Thailand can learn as Phuket halves road accidents

[Happyman58]

18 hours ago, beechbum said:

I saw a cop on a bike pull over a couple of Thai teens and fine them for no helmet the other day.

Really It is there job you know to do that Pity 95% of his mates dont do the same

[evadgib]

23 hours ago, webfact said:

The dramatic reduction in accidents and casualties has been credited to a focus on accident-prone locations (where crashes were cut by 30 per cent), strict law enforcement using speed guns, breathalysers and cameras at intersections (leading to 10 times more drunk drivers arrested in 2016), and an efficient network of multidisciplinary emergency response teams.

Are these calibrated and serviced as per the manufacturers specifications or is there room for maneuver/abuse?

[khunPer]

Well done – scaring to think of how many more death due to "brake failures" at Patong Hill, I would have read about in news articles, if the Phuket authorities had not managed to half the number of road accidents...

[Blue Muton]

4 hours ago, kensisaket said:

"Last year saw 22,356 Thais killed in road accidents, a ratio of 34.4 per 100,000 population, Supakit said.

 

Three-quarters of the victims were male, and most victims were between 15 and 26 years old.

 

An estimated 5,000 Thais are maimed or disabled in road crashes every year, he said."

 

REALLY? Fewer people are maimed or disabled than are killed.  

It is not unknown for truck drivers to have another go at injured victims to finish them off as dead victims are less costly than maimed ones.

[helloagain]

23 hours ago, stevenl said:

I think on average we about one road death every other day, a number that has been more or less stable for quite some time now. The reports we read are of course only the serious accidents, but I agree, very much doubt Phuket halved the number, it seems quite stable, and if Phuket is a lighting example for the rest of Thailand I can't see much improvement anywhere.

 

I thought the cameras at intersections were setup in 2017?

Speedguns on the island, anybody ever seen a mobile unit?

Never ever see speed guns or anything else. Im on the road every day. Pie in the sky i think

[wavemanwww]

20 hours ago, beechbum said:

I saw a cop on a bike pull over a couple of Thai teens and fine them for no helmet the other day.

Geez Did you take a photo. It might end up as a collectors item?

[Destiny1990]

Phuket is clearly trying todo something about the accident rate but what are other cities doing?

[farcanell]

7 hours ago, Dukeleto said:

All that data...gathered by who? Interpreted by who? I've been here for 10 years and haven't seen a single gram of change regards to applying the rules of the road. I have seen a ten fold rise in the amount of cars and bikes on the road here...which also means a ten fold rise in idiots. My own stats end eyes immediately tell me this headline is a load of "ye olde cods wallop".

Much like last weeks headline, quoting different numbers, was cods wallop... as was the case with the numbers quoted the week before that.... etc etc.

 

 

[farcanell]

3 hours ago, evadgib said:

Are these calibrated and serviced as per the manufacturers specifications or is there room for maneuver/abuse?

No.... they are kept on display at police headquarters, so everyone can see that they have “up to date” equipment to use, in combating crime.

[james2m]

That number probably excludes the taxi mafia with their camera proof number plates and impunity to do whatever the hell they want. 

 

My wife has the motto “if you can drive in Phuket you can drive anywhere” I’ve never come across such unskilled, inconsiderate drivers. Until Phuket Argentina’s were my low water mark. 

[Felt 35]

 ah so gullible we are. I bet a few of the long staying old farts here today have a few local acquaintances, friends or connections also outside the bar scene, our self or through our better half's and hear another side of the fairy-tale nearly daily

[ChrisY1]

Nothing positive ever gets done to improve road fatalities.....to say that deaths have halved is BS!

[Airbagwill]

A lot of this is helped by the changwats being an island. They can develop their own mini road safety culture.

 

The most obvious thing about driving in Phuket is the road system. It has road layout that is reminiscent of Europe..it is far more sophisticated than anywhere else in Thailand.

The island is a bit like one big city.

I also see in the article that they have an emergency response system.

...and they claim to have more effective enforcement.

So they have

• Engineering
• Enforcement
• Emergency

 

All they need to complete this is effective education and evaluation and they will make REAL progress.

[Airbagwill]

2 hours ago, james2m said:

That number probably excludes the taxi mafia with their camera proof number plates and impunity to do whatever the hell they want. 

 

My wife has the motto “if you can drive in Phuket you can drive anywhere” I’ve never come across such unskilled, inconsiderate drivers. Until Phuket Argentina’s were my low water mark. 

I find Phuket one of the easiest places to drive in Thailand, for the reasons I stated above. However if your wife is Thai, I think many Thai drivers would find it quite difficult as they are restricted from indulging in their usual driving habits by the road design.

Phuket is the only place in Thailand where I have seen serious attempts at traffic engineering.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Airbagwill

[Airbagwill]

4 hours ago, Blue Muton said:

It is not unknown for truck drivers to have another go at injured victims to finish them off as dead victims are less costly than maimed ones.

