[WARNING] Video: The last moments of motorcyclist Khun Khwanchai, 41

[FitnessHealthTravel]

14 hours ago, Pilotman said:

What was he thinking. Ignoring for moment the speed of the white car, why  in heavens name was the victim on the wrong side of the road and trying to cross in front of  oncoming traffic.  Another useless death, of a motorcyclist with his brain in neutral 

They ride like this all the time on Koh Samui and it is getting worse. Merging at speed from the wrong side of the road is getting really bad. This is the result of just one incident, unfortunately.

[spidermike007]

As I previously stated:

 

When I was growing up, we took drivers education classes. They showed us these horrendous films, of semi trucks crashing into cars, and literally obliterating them, and everything inside. Also, they showed very graphic images of head on collisions. Even as a young kid, it left a lasting impression, and I realized driving was no joking matter. Especially when you have your friends, or loved ones in the car with you. I am constantly astonished at the kinds of chances people take here, with their entire family in the car with them. Why? What is the logic? What is the reason? Why take those risks? Often, when someone cuts onto the highway in front of me, as I am doing 100kpm or more on the highway, I look in my rearview mirror, and there is nobody behind me for quite some distance. Which means, had they paused, and waited 2 or 3 seconds, there would have been zero risk to them, their family, or me and my family. What can one even say? All of this matters even more when driving a motorbike, where there is no protection. 

 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. 

All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. 

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer. 

 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

Now for my scooter rant:

Many of us drive motorcycles or scooters here, and it is dangerous getting on the roads with some of these other drivers. 

Getting on a scooter, or a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand, much less Phuket, Phangan, Dark Tao, or Samui without a very good helmet, is like playing Russian Roulette with three or four bullets in the chamber. It is absolutely asking for problems. The degree of recklessness here is astounding. And many foreigners come here thinking "how much trouble could I get in on a little scooter, on a tropical island"? Well, the answer is alot. The amount of foreigners who are killed on the Southern islands is staggering. Most are not reported in the media. I had a friend who worked for Samui rescue for many years, and said the numbers were about 30-60 a month, on Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao. The official number is about 3 a month. Rider beware. Use as good a helmet as you can afford, and do not use these eggshells pieces of crap. They crack at the first impact, and what lies underneath them? Your skull, which is very delicate. 
 
Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have two friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last two years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older. 

 

I was told by a very reliable source. He did not have an agenda. He rescued alot of the survivors. He attended to alot of the ones who did not make it. The press here is highly censored. The report only what the so called leaders want them to report. Nothing else. Social media? Why would social media report these statistics? They report individual accidents, but not overall statistics. Anything you read about accidents on Samui in the media would be false. 

 

 

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
• Based on ‘official figures’ today it is possible to estimate that Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.) Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world. Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

So, why doesn't the government act, to make Thailand safer? Apathy, indifference, and a lack of concern for the safety of the common man (pleb). 

Little P.  - Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking, alarming, and astonishing pace. Real men do what is necessary to save lives. Kids and highly underdeveloped people make promises, tell lies and engage in deflection.

[smedly]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

If the deceased didn't have a clear line of sight then he should have proceeded with caution. At least, that's what I was taught. But I guess he wasn't taught and didn't have the common sense to proceed carefully and paid the ultimate price.

he thought he did and didn't see the oncoming car travelling like a bullet which was obscured by the car it was overtaking

[DualSportBiker]

I second that. It looks to me as if the bike should have had a full view of the white car by the 7 second mark on the clip, perhaps slightly before. He is clearly paying no attention to oncoming traffic, saunters out slowly and at an 45º angle rather than straight across with purpose. He does not alter direction; the car being overtaken was moving at a snail's pace and was not a threat for several seconds to come. 

 

His first mistake was pulling out without proper observation, his second was not monitoring the changing situation and third was not reacting, either early pulling right, or late by accelerating left away from the car. After a long night shift he could easily be overly tired. Whilst he made a series of errors, it is a sad waste of life. And yes the car was driving rather fast, but the vast majority of the blame lies with the rider.

 

6 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

The truck wasn't obscuring very much, and it seems to me that the rider had very good line of sight (I base this on 50 years of motorcycle riding under my belt, including 30 years in Thailand). The only two mitigating factors for the rider are the speed of the white car and that it was overtaking. Even then, the rider should have waited a bit longer for the cam car to get clear. Sorry, but I have to say that the rider is completely at fault for not having exercised appropriate caution before pulling out into traffic.

