Driving at night without lights - Thai's appear to consider them unimportant?

[Formaleins]

On ‎29‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 10:16 AM, tingtongtourist said:

One of my past gf's did believe that having the lights on would burn more fuel.

Anything i could say would not convince her.

Of course she is correct! You do not get energy free - it costs you Baht to run electricity - why do you imagine it is free on a motorbike? If so, why not use your bike to generate electric for your home?

However, the savings you will make not running a 5W/35W bulb will be rather insignificant when it comes down to having your legs amputated after a crash where no one saw you - but what the hell, they will expect the driver that hit them to pay!

There should be a free for all weekend once a month where anyone without lights is fair game to be culled, it would soon put a stop to the idiots!

A while back I was driving back from the city on a dual carriageway, unlit in the right hand lane doing about 90, when suddenly, two lunatics came down the wrong way head on doing about the same speed, in my right hand lane, no lights nothing on motorbikes! These idiots deserve to be killed.

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, glasswort said:

is not as big as you try to make it. You have to be joking and clearly you do not use the roads during the hours of darkness.

oh, yes I do! Driving motorbike every night approx. 12 km.

[exemplary21]

On 10/29/2017 at 10:16 AM, tingtongtourist said:

One of my past gf's did believe that having the lights on would burn more fuel.

Anything i could say would not convince her.

 

Your ex was correct. Having your lights on will definitely use more fuel.

 

The first law of thermodynamics says so...

[AboutThaim]

On 29/10/2017 at 10:20 AM, Pattaya46 said:

I don't know how it's possible, seeing that on most (if not all) motorbikes sold in Thailand it's not possible to switch off the lights...

Very easy.  When the lights fail for some reason, eg blown globe or fuse just don't bother getting them fixed.

[Foozool]

Too many careless stupids are out there. I don't care if they get killed by their own action, but the problem is they put some innocents in trouble with their idiotic life. 

[Pattaya46]

2 hours ago, AboutThaim said:

Very easy.  When the lights fail for some reason, eg blown globe or fuse just don't bother getting them fixed.

Ok, I could understand that, but then I will ask again my same question:

How can these motorbikes drive by night without lights ? 

The OP talked about rural areas, so with few/no public lighting !? How?? Thai don't have cat's eyes! 

[NanLaew]

51 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Ok, I could understand that, but then I will ask again my same question:

How can these motorbikes drive by night without lights ? 

The OP talked about rural areas, so with few/no public lighting !? How?? Thai don't have cat's eyes! 

With roughly 80% of the nations total vehicular accident death toll, all I can offer is they do it very, very badly?

[jacko45k]

As you say, they can see themselves to no need for lights!

Others cannot see them, not their problem.

[tingtongtourist]

11 hours ago, exemplary21 said:

 

Your ex was correct. Having your lights on will definitely use more fuel.

 

The first law of thermodynamics says so...

You and the poster Formaliens must be taking the Pxss or you are really Thai?

 

Last bike i had the lights run off a power from a battery, unless they change this somehow.

I not so good at English either but if people talk about fuel, it usually mean gasoline ?

[Daveyh]

14 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

55555, well, and how and who should initiate that? Prayut? He promises a lot but fulfill nothing. And the police finished their job already when it's getting dark. So what`?

Just saying ............ it's a real problem along with all the others here. The only way to survive I think is to stop driving at night & stay home. Also, I ask myself if my journey is really necessary these days ... if not I do not just cruise around to stave off the boredom here like I use to, which is so easy to do on a nice sunny day or a cool evening. Peak times I avoid any urge to go anywhere ....... I refuse to go out as it's too risky. Bought a 4WD truck with bull bars etc, installed cameras''s front & rear, always have 1st Class insurance, wear my seat belt & parked my bikes in the garage ...... only use them now for a 7/11 trip 100m down the road for immediate needs. Driving at night really scares the shit out of me these days ...... too many near misses I guess. It's not that I've lost confidence in my own ability at all ......... just the mindset of the indigenous folk once they get behind the wheel. During daylight hours you can "more or less" anticipate more what other's may do, but at night? .................. forget it!

[hdkane]

thais have a host of stupid beliefs that they consider scientific fact...one is that the lights of your car diminish gas milage...i've also been told by thais that their car engine needs to cool down every few hours to sustain good gas mileage and reduce wear on the engine...another told me that he routinely puts extra oil in his car to ease the wear on the engine...

