Songkran crackdown to battle road accidents, harsher penalties promised

[Humpy]

 Our local police are happy to see youngsters and teenagers 'ambush' passing motorcyclists with buckets of water during Songkran. ........ four on a bike, no helmets, no licence...... driven by a kid not old enough to have a licence.

 Perhaps the bus 'driver' had difficulty seeing out of his windscreen which, if it was anything like other buses, was covered in stickers and other paraphernalia .

Many countries call on the expertise of other countries for advice on how they maintain their high road safety measures. Are you listening Mr DPM ?

[lvr181]

11 minutes ago, Humpy said:

Are you listening Mr DPM ?

When you're into self-aggrandisement you do your own thing - no requirement to listen to ANYONE!  

[sstuff3]

On 3/24/2018 at 7:08 AM, rooster59 said:

Damrongsak said police suspected the driver did not use a low gear during the six-kilometre-long downhill road section but kept tapping on the air brake pedal for control until the system was out of air. 

 

Obviously the Police and crash investigators are not aware how air brake systems work.  If the system runs out of air, the vehicle's brakes will engage bringing it to a stop, not the opposite.  Blind leading the blind. 

[Airbagwill]

56 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Ah... thanks... I was about to ask about the skid marks supposedly left by the bus

 

By default, air brakes are fully engaged. However skid marks indicate a loss of traction, this means the driver would be unable to control the direction of the vehicle.

I don't know how an ABS system works in these circumstances or even if such a thing is fitted to these coaches.

[Airbagwill]

56 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Ah... thanks... I was about to ask about the skid marks supposedly left by the bus

 

By default, air brakes are fully engaged. However skid marks indicate a loss of traction, this means the driver would be unable to control the direction of the vehicle.

I don't know how an ABS system works in these circumstances or even if such a thing is fitted to these coaches.

[farcanell]

2 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

By default, air brakes are fully engaged. However skid marks indicate a loss of traction, this means the driver would be unable to control the direction of the vehicle.

I don't know how an ABS system works in these circumstances or even if such a thing is fitted to these coaches.

Right... more thanks... I was also going to query the interaction of the two safety systems ( but figured one good answer was enough of a win)

[Airbagwill]

16 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Right... more thanks... I was also going to query the interaction of the two safety systems ( but figured one good answer was enough of a win)

ABS requires a "pulsing" of the brakes so I would imagine there needs to be air in the system....so even if fitted with no air one assumes the system would simply lock up.

[Chiang Mai Bill]

Groundhog day again!

[Cake Monster]

Always so easy to blame the Bus Company, The Driver, Road conditions Etc.

 

There is only one party that has to carry the blame, and that is the Government for allowing all this senseless waste of life to continue year after year.

[lvr181]

36 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Always so easy to blame the Bus Company, The Driver, Road conditions Etc.

 

There is only one party that has to carry the blame, and that is the Government for allowing all this senseless waste of life to continue year after year.

Yup, but they will NEVER take ownership of the problem. 

[sambum]

4 hours ago, Humpy said:

 Our local police are happy to see youngsters and teenagers 'ambush' passing motorcyclists with buckets of water during Songkran. ........ four on a bike, no helmets, no licence...... driven by a kid not old enough to have a licence.

 Perhaps the bus 'driver' had difficulty seeing out of his windscreen which, if it was anything like other buses, was covered in stickers and other paraphernalia .

Many countries call on the expertise of other countries for advice on how they maintain their high road safety measures. Are you listening Mr DPM ?

"Many countries call on the expertise of other countries for advice" 

 

Been here long?

[Jonmarleesco]

On 3/24/2018 at 7:08 AM, rooster59 said:

a requirement for an alcohol test after every road accident that causes serious injury and death.

 

Closing the stable door comes to mind. 

[Lingba]

LOts of the usual lip service to impress the ignorant....bunch of horse sh*t

[Jonmarleesco]

On 3/24/2018 at 7:08 AM, rooster59 said:

Krissana said he drove the coach downhill at a “moderately high speed” and had a brake malfunction resulting in the crash, after which he fled for fear of being punished for so many deaths. 

Must be the default excuse; it's always a moderate speed, and it's invariably brake failure, as opposed to brain failure. 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, Cake Monster said:

Always so easy to blame the Bus Company, The Driver, Road conditions Etc.

 

There is only one party that has to carry the blame, and that is the Government for allowing all this senseless waste of life to continue year after year.

The Government(s) should shoulder some of the blame, as should the BIB for not enforcing the laws that are already in place, but rogue drivers and companies not maintaining their vehicles are also partly to blame.

 

Are you a Bus /Taxi driver yourself perchance? 

[farcanell]

3 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

ABS requires a "pulsing" of the brakes so I would imagine there needs to be air in the system....so even if fitted with no air one assumes the system would simply lock up.

I figured I should work on my ignorance by educating myself.

 

so... in the event of an ABS malfunction, the electronic controller disables the ABS system

 

if the malfunction is loss of air pressure, the vehicles traditional spring brake engage fully, as you say

 

thanks for your input.

[siamcrut]

Nothing is going to change this year and neither the next 20 years!