 

It is a peculiarity of riders here (as witnessed in hundreds of videos) to simply and blindly pull into traffic and rely on the blessings of Buddha to protect them.

[Golden Triangle]

1 hour ago, Sealbash said:

I will never understand why people say “Thai thinking”. How would you explain all the non-Thai deaths caused by the same lack of awareness?


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Because unfortunately to many dumb ass foreigners & expats adopt the stupid & dangerous Thai driving habits, they adopt the slogan " When in Rome" unfortunately here that normally gets you killed.

 

I have seen so so many foreigners either not wearing helmets or have a helmet on but not strapped up, cutting in and out of traffic and trying to undertake at left turn junctions etc etc etc ad nauseam.   

[2008bangkok]

The driver was going at a ridiculous pace., The motorbike was not thinking straight as he had just finished a night shift and Lewis Hamilton couldn't stop in time.

3yrs in prison please.

[Russell17au]

11 hours ago, smedly said:

you need to try and place yourself right where he is and then think again, the camera is up high looking down

 

not going to get into a whole thing about your self proclaimed expertise, I think you will find that most people on TVF have been driving for at least 30 years, so what

Much like your self proclaimed expertise in calculating the car speed "excess of 200kph"

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Riding motorcycles on the wrong side, darting out into traffic, disobeying laws and not using good judgment is an everyday occurrence. What is dangerous to motorcyclists in Thailand  is to obey the law. 

[evadgib]

9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

As I previously stated:

 

When I was growing up, we took drivers education classes. They showed us these horrendous films, of semi trucks crashing into cars, and literally obliterating them, and everything inside. Also, they showed very graphic images of head on collisions. Even as a young kid, it left a lasting impression, and I realized driving was no joking matter. Especially when you have your friends, or loved ones in the car with you. I am constantly astonished at the kinds of chances people take here, with their entire family in the car with them. Why? What is the logic? What is the reason? Why take those risks? Often, when someone cuts onto the highway in front of me, as I am doing 100kpm or more on the highway, I look in my rearview mirror, and there is nobody behind me for quite some distance. Which means, had they paused, and waited 2 or 3 seconds, there would have been zero risk to them, their family, or me and my family. What can one even say? All of this matters even more when driving a motorbike, where there is no protection. 

 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. 

All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. 

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer. 

 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

Now for my scooter rant:

Many of us drive motorcycles or scooters here, and it is dangerous getting on the roads with some of these other drivers. 

Getting on a scooter, or a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand, much less Phuket, Phangan, Dark Tao, or Samui without a very good helmet, is like playing Russian Roulette with three or four bullets in the chamber. It is absolutely asking for problems. The degree of recklessness here is astounding. And many foreigners come here thinking "how much trouble could I get in on a little scooter, on a tropical island"? Well, the answer is alot. The amount of foreigners who are killed on the Southern islands is staggering. Most are not reported in the media. I had a friend who worked for Samui rescue for many years, and said the numbers were about 30-60 a month, on Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao. The official number is about 3 a month. Rider beware. Use as good a helmet as you can afford, and do not use these eggshells pieces of crap. They crack at the first impact, and what lies underneath them? Your skull, which is very delicate. 
 
Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have two friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last two years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older. 

 

I was told by a very reliable source. He did not have an agenda. He rescued alot of the survivors. He attended to alot of the ones who did not make it. The press here is highly censored. The report only what the so called leaders want them to report. Nothing else. Social media? Why would social media report these statistics? They report individual accidents, but not overall statistics. Anything you read about accidents on Samui in the media would be false. 

 

 

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
• Based on ‘official figures’ today it is possible to estimate that Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.) Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world. Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

So, why doesn't the government act, to make Thailand safer? Apathy, indifference, and a lack of concern for the safety of the common man (pleb). 

Little P.  - Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking, alarming, and astonishing pace. Real men do what is necessary to save lives. Kids and highly underdeveloped people make promises, tell lies and engage in deflection.

Did you mention Samui?

 

 

Luckily he walked away this afternoon ...& my airbag remains intact!

Edited March 14, 2018 by evadgib

[Russell17au]

13 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Did you mention Samui?

 

 

Luckily he walked away this afternoon ...& my airbag remains intact!

you need to have a look at your dash cam because in the last 2 photos you are showing that your speed is 0kph but in fact you are moving. Look at the distance from the s/stn driveway and the rider in photo 3 then have a look at the same in photo 4 but you speed in both photo's is "0"kph. Be careful of that because if it was a case that you needed your dash cam to defend yourself in court that would be enough to claim that your readings are not correct and have the evidence thrown out.

