One killed and 30 elderly passengers injured in double decker’s accident

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Brake failure?  Brain failure?  Hard to discern the difference. 

There is no difference... neither get checked before a tour!!!!

[pattayadon]

4 hours ago, Cadbury said:

The excuse of brake failure is probably correct. Wouldn't surprise if they throw the gears into neutral at the top of the hill thinking they will save a bit of fuel on then downhill run and then ride the brakes so hard until they completely fade. Bingo! Brake failure.

Brain failure would be a more apt description of the cause of the accident. 

Excellent assumption!

[SunsetT]

1 hour ago, masuk said:

I am getting tired of folk who do not know the difference between "BRAKE"  and "BREAK".

........If u r tired : 'Take a brake, take a kitkat!'...........Maybe what the driver was doing.

[sammieuk1]

There must be a Ministry of brake failure working O/T somewhere  .

[Maggusoil]

5 hours ago, kotsak said:

Not sure if the "brake failure" excuse has become more common than the "sick buffalo" one.

 

Yes and as another post points out it is possible if the brakes get too hot but that takes some sort of mega stress put on them as in driving really fast and using the brakes a lot. We take our live in our hands on Thai roads. 

[DLang]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

brake failure

The brakes for the top deck didn't work, so the momentum flipped it over. 

[Radar501]

There is an invisible angel lane along the middle of the road available for bus drivers to make headway.   

 

 

[shaurene]

I bet if they check the rear axel they will find only one wheel on each side.

Brakes, Ha, what not speed.

[bheard]

I'd love to know how someone, other than Usain Bolt, could jump off a moving bus and get in front of it to put a lump of wood in the way to stop it?

Did you read the original? It was reported to be going backwards at the time.

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[bheard]

I see no mountain or steep road. I only see a slightly down hill straight road seeming to start to go slightly uphill where the accident happened. If the brakes failed the driver only had to keep going straight using gears to slow down and lose momentum until the bus stopped. Maybe he/she swerved attempting to avoid hitting slower vehicles in front.

Did you read the original? Don't think so . . .

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[cardinalblue]

They better have a speedy recovery - they're all old....

[SunsetT]

1 minute ago, bheard said:

 

Did you read the original? Don't think so . . .

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

Reading on I see that is just what he did but must have let in accelerate too much in reverse to tip it over.

 

[Robsweblinks]

Driver probably was never taught how to drive in the mountains. I'm an air brake instructor from BC Canada we drive mountains all the time the same one as Highway through Hell. It's not a problem if you know to use your gears, I rarely use my brakes. I have found a lot of drivers go to fast and end up using the brakes to much here in Thailand and you can't tell them otherwise. (Canadian drivers to) I've put over 2 million kms in BC mountains with no incidents. But seen a lot of them.

[kotsak]

18 minutes ago, Radar501 said:

There is an invisible angel lane along the middle of the road available for bus drivers to make headway.   

 

 

 

I liked the decorative "do not overtake sign".. Actually everything on the roads here are purely decorations..

 

[marquis22]

7 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Brake failure?  Brain failure?  Hard to discern the difference. 

Yep, the brain does fail when you nod off???!!!

[gandalf12]

Since when did brake failure on its own cause a bus to flip over? Too fast around a corner definitely

[wavemanwww]

8 hours ago, kotsak said:

Not sure if the "brake failure" excuse has become more common than the "sick buffalo" one.

Agree had break failure and then fell out of a high level Condo! Same Same

[NanLaew]

7 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Quite a lot of these buses are automatic....clutches burn out here quite quickly....but they should all be fitted with "Jake" (engine) brakes...I don't think I've ever heard a truck use them...

Infrequently heard on the steeper descents either side of the mountains on 304 south of Korat. But they're very loud and at night they may wake up sleeping phee so many drivers are reluctant do do that as they all know that angry phee's make your brakes weak and you can crash horribly.

[wvavin]

I really feeling very nervous now if I were to go to any provinces without airport.

[farcanell]

Actually, judging by the narrative, including two people jumping off, he may have had a genuine brake failure vs simply claiming so as a rote response.... makes a change

 

obviously he failed in all respects, in regards the loss of brakes situation.... including telling people to jump off (tighten seat belts and brace, may have been better)

 

 

 

[NeoDinosaw]

11 hours ago, Cadbury said:

The excuse of brake failure is probably correct. Wouldn't surprise if they throw the gears into neutral at the top of the hill thinking they will save a bit of fuel on then downhill run and then ride the brakes so hard until they completely fade. Bingo! Brake failure.

Brain failure would be a more apt description of the cause of the accident. 

I have lived through this scenario  - luckily there was an emergency escape lane of soft sand for the bus to rest in while the brakes cooled down. 

[smudger1951]

Terrifying accidents like this must be due a lack of regulation across the board in the transport industy here in the scheduled maintenance of vehicles and and drivers working to hours with rest periods. There seems to be more attention to sticking decals on the coachwork than checking the brakes or ensuring the driver is trained and fit to do the job.

[Damrongsak]

13 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

....but they should all be fitted with "Jake" (engine) brakes...I don't think I've ever heard a truck use them...

Thais would LOVE the noise they make! 

 

[lvr181]

14 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Brake failure?  Brain failure?  Hard to discern the difference. 

Easy answer, your first question is the excuse, the second is the reason.  

 

"Brake failure" is a national slogan for all things inexcusable. 

[Damrongsak]

6 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

Easy answer, your first question is the excuse, the second is the reason.  

 

"Brake failure" is a national slogan for all things inexcusable. 

Yingluck's car had brake failure at the Cambodian border.

[Thongkorn]

when air Brakes fail they come on ,

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, Thongkorn said:

when air Brakes fail they come on ,

Air over hydraulic, like most buses have in LOS, are prone to misuse and probably the cause of many 'brake failure' claims. The system lends more stopping power with increased pedal pressure and works great on relatively short, hard-braking events like when someone lane-changes or pulls out in front unexpectedly. Unfortunately, drivers think the same braking assistance applies to longer, steady braking efforts like when flying down a hill. In these instances, the air 'boost' exceeds the air compressor refill capacity, runs out of air and the bus is back on the hydraulic-only system. With heat and momentum on disks and/or drums, that eventually fades and they start to panic, pump the pedal, compromising the steering. At this point they sh!t themselves, grab the amulets and either advise passengers to jump out, or they jump out themselves.

[rosst]

On 13/11/2017 at 7:47 AM, Bob12345 said:

Break failure?

 

Time to tow the bus to the police station, get some engineers to take the break compartment apart, and based on the results either the driver or the person responsible for maintenance goes to jail.

 

I am getting tired of this excuse with never seeing a follow up or further investigation.

And which crooked engineer who can be bought and paid for do you propose? 

The possible explanation is the moisture in the brake fluid vaporising under excessive heat due to poor driving. 

The root cause is poor driver training and lack of qualified maintenance. 

I cannot see it changing any time soon RIP and speedy recovery to the injured.