[exemplary21]

 

2 hours ago, tingtongtourist said:

13 hours ago, exemplary21 said:

 

Your ex was correct. Having your lights on will definitely use more fuel.

 

The first law of thermodynamics says so...

You and the poster Formaliens must be taking the Pxss or you are really Thai?

 

Last bike i had the lights run off a power from a battery, unless they change this somehow.

I not so good at English either but if people talk about fuel, it usually mean gasoline ?

 

So, how is the battery charged?

 

In fact, at most engine speeds the battery will sit there on the sidelines doing nothing, power going straight from the charging system to the lights.

[exemplary21]

21 minutes ago, hdkane said:

thais have a host of stupid beliefs that they consider scientific fact...one is that the lights of your car diminish gas milage

 

The stupid belief is actually yours, that lights run off some perpetual energy source unrelated to your engine.

[exemplary21]

14 hours ago, Formaleins said:

On 10/29/2017 at 10:16 AM, tingtongtourist said:

One of my past gf's did believe that having the lights on would burn more fuel.

Anything i could say would not convince her.

Of course she is correct! You do not get energy free - it costs you Baht to run electricity - why do you imagine it is free on a motorbike? If so, why not use your bike to generate electric for your home?

 

Exactly.

 

No, they won't use much fuel, but they will use some.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:06 AM, Get Real said:

What number? This is a really small amount you are talking about. Sure, it´s wrong, but the problem is not as big as you try to make it.

 

 

Obviously don't drive much in the rural areas. It's endemic there, and lethal at dusk when it's hard to see, but no lights.

In Singapore in the 70s taxi drivers rarely drove with lights because, apparently, it used the battery up.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, hdkane said:

thais have a host of stupid beliefs that they consider scientific fact...one is that the lights of your car diminish gas milage...i've also been told by thais that their car engine needs to cool down every few hours to sustain good gas mileage and reduce wear on the engine...another told me that he routinely puts extra oil in his car to ease the wear on the engine...

LOL. My inlaws always raised the hood after a long car journey because the engine would get too hot otherwise 5555555555555555555555555

[Get Real]

35 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Obviously don't drive much in the rural areas. It's endemic there, and lethal at dusk when it's hard to see, but no lights.

In Singapore in the 70s taxi drivers rarely drove with lights because, apparently, it used the battery up.

Obiously, you are wrong in your assumption. I drive everyday in the rural areas. The 70s are totally irrelevant to this.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Obiously, you are wrong in your assumption. I drive everyday in the rural areas. The 70s are totally irrelevant to this.

Everyday is not the same as dusk.

[sawadee1947]

4 hours ago, Daveyh said:

Just saying ............ it's a real problem along with all the others here. The only way to survive I think is to stop driving at night & stay home. Also, I ask myself if my journey is really necessary these days ... if not I do not just cruise around to stave off the boredom here like I use to, which is so easy to do on a nice sunny day or a cool evening. Peak times I avoid any urge to go anywhere ....... I refuse to go out as it's too risky. Bought a 4WD truck with bull bars etc, installed cameras''s front & rear, always have 1st Class insurance, wear my seat belt & parked my bikes in the garage ...... only use them now for a 7/11 trip 100m down the road for immediate needs. Driving at night really scares the shit out of me these days ...... too many near misses I guess. It's not that I've lost confidence in my own ability at all ......... just the mindset of the indigenous folk once they get behind the wheel. During daylight hours you can "more or less" anticipate more what other's may do, but at night? .................. forget it!

I think you learned very quickly.  I for myself try to avoid driving at night since I came first time to this country (1982). The only way to survive!

[Get Real]

55 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Everyday is not the same as dusk.

Just wrote in another comment before that I drive at night approx. 12 km everyday. (everynight, just for you)
I just hate repeat myself, just because you comment without reading the story. I also end the discussion here, just becuse the reading before commenting is not up to par.

[NanLaew]

30 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

I think you learned very quickly.  I for myself try to avoid driving at night since I came first time to this country (1982). The only way to survive!

For long distance driving on Thailand's main provincial, dual-carriageway highways, night driving is much easier and less stressful than the daytime alternative. The big trucks mostly all park up by 10 PM and only inter-city buses (that tend to travel in groups and stop for passenger piss & trough breaks at the same time) and speeding minivans to watch out for. Much fewer police traffic stops and the few that do set up around 10 PM are mostly 'off shift' by 2 AM.