[cookieqw]

tragic but totally avoidable

[evadgib]

21 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

you need to have a look at your dash cam because in the last 2 photos you are showing that your speed is 0kph but in fact you are moving. Look at the distance from the s/stn driveway and the rider in photo 3 then have a look at the same in photo 4 but you speed in both photo's is "0"kph. Be careful of that because if it was a case that you needed your dash cam to defend yourself in court that would be enough to claim that your readings are not correct and have the evidence thrown out.

Speed and GPS aren't necessary and may not even be possible on a rear camera therefore are turned off.

Edited March 14, 2018 by evadgib

[Daveyh]

This motorcyclist is completly at fault trying to enter a main road on the wrong side & trying to filter over to the left when clear. He got it very wrong & paid for his mistake with his life. This maneuver is all to common here & seems to be the norm when entering the road from the opposite side against traffic flow .............. just another stupid suicidal action most cyclists do here each day. It's fact no one can drive here safely, hence it's the risk you take if you drive on the highway here. RIP.

[Russell17au]

4 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Speed and GPS aren't necessary and may not even be possible on a rear camera therefore are turned off.

You need everything working for you here in Thailand because they will use every dirty trick they can. The unit that I have records everything from both forward and rear cameras

[evadgib]

3 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

You need everything working for you here in Thailand because they will use every dirty trick they can. The unit that I have records everything from both forward and rear cameras

Mine are independent and interchangeable, offering instant redundancy if either fail while out and about.

[Russell17au]

2 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Mine are independent and interchangeable, offering instant redundancy if either fail while out and about.

My cameras are independent but are coupled into the same control unit so I can change the cameras around and it still records everything onto a hard drive so it does not matter which camera you use it will still display both the GPS and the speed because it is not recorded on the actual camera, it is a separate control unit mounted under the dash and it has the GPS in it, not the camera's

[samsensam]

 

looks like the victim is doing the all too common manoeuvre locals do here where they ride on the wrong side of the road and then drift across the road into on coming traffic either because they are not paying attention or attempting to move to the correct side of the road. the behaviour of many people on the roads here is truly bizarre and extremely dangerous.

 

i have to cross a busy 3 lane one way 1 lane the opposite way road every day and every time as i patiently wait until it is safe to cross locals are riding up the wrong side of the road and/or drifting diagonally across the road in the face of oncoming traffic. madness.

[Russell17au]

7 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

looks like the victim is doing the all too common manoeuvre locals do here where they ride on the wrong side of the road and then drift across the road into on coming traffic either because they are not paying attention or attempting to move to the correct side of the road. the behaviour of many people on the roads here is truly bizarre and extremely dangerous.

 

i have to cross a busy 3 lane one way 1 lane the opposite way road every day and every time as i patiently wait until it is safe to cross locals are riding up the wrong side of the road and/or drifting diagonally across the road in the face of oncoming traffic. madness.

And most of the time they are not even looking at the traffic going in either direction, it is "I am going and that is all there is to it"

[spidermike007]

13 hours ago, Daveyh said:

This motorcyclist is completly at fault trying to enter a main road on the wrong side & trying to filter over to the left when clear. He got it very wrong & paid for his mistake with his life. This maneuver is all to common here & seems to be the norm when entering the road from the opposite side against traffic flow .............. just another stupid suicidal action most cyclists do here each day. It's fact no one can drive here safely, hence it's the risk you take if you drive on the highway here. RIP.

 

But it is an action one can do safely, if you look carefully, and allow enough time and distance. For some reason, many Thai people do not think like that. And they take remarkable chances with their lives, an those of their family. Often, I look behind me, after someone has dangerously cut in front of me, and there is nobody back there. Which means that a rational mind, that belongs to someone with self respect, self love, and respect for other human beings, would look first, and then make a calculated decision to wait three more seconds, and enter the road safely, when there was no oncoming traffic. The rarely happens here. What is up with that? Why take such a chance, when two or there seconds is all it takes to do it safely? It boggles the mind. I am not a big risk taker, when it comes to driving. I value my life too much, and that of my friends or woman, if they are traveling with me. 

[GarryP]

23 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

As I previously stated:

Now for my scooter rant:

Many of us drive motorcycles or scooters here, and it is dangerous getting on the roads with some of these other drivers. 

