"However, Sirichan said the higher arrest rate contributed to behavioural adjustment and encouraged drivers to be more careful and respect traffic laws when they were behind the wheel. "

 

Now theres a surprise.

 

"He added that officers had to strictly enforce traffic laws throughout the year to make people afraid of the consequences of drunk driving, as Thailand’s roads were still the most dangerous in the world and drunk driving remained a prominent factor in road accidents throughout the year."

 

So if they do their job all year round things will improve?  No shit Sherlock.

 

I would like to see the regional breakdown. I have seen hundreds of farrang (with some Thai) being targeted in Partaya for helmets license and even heard about pee tests. But how does this deal with the speeding and carnage on the expressways?

 

Also we hear the largest victims of this are motorcyclists. This is easy to believe for so many reasons. Stupid driving - yes. The fragile nature of a cyclists compared to a large crazy driving truck. No licenses. Poor road safety awareness of all vehicles. But typically the motorcyclists will usually be the victim first.

5 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

So what do u do when they break the rules Just smile at them and clap them  You know one day they might break the rules and it could be me or you on the receiving end  Then you might start cursing yourself

But good luck i take your advice and try and drive as little as possible  I leave it to the experts like you who know how to deal with the bad drivers  I know when i am beaten and i want to die in my bed not in my car

4 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

Couple of points about the file photo in the OP.

 

The vehicle is upside down...WHY?

Firstly there is no Armco barrier and secondly the carriageway are separated by a ditch. Once this car had lost control - whatever the causes - the occupants were at the mercy of the road engineers who have compounded the situation by creating an environment that does nothing the mitigate the damage.....actually the occupants could consider themselves lucky that there appear to be no trees.

Firstly: the lack of Armco did not cause this accident: FACT

Secondly: the ditch in the centre strip did not cause this accident: FACT

This accident was caused by driver negligence: FACT

If there was Armco along the side of the road this vehicle would possibly bounce off the Armco back into the line of traffic possibly causing a multi car collision resulting in multiple deaths, This has happened in Australia and I had to write a report for the NSW Coroners Court on a fatal accident like this that involved the Armco rails.

Or it would flip over the top of the Armco causing more damage and a higher injury rate.

Australia do not use Armco anymore because it has no give and if a vehicle rolls on the top of the Armco then it causes more severe injuries and more deaths, Australia now uses a cable system that is not as ridged as Armco it has give in it that absorbs the shock and stops the vehicle.

The ditch in the centre is a good piece of engineering because it stops the vehicle from crossing into the opposite lanes therefore avoiding a head on collision with other vehicles which would cause more injuries and more deaths

So Mr Academic (555555555) go and put your head back in your books and do some more studying.

Edited January 6, 20188 yr by Russell17au
left something out

On 1/6/2018 at 11:56 AM, Russell17au said:

Firstly: the lack of Armco did not cause this accident: FACT

Secondly: the ditch in the centre strip did not cause this accident: FACT

This accident was caused by driver negligence: FACT

If there was Armco along the side of the road this vehicle would possibly bounce off the Armco back into the line of traffic possibly causing a multi car collision resulting in multiple deaths, This has happened in Australia and I had to write a report for the NSW Coroners Court on a fatal accident like this that involved the Armco rails.

Or it would flip over the top of the Armco causing more damage and a higher injury rate.

Australia do not use Armco anymore because it has no give and if a vehicle rolls on the top of the Armco then it causes more severe injuries and more deaths, Australia now uses a cable system that is not as ridged as Armco it has give in it that absorbs the shock and stops the vehicle.

The ditch in the centre is a good piece of engineering because it stops the vehicle from crossing into the opposite lanes therefore avoiding a head on collision with other vehicles which would cause more injuries and more deaths

So Mr Academic (555555555) go and put your head back in your books and do some more studying.

This post clearly shows the depth of ignorance about road safety. It is views like this that if held by those in authority account for the unaccetble levels of injuries and fatalities in Thailand.

