Road carnage: You're all breaking the law, campaigner tells Thais.

[webfact]

Road carnage: You're all breaking the law, campaigner tells Thais.

 

File photo

 

Thai drivers and riders have been told in no uncertain terms to start obeying the law or face more road carnage.

 

A leading campaigner has said in a stark TV message ahead of Songkran that just about 100% of Thais flout the law.

 

"Don't just see fines as a bit of paper," said Dr Thanapong Jinawong. "Understand why you got the fine and adjust your driving accordingly".

 

Dr Thanapong was speaking to Channel 7 TV news ahead of the traditional Thai New Year celebration when the focus on the carnage on the roads always hits fever pitch.

 

 

He said that the problem was not with the roads themselves, the signage, the warnings, the lights - these were of international standards.

 

The problem rested with the Thai people themselves with almost 100% breaking the law in one way or another.

 

And only 17% even bothered to pay their fines, he claimed.

 

Big problems existed with people not slowing or taking appropriate care at U-turns and when there were roadside stalls or shops.

 

Speeding remains one of the biggest killers and people who are just not in a fit condition to drive, he said, referring specifically to those that fall asleep at the wheel - known as "lap nai" in Thai.

 

Dr Thanapong also isolated tailgating as a specific problem saying that it was well known that more accidents occur on straight stretches of roads than bends or rises.

 

He called for people to obey the laws and for the laws to be enforced.

 

He also called for the authorities to target the areas known as the 77 danger spots in Thailand where most of the accidents occur. These are almost entirely on inter-provincial roads.

 

Road blocks should be set up on these to stop speeding motorists and warn sleepy drivers to stop and rest.

 

Source: CH 7

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-04-10

[darksidedog]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thais drivers and riders have been told in no uncertain terms to start obeying the law or face more road carnage.

Expect more carnage then, because they haven't listened so far and I don't see them having a sudden epiphany. Most of them don't seem to have the first clue what the road laws are anyway. The me first mentality and I am Superman, I can drive in any condition, at any speed seems highly prevalent.

[smedly]

people will not follow the law (especially on the roads) unless they are forced to, and the only way to force them is by enforcing the law

 

Speeding - mobile use - drink driving and general reckless driving, add to that the general road worthiness of HGV and public transport vehicles not to mention drug taking

 

It all comes down to enforcement of the law and penalising those caught, no use setting up a road stop and checking for tax - that contributes nothing to road safety

 

What Thailand needs is solid proactive prevention policing and until that happens nothing will change 

[cornishcarlos]

18 minutes ago, webfact said:

He said that the problem was not with the roads themselves, the signage, the warnings, the lights - these were of international standards

 

Well, no, they are not of International standard and are very often contributing factors in fatalities on the roads...

 

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

He called for people to obey the laws and for the laws to be enforced.

 

Boom... There's the issue, right there :)

[Thian]

Just film ALL victims of accidents while they're bleeding and put it on tv before that national soapseries start...maybe that will wake them up!

 

Also closing ALL roadstalls without parkinglot will help a lot.

 

I'm glad this campaigner had the guts to tell them, it confirms that at least there's 1 decent Thai person in the country....

 

Also i don't understand how we can let Thai (with Thai driverslicense) drive in Europe/Japan...they absolutely have no clue at all about trafficlaws and safety.

[owl sees all]

10 minutes ago, smedly said:

What Thailand needs is solid proactive prevention policing and until that happens nothing will change 

What Thailand needs is a government that puts into practice what it said it would.

[steve187]

I think that most Thai's believe it is fate when they are involved in an Accident, instead of bad driving skills, or defective vehicles. What Thailand needs is a dedicated traffic police service that stops vehicles on the roads, and fine for any vehicle defects of bad /dangerous driving. These fines need to be costly and should be paid.

 

Just look at the early morning news, it is full of crashes, and dangerous driving maneuvers 

 

The problem is the basics of road safety are not enforced, no driving licence, a under the counter driving licence, bad vehicle maintenance, defective lights, no seat belt wearing, children sitting unsecured, yearly vehicle 'safety' checks, overloading, the list is endless, they tried last year with the no siting in the rear of pick ups, and no people in the back of 2 door pickups, but that failed, and has not raised its ugly head again. Start with these easily enforceable basics and the number of dead will drop. helmets well they only kill themselves not others, but again easily enforceable.

[janclaes47]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

Road carnage: You're all breaking the law, campaigner tells Thais.

 

You say

Edited April 10, 2018 by janclaes47

[Thian]

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

helmets well they only kill themselves not others, but again easily enforceable.

Mostly it's the ones without helmets who don't give a duck about safety of themselves or others.

 

I don't care if they kill themselves but they show very clearly how they think about the law. Also it's the first thing tourists in Thailand see, so they think there's no rule of law in this country.

[JOC]

Finally a Thai who dares to call things as they are.....!!

36 minutes ago, webfact said:

The problem rested with the Thai people themselves with almost 100% breaking the law in one way or another.