Getting on a scooter, or a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand, much less Phuket, Phangan, Dark Tao, or Samui without a very good helmet, is like playing Russian Roulette with three or four bullets in the chamber. It is absolutely asking for problems. The degree of recklessness here is astounding. And many foreigners come here thinking "how much trouble could I get in on a little scooter, on a tropical island"? Well, the answer is alot. The amount of foreigners who are killed on the Southern islands is staggering. Most are not reported in the media. I had a friend who worked for Samui rescue for many years, and said the numbers were about 30-60 a month, on Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao. The official number is about 3 a month. Rider beware. Use as good a helmet as you can afford, and do not use these eggshells pieces of crap. They crack at the first impact, and what lies underneath them? Your skull, which is very delicate. 
 
Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have two friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last two years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older. 

 

I was told by a very reliable source. He did not have an agenda. He rescued alot of the survivors. He attended to alot of the ones who did not make it. The press here is highly censored. The report only what the so called leaders want them to report. Nothing else. Social media? Why would social media report these statistics? They report individual accidents, but not overall statistics. Anything you read about accidents on Samui in the media would be false. 

 

 

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
• Based on ‘official figures’ today it is possible to estimate that Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.) Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world. Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

So, why doesn't the government act, to make Thailand safer? Apathy, indifference, and a lack of concern for the safety of the common man (pleb). 

Little P.  - Moving Thailand backwards at a breath taking, alarming, and astonishing pace. Real men do what is necessary to save lives. Kids and highly underdeveloped people make promises, tell lies and engage in deflection.

I was in Phuket a couple of weeks ago and rented a motorcycle. I was very shocked by the idiocy displayed by bike/scooter riders.  But what was even more surprising/shocking to me was that 9 out of 10 of the idiots who were riding in a crazy fashion as if they were taking part in the Manx TT and coming out of junctions without looking, were the foreigners not the locals. I assume that most were tourists. I also saw quite a few in bandages and casts from what I assume were motorcycle accidents. Unbloodybelievable.  

[spidermike007]

6 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I was in Phuket a couple of weeks ago and rented a motorcycle. I was very shocked by the idiocy displayed by bike/scooter riders.  But what was even more surprising/shocking to me was that 9 out of 10 of the idiots who were riding in a crazy fashion as if they were taking part in the Manx TT and coming out of junctions without looking, were the foreigners not the locals. I assume that most were tourists. I also saw quite a few in bandages and casts from what I assume were motorcycle accidents. Unbloodybelievable.  

 

Yes, it seems as if many foreigners come here, and they gradually have shrinking brain syndrome. All of the stuff they learned back home, just goes out the window, when they see the locals doing stupid stuff. Not me. I drive like a grandmother on my bike. Very conservative. I constantly remind myself that if I drive quickly, I will only get to my destination three minutes earlier. What difference does that make, in the face of serious injury, or death? Do I really want to die today? That is what anyone driving a motorbike in Thailand should ask themselves, before getting on the bike.

 

Let us keep things in perspective here. It is difficult enough staying safe, and avoiding a collision with the local maniacs here, while driving slowly and safely. Why take those kinds of chances?

[DualSportBiker]

I've been in Phuket once a month for 6 months for work - you are right. I see groups of young tourists chasing and racing each other along the coast road. They have no discipline, no helmets, flip-flops and t-shirts on. It is no wonder so many are injured or worse. I've only spotted a couple of tourist riders who could obviously ride - and guess what - they were riding sensibly... Phuket is the only place where I am happy to see the BiB out in force stopping rented cars and bikes and looking for proper licenses. 

 

I read that renters of bikes need to validate a proper bike license before renting now - highly appropriate. It was a massive scam before. Hopefully there will be fewer rented bikes on the roads when I go back in April.

 

10 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I was in Phuket a couple of weeks ago and rented a motorcycle. I was very shocked by the idiocy displayed by bike/scooter riders.  But what was even more surprising/shocking to me was that 9 out of 10 of the idiots who were riding in a crazy fashion as if they were taking part in the Manx TT and coming out of junctions without looking, were the foreigners not the locals. I assume that most were tourists. I also saw quite a few in bandages and casts from what I assume were motorcycle accidents. Unbloodybelievable.  

[marquis22]

On 13/03/2018 at 9:14 PM, BigBadGeordie said:

No actually it shows him, driving on the wrong side of the road, moving into the main carrageway, against the flow of traffic and driving straight into an oncoming car.

There is a truck parked up the road, maybe he was not able to see the white car as he attempted to cross onto his side of the road?