but still the pick-up will pay the parents blood money.

[darksidedog]

And the biggest reason why kids shouldn't be riding bikes, is that they just don't have the foresight or experience to realise other motorists won't always do what you expect them to. A more experienced older rider would probably have noticed the car swinging wide and adjusted accordingly. The photo shows this little fella never even saw it coming. RIP.

Edited October 21, 2017 by darksidedog

[Just1Voice]

"Neither did he comment on whether it is legal for a 13-year-old to ride a motorcycle on a public road in Thailand."
 

 

No, it is NOT legal for a 13 year old to drive a motorbike in Thailand.  The minimum age is 15!  Arrest the boy's parents and charge them with Child Abuse and Endangering the life of a Minor.  

[dunroaming]

As usual people are trying to apply the letter of the law when in Thailand it doesn't work like that.  Thousands of children ride motorbikes in Thailand (including many of the cops kids), it is often their only way to get to school.  In Thailand the authorities turn a blind eye to things like this.  Pointless trying to instill western mindsets in a country where easy options are the norm.  It's the same in just about all the third and many second world countries.

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

And the biggest reason why kids shouldn't be riding bikes, is that they just don't have the foresight or experience to realise other motorists won't always do what you expect them to. A more experienced older rider would probably have noticed the car swinging wide and adjusted accordingly. The photo shows this little fella never even saw it coming. RIP.

Motorcross or dirt bike riding at that age prepares you for riding on the roads later in life, but still having to have your wits about you.

 

Unfortunately, he won't be the last.......RIP

[Wiggy]

Very apt name for the motorcycle. 

[DrDave]

2 hours ago, dunroaming said:

As usual people are trying to apply the letter of the law when in Thailand it doesn't work like that.  Thousands of children ride motorbikes in Thailand (including many of the cops kids), it is often their only way to get to school.  In Thailand the authorities turn a blind eye to things like this.  Pointless trying to instill western mindsets in a country where easy options are the norm.  It's the same in just about all the third and many second world countries.

Agree completely. There are similar situations in which western safety standards bump up against economic reality. Consider the laborers that are crammed into the beds of pickup and 6-wheel trucks going to and from worksites, or families that use pickup beds as passenger seating. Not safe, but can be considered an economic necessity.

 

In this case, where the law specifically prohibits kids from driving motorbikes, but the law is routinely not enforced, those breaking the law should understand that they're performing the activity at their own risk. No compensation should be expected for consequences suffered as a result of doing something illegal. (Of course, the flip side of this is that in some western countries, thieves who have had a "slip and fall" accident while robbing a home have been able to sue the homeowner for negligence).

 

[TKDfella]

3 hours ago, alant said:

A driver crosses over to the wrong side of the road and kills 13 year old rider of the bike!!! A little stunned for words.

Looking at the photo it seems that the pickup is on the LHS (or the bike on the right). The yellow line can be seen in the lower left along with reg plate of the bike. That would suggest the 13 year was on the wrong side of the road and not the pickup. The bike must also have been going fast since it's almost welded into the truck.

[toofarnorth]

4 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

"Neither did he comment on whether it is legal for a 13-year-old to ride a motorcycle on a public road in Thailand."
 

 

No, it is NOT legal for a 13 year old to drive a motorbike in Thailand.  The minimum age is 15!  Arrest the boy's parents and charge them with Child Abuse and Endangering the life of a Minor.  

Yes what a good idea , " We are arresting you for child abuse "

 " Why ? "                Because your son just killed himself on a scooter.

[Humpy]

Kids on motor bikes....... who gives a damn ? The parents certainly don't care, the police are happy to control the traffic out side the school gates  to allow the students to join the main road ... no helmets ,under age , no insurance, no licence and two pillion riders and the driver holding a soft drink in one hand !!   One hundred meters down the road is a safety banner showing a crash helmet and the caption '' 100 % '' .......  and I have to jump through every hoop to legally drive on Thai roads !!!

[Headgame]

Just because the motorbike rider was riding without a license or too young to get a license does not mean that the truck driver is not guilty of negligence. The negligent truck driver would not get a pass because he killed an underage rider. 

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, DrDave said:

<snip>

those breaking the law should understand that they're performing the activity at their own risk. No compensation should be expected for consequences suffered as a result of doing something illegal.

 

But compensation is expected, and demanded. And the BiB are complicit in assisting these demands.

[KarenBravo]

4 hours ago, dunroaming said:

As usual people are trying to apply the letter of the law when in Thailand it doesn't work like that.  Thousands of children ride motorbikes in Thailand (including many of the cops kids), it is often their only way to get to school.  In Thailand the authorities turn a blind eye to things like this.  Pointless trying to instill western mindsets in a country where easy options are the norm.  It's the same in just about all the third and many second world countries.

I agree with your post, but, you need to look up exactly what a "second world country" actually is. I can think of only three...

[hobobo]

4 hours ago, dunroaming said:

As usual people are trying to apply the letter of the law when in Thailand it doesn't work like that.  Thousands of children ride motorbikes in Thailand (including many of the cops kids), it is often their only way to get to school.  In Thailand the authorities turn a blind eye to things like this.  Pointless trying to instill western mindsets in a country where easy options are the norm.  It's the same in just about all the third and many second world countries.