It would appear that some people are still clinging to the long discredited theory of road safety that relies solely on apportioning blame on drivers or other road users....like lynching, it may appeal to the more cranially challenged amongst us who may find it reinforces their misplaced feelings of superiority as drivers, it doesn't actually supply any solutions to the road safety problem.
 The current understanding of crashes is whilst up to 95% are human error, all are avoidable especially serious injury and death if proper safety measures are adhered to. 
As explained by the Car Crash Detective ....
"... Safe System is based on the notion that road users are citizens with rights and should be able to take part in road traffic without risking death or serious injury – even if and when they make simple human mistakes. A Safe System also posits that road safety is a shared responsibility, and thus gives citizens the right to demand safe road traffic from society" - http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/rather-than-blame-and-shame-see-road-safety-as-a-human-right/
We need a paradigm shift to fully understand the issues surrounding road safety to enable us and Thailand to tackle them.
In many countries this shift has taken over virtually without the knowledge of many motorists who just seem to assume the reduction in deaths and injuries is down to their superb driving.
"Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.’" - road safety charity Brake on Transport Network Sept 2017.
Roads are not just for your car.....they have multiple and varied users "There is such a range of different users at home on the roads, with different needs and different dangers facing all of them. The only place in the world where so many weird and wonderful types of user come to work is the circus." Transport Network, Sept 2017.
In the case of the road in the photo, the point I was highlighting in E for Engineering.
Firstly human error is not simply "bad driving" and definitely not by one party; it is human nature, and more often than not, crashes are a combination of behaviours by more than one person. The sort of mistakes that usually proceed a crash are not necessarily "reckless" driving but tiny errors of judgements we all make. A one second's distraction is all it takes to cover 25 metres of road at 90 km, the national speed limit...e.g.look at the radio, turn to shout at a kid, scowl at some "bad driver" and worst of all use your smartphone.
I'm  sure that some drivers are convinced that whilst this is bad practice for others, they themselves are perfectly capable of undertaking this....after all they've never had an accident yet...have they?.
However it seems to me that anyone who considers this photo even for a short time will see some features that clearly have exacerbated the crash.
We cannot know or even guess why the car left the carriageway, but once control had been lost we can see the results.
It appears to have happened on a dual carriageway is self evident that traffic meeting traffic in opposite directions means a lot more energy will be released in any collision, so the median has to act as a barrier to keep oncoming traffic flows apart.
However the median in this photo leaves a lot to be desired. Little attention has been paid to the roadside Clear Recovery Zone (CRZ...an obstacle-free area where vehicles may come to rest in comparative safety). The absence of any barriers for a start. The large steep ditch placed for drainage, not safety, is also  a hazard as it has apparently caused the vehicle to roll; it is, in fact, an un-protected roadside obstacle. On many roads in Thailand the median is actually filled with trees which are literally deadly.
Other obstacles you will frequently see on Thai road medians include such things as barrier ends, advertisement signs, drainage ditches, hard and fixed bollards, utility poles etc. 
At various points on roads the placement of shock absorption barriers can be a life saver so long as they are correctly installed; the principle being that that will absorb the impact of a vehicle...even a fully loaded semi and bring it to a halt without too much damage to occupants vehicle and it PREVENT vehicles from entering oncoming traffic lanes....It is very effective and proven worldwide.
There are 2 main kinds of soft barrier..the W-section Armco type and the steel cord. Both are effective except that there has been concern that steel cord type is particularly dangerous for motorcyclists and if it breaks or splits forms another danger itself. I have noticed the increasing use of Armco in Thailand over the last couple of years
Needless to say, these systems have to be installed correctly and require a concomitant high and consistant road build; poor connections or transitions of rails are just another danger at the point of crashing.
When correctly installed Armco has proved highly effective and saved countless lives.
There are other barriers...concrete is one but again it has to be constructed correctly and the shape has to be correctly built so as to keep a vehicle from entering the opposite lane....they also can inflict a lot of damage to the vehicle and if knocked into oncoming lanes are extremely dangerous.
What the photo shows is there is sooooo much more to road safety than just blindly blaming drivers, what is needed is safe environment  by the implementation of the 5 Es...bluster and  blame wil get you nowhere.

Edited January 7, 20188 yr by Airbagwill

Without a driver/rider there would be no crashes! FACT. Does not matter how good or bad roads are.

 

To mitigate crashes many things need to be done e.g.

1) Improve driver behaviour

2) Better car and road engineering

 

But no point in spending vast amounts of money on 2) if you cannot change 1) driver behaviour. Motor vehicle safety and road engineering has improved vastly over the years (well, in Western nations at least) but driver behaviours do not seem to improve as much. Those who live in what some describe as 'nanny states' know how much goes into enforcement and some education but there is no dramatic improvement, year on year. Until there are cultural changes regarding the use of alcohol and drugs (and acceptance of accountability and responsibility) very little will change. 

 

"Safe environment" alone will not be the remedy for inadequate driver behaviour! Simple really.

Just ban all vehicles except the horse and cart, (that is where the country is at 1st century), mind you I would bet even then the death rate would still be higher than the UK.