 

Daytime is fraught with stuff stuck in the outside lane, u-turning, contra-flowing, lane-wandering incompetents, up-your-arse headlight flashers and loads of BS-Band radar checks. Morning, lunch and evening rush hours are a nightmare, especially close to major towns and cities. Plenty traffic to slow you down and get you all riled up and the same night-time trip can take 20% longer in day time.

 

Having said that, I wouldn't want to take a chance on any inter-provincial 2-way highway at night as that's where the invisible motorbikes that the OP is about tend to be.

[thailand49]

Lack of education regarding inspecting the vehicle and lack of funds even if you they do check. 

Sidecarts, majority of them if not all don't get inspected, since they won't inspect them attached. Police rarely stop them since they know they are used by the poor for work so they get a pass.

It is mai pen rai, until it is really necessary to fix.

[sandyf]

On 11/1/2017 at 1:14 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. My inlaws always raised the hood after a long car journey because the engine would get too hot otherwise 5555555555555555555555555

That is not as silly as you seem to think. When the engine is running the cooling systems are active but when it stops the heat becomes localised. Raising the bonnet creates a chimney effect around the engine and helps take the heat away.

Back in the old days it was common practice to raise the bonnet as engines did overheat, water boiled and hoses burst.

Localised heating has not gone away its just that better construction and materials has reduced the risk of damage. For some old habits die hard.

[lopburi3]

On 10/31/2017 at 7:19 PM, exemplary21 said:

 

Your ex was correct. Having your lights on will definitely use more fuel.

 

The first law of thermodynamics says so...

And anyone who ever powered their bike lights with below type generator will know first hand - it took a lot more pedal power when that generator was touching wheel.  

[NanLaew]

34 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

And anyone who ever powered their bike lights with below type generator will know first hand - it took a lot more pedal power when that generator was touching wheel.  

And when I was dared by my school chums to do the night-time plunge down the very steep 'Steiny Brae' and up the other side in our village, I remember the headlight bulb blowing out and being plunged into darkness at the singularly most inappropriate moment.

[Tofer]

On 29 October 2017 at 11:06 AM, Get Real said:

What number? This is a really small amount you are talking about. Sure, it´s wrong, but the problem is not as big as you try to make it.

 

 

Ha ha, get real, in our neck of the woods it is more normal to see bikes with no rear lights than those with. I passed one recently with an indicator light rigged to stay on being his only illumination on the entire bike - I suppose he was making an effort...... 

 

No excuse, if they can afford fuel, they can afford a bulb!

[Tofer]

On 30 October 2017 at 7:52 AM, NanLaew said:

 

Where's the argument here? If you can see beyond 150 m, leave the lights off. If you cannot see beyond 150 m, turn the lights on.

 

More to the point, what part of Thailand's quaint cultural trait of "up to you" seems so hard to understand here?

'Quaint cultural trait' - absolute nonsense. Let's see if you feel the same when you're scraping somebody with no lights off your bumper / fender.

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, Tofer said:

'Quaint cultural trait' - absolute nonsense. Let's see if you feel the same when you're scraping somebody with no lights off your bumper / fender.

But fearing ghosts IS a very real, quaint cultural trait in LOS as is the likelihood of "scraping somebody with no lights off your bumper / fender." They are not, never have been and never will be mutually exclusive in LOS. One has to accept it for what it is, not for what you want it to be.

 

Having been here long enough to have had irresponsible, unlicensed, uninsured, underage motorbike drivers embed themselves in my vehicle, I don't really need anyone to tell me what I should be feeling.

[Tofer]

 

But fearing ghosts IS a very real, quaint cultural trait in LOS as is the likelihood of "scraping somebody with no lights off your bumper / fender." They are not, never have been and never will be mutually exclusive in LOS. One has to accept it for what it is, not for what you want it to be.

 

Having been here long enough to have had irresponsible, unlicensed, uninsured, underage motorbike drivers embed themselves in my vehicle, I don't really need anyone to tell me what I should be feeling.

Ghosts are not quaint Thai cultural traits, they are superstitious clap trap!

 

You can feel what you like, my first long stay visit was in 1982 and I first resided here in 1989, have been married to a Thai lady for 22 years, so I can claim to have some knowledge of Thailand, it's customs and culture.

[Techno Viking]

6 minutes ago, Tofer said:

Ghosts are not quaint Thai cultural traits, they are superstitious clap trap!

 

You can feel what you like, my first long stay visit was in 1982 and I first resided here in 1989, have been married to a Thai lady for 22 years, so I can claim to have some knowledge of Thailand, it's customs and culture.

you lived here since 1988 ?