If you're saying that it's pointless trying to apply the letter of the law in Thailand, why have laws at all? Allow 9 year olds to ride motorbikes (7 year olds if they can reach the pedals), let kids save their "pocket money" to buy guns, grenades or whatever they can afford, legalise drugs, child marriage, rapes, whatever comes to mind. Amen! One of the several roads towards progress for many third world countries is applying the letter of the law strictly, regardless of one's position in society. As a wee lad I remember wondering how could Prince Charles be charged with speeding on M1 (I think it was M1?), and found GUILTY. No comment.

[KarenBravo]

31 minutes ago, hobobo said:

If you're saying that it's pointless trying to apply the letter of the law in Thailand, why have laws at all? 

So that they can be applied selectively?

[thaiguzzi]

Sheesh!

That's a mess.

I'm familiar with those particular bumpers in that pic. I've looked at them out of curiosity and picked them up and felt the weight in auto accessory shops. They are really nasty bits of kit, welded together with thick plate and thick tube, Much stronger than the common shiny thin tubular S/S items. I would not want to hit one on a m/c and look what the bike did to the truck and bumper.

 A mess, a real mess.

[ujayujay]

2 hours ago, TKDfella said:

Looking at the photo it seems that the pickup is on the LHS (or the bike on the right). The yellow line can be seen in the lower left along with reg plate of the bike. That would suggest the 13 year was on the wrong side of the road and not the pickup. The bike must also have been going fast since it's almost welded into the truck.

BS...you didn't read the full Article. Pickup was on the wrong side.....

[Lokie]

So very sad that this country allows the carnage to continue daily on the roads...  Speechless really?

[tryasimight]

3 hours ago, Humpy said:

Kids on motor bikes....... who gives a damn ? The parents certainly don't care, the police are happy to control the traffic out side the school gates  to allow the students to join the main road ... no helmets ,under age , no insurance, no licence and two pillion riders and the driver holding a soft drink in one hand !!   One hundred meters down the road is a safety banner showing a crash helmet and the caption '' 100 % '' .......  and I have to jump through every hoop to legally drive on Thai roads !!!

Getting a drivers license is hardly jumping through every hoop!

[01322521959]

I have no sympathy for the rider. I ride and have seen standards drop and drop. But as said above, we mustn't force our 1st World standards on a 3rd World country, must we? Or MUST we?

[chickenslegs]

11 minutes ago, 01322521959 said:

I have no sympathy for the rider. I ride and have seen standards drop and drop. But as said above, we mustn't force our 1st World standards on a 3rd World country, must we? Or MUST we?

No sympathy for a child who has been killed due to the neglect of an adult?

 

I don't understand people who are making a big issue about him being under the legal age to ride a motorcycle. By all accounts, he was on his correct side of the road - AFAIK no suggestion that he was going to fast or doing anything stupid.

 

Would it have made a difference if he had been riding a bicycle? He would have been legal, but just as dead.

Edited October 21, 2017 by chickenslegs

[Ulic]

The boy was driving without a licence. So fine the parents for that. The driver of the truck

crossed into the oncoming lane killing him. Charge him for that. Personally I am less concerned

with licencing issues and more concerned with who was driving in an incompetent manner.

 

[bdenner]

9 hours ago, TKDfella said:

Looking at the photo it seems that the pickup is on the LHS (or the bike on the right). The yellow line can be seen in the lower left along with reg plate of the bike. That would suggest the 13 year was on the wrong side of the road and not the pickup. The bike must also have been going fast since it's almost welded into the truck.

They were my initial thoughts and then I did read the news article. Result = I deleted my post.

I still wonder how the car finished up on the right (left) side of the road with the bike wedged in it like that. I'll leave it to the experts to figure.

 

IMHO Thailand will never become a first world country until (amongst many other things) they ENFORCE motorcycle laws and get rid of the dreaded U turn mentality. OK the 2nd point does not apply here but deaths are an every day event. In our Tambon of 15 villages (about 10,000 people) we loose an average of 2 kids and 4 adults killed and many injured a year to bikes

[Stargeezr]

13 years old and kills themselves by slamming their bike into a pickup.

  I hope the parents think of this the rest of their lives. The pickup driver will

have this experience to think of. RIP to the kid, but I am not going to blame the

driver of the pickup with just the pictures I have seen as evidence of the situation.

Geezer

[InMyShadow]

Yes what a good idea , " We are arresting you for child abuse "
 " Why ? "                Because your son just killed himself on a scooter.

It's a great idea and charging parents with a hefty fine or jail time is the best way forward.
Thais could care less about the law but they are extremely sensitive when it comes to the wallet.

[Titan1962]

It's Thailand!!!!!!.

If the person driving the car was in the wrong, blood money so to speak should be paid.

If the child riding the bike was in the wrong, no money should be paid. 

Simple it's Thailand, the laws will never be changed so this will continue.

99% of the idiots riding bikes on Thai roads are young males. Young girls/ ladies and older men seem to have a bit more common sense. 

Mind you there are some idiot drivers of vehicles on the road also. It seems to be a Thai thing and they accept it.

so after a few years of living here and seeing how they ride and drive, I have no sympathy.

[Old Croc]

When immaturity, inexperience and ineptitude encounter the inattentive and incompetent on roads that are unregulated the results are often inevitable.

[AhFarangJa]

13 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

But compensation is expected, and demanded. And the BiB are complicit in assisting these demands.

Exactly.....Because they get a wedge out of it.

R.I.P. to the young Man....