Thailand does not gather statistics to I standards.

In a crash, there are 3 categories of injury.

Death

Serious injury

Minor injury

 

Without these being properly collated it is very hard to get a good handle on what is actually happening.

There is even the calculation that suggests UK and Thailand have the same number of crashes, yet the death toll is up to 10 or 20 times higher in Thailand.

Without reliable stats this is not investigable.

The stat being most widely quoted is just one out of a whole set supplied by WHO, which ignores the rest of their stats on Thailand. It is treated more like a football league table than a serious piece of information to be analysed

 

[thaimelody]

half a smelly poo is still a smelly poo

[tryasimight]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The dramatic reduction in accidents and casualties has been credited to a focus on accident-prone locations (where crashes were cut by 30 per cent), strict law enforcement using speed guns, breathalysers and cameras at intersections (leading to 10 times more drunk drivers arrested in 2016), and an efficient network of multidisciplinary emergency response teams.

 

If this is true, it is a good thing. I am skeptical, as I tend not to believe ANYTHING a Thai agency tells us. But, there is a strange thing known as a deterrent. It is used throughout most of the world, to keep the roads safer. In Thailand it barely seems to exist. On the highways, the only time I see a cop is AFTER an accident. I have never once in over a decade, witnessed someone being pulled over for speeding, or reckless driving. Never once. I have heard about DUI checks, but never seen one. 

 

Unless and until the police can be convinced, or trained, or coerced into doing their jobs, nothing will change. Nothing. 

I've seen plenty.. Breathalyser checks and speed cameras. In Isaan that is. 

Edited December 2, 2017 by tryasimight

[rwill]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 11:02 PM, webfact said:

credited to a focus on accident-prone locations (where crashes were cut by 30 per cent),

So where most of the accidents occur it was reduced 30% and everywhere else must have been reduced to 0% to hit 50% overall.

[tryasimight]

6 hours ago, evadgib said:

Are these calibrated and serviced as per the manufacturers specifications or is there room for maneuver/abuse?

I guess that is a question you need to ask the police.  I doubt many posters here can answer that question definitively. 

[tryasimight]

5 hours ago, Blue Muton said:

It is not unknown for truck drivers to have another go at injured victims to finish them off as dead victims are less costly than maimed ones.

Please provide some evidence to support your assertions.

[Airbagwill]

7 hours ago, helloagain said:

Never ever see speed guns or anything else. Im on the road every day. Pie in the sky i think

Is your address on your blue book? You may not have seen them, but they  may well  have seen  you 

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, tryasimight said:

Please provide some evidence to support your assertions.

There is some strong evidence there, but not about truckers!

[zaZa9]

Im doubtful about the stats.

But to deny that any effort has been made is false.

I see  regular road blocks at Surin , Naka and Karon.

Breathalysers to.

 

Bends have been widened and improved in many spots , particular in the North.

Lights and underpasses  , guard rails and red zones are constantly being added.

 

I personally find Phuket drivers to be far worse than many other provinces in selfishness  , not the other way round . But many a road here is simply too narrow or hilly  to allow for much  sustained speed .

I think theres just as many accidents as any other province per capita , just that they are far lower impact and therefore less deadly.

[jacko45k]

On 12/1/2017 at 6:35 PM, beechbum said:

I saw a cop on a bike pull over a couple of Thai teens and fine them for no helmet the other day.

Well yes I saw to police road blocks while riding around yesterday around midday and it wasn't just the tourists being pulled over... oh and an accident!

This doesn't address the problem in my mind.

[pattayadgw]

Lets all pat each other on the back boys... if you believe this article you'll also believe that martians landed yesterday on Patong beach and were all seen smoking cigarettes... who comes up with this stuff?? unbelievable!

[stevenl]

8 hours ago, zaZa9 said:

Im doubtful about the stats.

But to deny that any effort has been made is false.

I see  regular road blocks at Surin , Naka and Karon.

Breathalysers to.

 

Bends have been widened and improved in many spots , particular in the North.

Lights and underpasses  , guard rails and red zones are constantly being added.

 

I personally find Phuket drivers to be far worse than many other provinces in selfishness  , not the other way round . But many a road here is simply too narrow or hilly  to allow for much  sustained speed .

I think theres just as many accidents as any other province per capita , just that they are far lower impact and therefore less deadly.

Considering the number of people on the island, the same number of accidents as other provinces per capita would be a major achievement.

[bubblegum]

I believe the article, Its harder to have a fatal accident while being stuck in a traffic jam !

[geriatrickid]

LOL Congestion was the cause of the reduction. When there is no movement, it is difficult to cause a crash.

[Airbagwill]

4 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

LOL Congestion was the cause of the reduction. When there is no movement, it is difficult to cause a crash.

although slower traffic results in lower fatality rates, half of Thailand's road deaths are said to occur in Bangkok.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Airbagwill