Songkran crackdown to battle road accidents, harsher penalties promised

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Why do these measures come up only for Songkran? Yes, Thai roads are worse during the holidays, but they suck year-round; why not work to reduce the carnage year-round?

 

Why not test for alcohol on every serious accident, all the time?

 

This has all the usual noise of being a "crackdown" which is essentially meaningless noise that passes in a day or two. Like a fart.

 

Thailand- are you proud to have the most dangerous roads in the world? Do something!

 

 

"Why not test for alcohol on every serious accident, all the time?"

 

Why not test for alcohol after any RTC? Oh! don't tell me, most of the policemen are in an inactive post.

[alant]

2 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

if the system was out of air, the brakes would have locked on.

that's my understanding, unless the way air brakes work has been altered the air is needed to prevent the brakes being applied.

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

When downhill you MUST go the same speed you had when climbing .But none thai people know about that; they don't learn in school how to drive safely.

My dad, a bus and coach driver since the 1950s (retired now), always told me to go down a hill one gear higher than you would need to go up it.

 

Always worked for me

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, chrisinth said:

They still don't get it do they? Boosting road safety during public long holidays is akin to putting an elastoplast on a trauma wound. At first it will stem the flow of blood until it becomes saturated and stops being an aid, returning to the condition before being applied. Same as applying stricter measures for a given period of time and then reverting to 'normal'.

 

These measures need to be applied all year round if Thailand is going to change the figures for accidents, injuries & deaths on it's roads.

I say there should be another 24 hour crackdown.

[Cranky]

Solutions offered are a complete waste of time, most of the fixes are so simple they could be implemented by a five year-old.  The issues are far more deep rooted in a society that simply doesn't care about anything or anyone but Numero Uno.  K'em, invest in funeral parlours for a great return. 

[coulson]

9 hours ago, 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 a typo, *brain* malfunction leading to improper application of brakes. The brain seemed to wake up though when he knew a *moderately severe* beating would ensue.

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, Chrisdoc said:

That is not fair to the police. In Pattaya they are very busy fining people for smoking on the beach.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Well that's one crackdown that actually lasted for more than 24 hours.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, 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. 

"Corruption gone and the police have an incentive to actually do some work." But what about the Lt/Cols and Maj/Gens? they have paid a lot of money for their fancy ranks, then there's the fancy cars and big houses.

[piewarmer]

1 hour ago, 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. 

This expat left Australia to get away from police quotas.

I still amused by motorbikers turning a corner and removing their helmet, even police do it.

I think helmets should have the straps clicked on, not dangling.

[johnny49r]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Songkran crackdown to battle road accidents, harsher penalties promised

Last years rhetoric with this years carnage photos. The police and government people are several fries short of a happy meal. 

[Squigy]

Why the hell cant the Government be pro active for a change. Every year the situation gets out off control.

 

Bill 

[dallen52]

3 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

"including a requirement for an alcohol test after every road accident"

AFTER???

 

Why not before?

 

The fact is that the authorities in Thailand have allowed a deadly road safety environment to develop over the last 3 or 4 decades - and now they are trying to fine or punish Thai people for entering the very environment they created.

It was successive Thai governments that have allowed the private motor to be king in a totally unplanned and unregulated transport system...so now they reap the rewards - human error is a constant in all countries it is the duty of governments to create systems where human error is mitigated and others are protected - they have patently failed in this.

 

I drove rigs in Oz for a while. 

You don't get a HC heavy combination, or a B double licence out of a weetabix box. 

We are talking up to forty wheels and sixty tonnes gross. 

I know they can beat sixty in Thailand and with less wheels. 

 

The condition of holding the licence is zero alcohol for 12 hours before driving. 

All vehicles are fitted with a control system which cannot be tampered with. Sealed tachograph unit. 

Electric log books. 

GPS obviously. 

We had to have medicals. 

The trucks were obviously inspected. 

 

Over 250.000 police and support personnel in Thailand. 

And basically they are nothing more than glorified parking inspectors. 

Writing tickets for the low hanging fruit. 

(500 baht fines from tourists). 

 

It's the same story again and again. 

And people keep dieing. 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by metisdead
Offensive animated emoji removed.

[metisdead]

A post using a foreign language has been removed as this is the English language side of the forum. 

 

An offensive post has been removed. 

Edited March 24, 2018 by metisdead

[Squigy]

Not <deleted> good enough.

 

 

Bill

[geoffrobbo]

"reckless driving causing death and injuries, failing to stop to provide aid to injured passengers and having narcotic substances in his body while driving."

Perhaps Boss Red Bull can give him some advice on how to avoid prosecution.

[Bangkok Barry]

9 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Harsher penalties promised! This is just another government Pinocchio promise. 

All that will change is the size of the envelope will increase ( to police or the judiciary) to maintain the penalty status quo.

More utter nonsense about brown envelopes. As original as saying those who don't like A B or C in Thailand should go home instead of pointing out shortcomings.
The real problem is that punishments are almost meaningless, set maybe decades ago. Don't fine someone 500, fine them 5000 as a minimum. And if they clearly have money then make it 10,000 or 20,000 or 50,000, something that will make them think twice about what they do on the roads.

[Moti24]

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Songkran crackdown to battle road accidents, harsher penalties promised

And I promise not to do any Thai bashing, even though I read the same shit on almost a daily basis, knowing that the promises are a load of b*==*%#s!