[juice777]

including a requirement for an alcohol test after every road accident that causes serious injury and death.

I am flabbergasted that its not a normal requirement.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Airbagwill]

13 minutes ago, siamcrut said:

Nothing is going to change this year and neither the next 20 years!

You seem a bit unobservant.

There has been a massive amount of change over the past 10 years alone....The numbers of vevehicles have increased exponentially and the roads have changed, Furthermore, there is about to be a massive expansion of the miniscule Motorway system.

The attitudes of government will be hard pushed to remain static as the fatalities ccontinue to soar.

This puts a huge burden on the State...about 5% of GDP....... No government can for long accept casualties on the roads that exceed that of a full blown war.

The current problem is that the knowledge, expertise and plans are already there but not listened to; it is just a matter of time before national and international pressures mean they have to be executed.

It will involve the replacement or sidestepping of a few ministers, but no country can continue like this. Actually France had a similar problem to this in the 1970s., and America a few years before that....not that the YEAr's record has been that good, but even if Thailand performed similarly ttoto them, it would be an improvement on today's situation.

The other aspect that many here and elsewhere don't seem to appreciate is that the changes required are so fundamental that it may take decades for true benefits to become apparent.

[sambum]

26 minutes ago, juice777 said:

including a requirement for an alcohol test after every road accident that causes serious injury and death.

I am flabbergasted that its not a normal requirement.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

It probably is - it's just resurrected to bolster the usual yearly speechifying about how to reduce the road carnage during Songkran.

[selftaopath]

On 3/24/2018 at 3:04 PM, les Dennis said:

Pay the police a proper salary, give them a percentage of every legitimate offence and ticket/fine they give , and hey presto. Corruption gone and the police have an incentive to actually do some work. 

Thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

 

Thanks again for your post.

[Airbagwill]

6 hours ago, selftaopath said:

Thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

 

Thanks again for your post.

Most police earn about 15000 per month entry level is about 7000 baht

 They are expected to buy a lot of their own stuff, motorcycles, stationery even guns.

 

There are about a quarter of a million of them. One of the largest armed forces in the country.

 

Basically it is a paramilitary organisation which is Why they are not trained in matters of road safety and the usual policing skills

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed.

 

[Redline]

Yea sure.  This country doesn’t care about its people, or they would have addressed this long ago

[Keesters]

 

[jerojero]

So regular devastating accidents don't warrant mandatory tests for drivers, just Songkran does? Land of Inconsistencies. Sheesh!

[Airbagwill]

59 minutes ago, jerojero said:

So regular devastating accidents don't warrant mandatory tests for drivers, just Songkran does? Land of Inconsistencies. Sheesh!

Mandatory? How would you organise that?

[metisdead]

Some more off topic posts and the replies have been removed.

[kannot]

On 3/25/2018 at 4:42 PM, selftaopath said:

Thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

 

Thanks again for your post.

I have a Policeman come here regularly as we pay them each month, he is not a high position but he is not on the bottom rung, he gets 20k a month the problem is they have so many ranks Im not sure what he is but its really not high its something like police sergeant  something something something. he also gets a  pension later and free healthcare for  all the family , he doesnt like the job says the corruption in the Police is disgusting but he is  unable to say anything or his  job is toast. All the bribe money is split by percentage so the top man may get 50% then next down 25 then 12.5  then down to him where he gets 1.5% Thats how it works.

Ive told him that UK police dont have a  second of the day to themselves whereas he can come here an sit  chatting sometimes for over an hour so its not exactly hard work.

[sambum]

10 hours ago, kannot said:

I have a Policeman come here regularly as we pay them each month, he is not a high position but he is not on the bottom rung, he gets 20k a month the problem is they have so many ranks Im not sure what he is but its really not high its something like police sergeant  something something something. he also gets a  pension later and free healthcare for  all the family , he doesnt like the job says the corruption in the Police is disgusting but he is  unable to say anything or his  job is toast. All the bribe money is split by percentage so the top man may get 50% then next down 25 then 12.5  then down to him where he gets 1.5% Thats how it works.

Ive told him that UK police dont have a  second of the day to themselves whereas he can come here an sit  chatting sometimes for over an hour so its not exactly hard work.

It's not exactly hard work because they make it that way by "sitting and chatting for an hour or so", instead of doing the job that they are supposed to be doing!

And just as a matter of interest, "as we pay them each month." For what exactly?

 

And the corruption will never stop until they tackle it from the top downwards - not the other way round, and it would take a brave man to take on that job. Obviously the one in charge at the moment is not the right one, and moving offending officers to "inactive posts" to my mind is not the way - what's wrong with SACKING people? Oh, sorry, they'd be wanting the money back that they'd paid to get the job in the first place!

 

Also it is inherent in the people that corruption is OK, so it needs to be taught in schools that it is NOT OK, (Yawn!) but once again, talking about it is no good, things need to be done to stop it - the same as the usual talk that comes out every year about reducing the carnage at Songkran, (Just to stay on topic!) and then reverting to "normal service" afterwards.

Edited March 27, 2018 by sambum