Spot on.....

That combined with almost non existing law enforcement are killing more than 26.000 each year....

Nothing wrong with the standard of the roads in Thailand....in general they are pretty good....the fault lies 100% with the drivers..

 

But 'mai pen rai'....let's dress in traditional costumes and celebrate Songkran.....we can do the statistics later..

[janclaes47]

This one should solve most of the issues

 

 

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/speed-limit-imposed-at-80-kms-per-hour-for-ambulances/

 

[nong38]

Spot on but Thais seem to think the law is for others not them personally.

I would close all those dangerous u-turns on main roads only u-turns by over bridge variety allowed.

[stanleycoin]

This is what the average Thais Driver/Rider thinks of the law

When the cops are not around. ( that's most of the time )

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2018 by metisdead
Oversize and intrusive emoji removed.

[Thian]

2 minutes ago, nong38 said:

Spot on but Thais seem to think the law is for others not them personally.

I would close all those dangerous u-turns on main roads only u-turns by over bridge variety allowed.

Then they will all drive against traffic.

[nong38]

Therein lies the problem independent driving techniques from people who have never had a lesson in their life and of course they are always right.

Pump money in if you want to address the issues, dedicated Road Police-on the job visually and for once enforce the law, yes I know its a big ask. too big, just take care.

[the guest]

The whole system is broken, and Thais have very little respect for anyone, let alone the law.

[kannot]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He said that the problem was not with the roads themselves

Yes IT IS, all U turns  should be staggered by at least 200 metres so only ONE side of the road can turn without the view being blocked by the  opposite  side also trying to u turn. They are dangerous things anyway but then ones here are ridiculous

[kannot]

52 minutes ago, Thian said:

Just film ALL victims of accidents while they're bleeding and put it on tv before that national soapseries start...maybe that will wake them up!

 

Also closing ALL roadstalls without parkinglot will help a lot.

 

I'm glad this campaigner had the guts to tell them, it confirms that at least there's 1 decent Thai person in the country....

 

Also i don't understand how we can let Thai (with Thai driverslicense) drive in Europe/Japan...they absolutely have no clue at all about trafficlaws and safety.

Dont forget to put them in "Traditional Costumes" as they bleed out though!!

[JOC]

One of the big killers here must be motorbikes joining big roads from small soi's.

Don't know how many times I have seen middle age ladies with 3 kids on the bike (all without helmets, of course) driving straight on to a main road without even a glance at the road they are joining.

Been driving here for a long time, so I somehow expect the unexpected, but this must take many lives...

[ThreeEyedRaven]

Nice to know that there is actually one Thai person in the country who understands that the roads are essentially lawless. I wish him the best of luck in persuading the rest to come round to his point of view.

[Lemonltr]

So only 17% actually pay the fines ( I have read that is only 4% too) I hesitate to defend the police but it must be demoralising and a huge disincentive.

Why don't they come down on this hard? Probably the usual Thai inertia. Nobody really cares in the end. Fines are useless if they don't need to be paid.

[jenny2017]

A leading campaigner has said in a stark TV message ahead of Songkran that just about 100% of Thais flout the law.

 

 

  86 % of them want to wear "Traditional Costumes".......

Edited April 10, 2018 by jenny2017

[Lupatria]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A leading campaigner has said in a stark TV message ahead of Songkran that just about 100% of Thais flout the law.

He should know it is the favorite past time here.

[brucegoniners]

4 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Expect more carnage then, because they haven't listened so far and I don't see them having a sudden epiphany. Most of them don't seem to have the first clue what the road laws are anyway. The me first mentality and I am Superman, I can drive in any condition, at any speed seems highly prevalent.

This is especially true of young motorbike riders, most of which aren't wearing helmets.

 

Do these people have any idea what will happen to them in the likely circumstance where they fall and hit the pavement at 100 kph?

 

DEAD!

[mancub]

So many drive way too fast and reckless for their own ability.

So many make incredibly stupid and unexpected manoeuvres .

So what always happens when they encounter each other....

So much carnage.

 

[Deez]

It is unfortunate that Thailand has no one to uphold the law and punish those "bad" drivers

[observer90210]

Soon there will be a firearms proficency exam in the cursus of the Thai Driving Licence exam !!?!!!

[thenewgoo]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

And only 17% even bothered to pay their fines, he claimed.

And here lies the next chapter of the problem. Do Thai people think their fines are optional? Classic.

[manhood]

"people will not follow the law (especially on the roads) unless they are forced to, and the only way to force them is by enforcing the law " and this is not done by all the ones who are responsible, neither the police nore the prosecuters and judges AND the fine is way toooo low!!!!!!!!!!

Fine have to HURT, otherwise it means nothing (we had the same experiance in Europe and now the fines are very very high and you easy loose your driver licence)....things got much better!

Maybe Thais should learn from it! And safe more your lifes!!!!!!!!

[sammieuk1]

Easy ban almost 100% of drivers.