[dallen52]

36 minutes ago, Crossy said:

My dad, a bus and coach driver since the 1950s (retired now), always told me to go down a hill one gear higher than you would need to go up it.

 

Always worked for me

Strange. I always think that you go down in the same gear you go up. 

A good engine and gearbox is the best brake you can use. 

Obviously followed by the air brake system. 

Which will never run out of air this way. 

Or use the retarder brake, that works on the engine, to slow down the vehicle by starving the engine of air. 

 

It's kept me alive behind the wheel some 50 years, and I've been driving since I was 16. 

 

Driver education is sadly lacking in the Los. 

Just show me the money. 

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by dallen52

[janpharma]

If the police force would do their job, instead of playing their phones with the "mia noi" ...it would be a lot safer...

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

Strange. I always think that you go down in the same gear you go up. 

A good engine and gearbox is the best brake you can use. 

Can't hurt, one gear lower than dad said. In later years all our vehicles had exhaust brakes (noisy) or "Telma" electric retarders, never touch the brakes on even the longest descent.

 

https://www.telma.com/

 

 

 

[William C F Pierce]

The Government is still to blame for many accidents. There are many unmarked crossroads where drivers don't know which of the 2 roads is the main road. Also many unmarked junctions and no manditory stop signs, so driver just drive straight out into a main road without looking. This is what causes many accidents. I have seen many times Thai drivers drive straight out of a blind junction without stopping to look.Drink and drugs is not the only problem. A big part of the problem is successive Thai Governments failure do proper road markings with road warning signs where they are required and most needed. If you see the amount of broken glass and red plastic in these areas you can understand why.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Just TAKE AWAY THEIR KEYS, for God's sake!

[Khun Paul]

Yawn, yawn, yawn, every year the same rubbish trotted out , we will see the same checkpoints with no-one paying any bloody attention to road users, while they wait for drivers to stop for them.

Purely reactive, nothing ever pro-active.

Death and destruction and the POLICE sit by and watch then issue paltry fines and go about scamming motorists. 

 

 

[sawadee1947]

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Police also found Krissana had been arrested for drug abuse five times in the past since 2011 – with the latest arrest in October 2013.

 

But still he was allowed to drive a bus.... 

Law enforcement is a very big problem in Thailand and getting worse when seen Prawit with his watches without any explanation where he got it from. 

It sounds like a comedy but is a sad serious drama 

[Henrik Andersen]

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The driver also was speeding as GPS data showed the bus was moving at 83kph in an area limited to 60kph, Damrongsak added.

Police also found Krissana had been arrested for drug abuse five times in the past since 2011 – with the latest arrest in October 2013

And he can still drive bus come on Thailand 

Amazing Thailand perfect slogan 

[harleyblacknight]

10 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Why do these measures come up only for Songkran? Yes, Thai roads are worse during the holidays, but they suck year-round; why not work to reduce the carnage year-round?

 

Why not test for alcohol on every serious accident, all the time?

 

This has all the usual noise of being a "crackdown" which is essentially meaningless noise that passes in a day or two. Like a fart.

 

Thailand- are you proud to have the most dangerous roads in the world? Do something!

 

Nah a fart passes in seconds or minutes...same as this will......

[Lokie]

And is not just the driving standards or lack there of, I keep looking at that bus and thinking how totally demolished it is... It looks so flimsy 80 people dead, looks like the buses construction had no type of safety box sections built into its design, crumple zones etc (like the whole shabang just crumpled affording no protection to its occupants?) 

 

Major issues for Thailand is:

Driving standards

Vehicle construction standards

Maintenance standards

Policing Standards

 

Maybe they could form a committee on standards and look at everything ehh? 

[sambum]

Every year - same, same, but different!

 

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

 

Should that not have been implemented YEARS ago?

Edited March 24, 2018 by sambum

[Megasin1]

In a country where you can't expect much around compliance with anything, although they have world class bureaucracy, this has to be the absolute biggest comedy roadshow doing the rounds (without disrespect to the dead). It all started when someone booked a trip without checking out the company, who carry out no compliance on their drivers (probably someone's cousin), or their vehicles and yet can legitimately carry out commercial business, whom aren't checked out by any Government department in a legitimate and appropriate manner, who are policed in a purely reactive manner (The bandwagon only ever moves after the event) and it all ended with a drug addict allowed to drive a few tons of passengers and vehicle at illegal speed who didn't even have the decency to die in the accident himself. It was an accident waiting to happen, but the odds were stacked strongly in favour of it happening and of course it did. Now we have the normal hand wringing, paltry insurance pay-outs and ridiculous limelight grabbing officialdom which of course follows all these events in Thailand like the whore lingering at the back of the funeral retinue. Amazing Thailand, it certainly is. Its absolutely amazingly incredible!!

[lvr181]

10 hours ago, YetAnother said:

then the guy didn't know how to drive a bus

And that tells us everything about what is wrong with how the Government deals with the terrible road trauma. But the 'authorities' are so thick between the ears, they cannot/will not take ownership of the problem and they have no clue how to start dealing, in an effective way, with the road carnage.

 

Sure there are many other matters that need to be dealt with in conjunction but the root cause is the driver and change needs to START there now!

 

But TIT and they are not going to listen to anyone, unfortunately.