Motorcycle street racing: What happens when things go wrong - four dead

[starfish]

8 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

we get many of these idiots going up the main street in our town wichianburi,unlike most Thai towns it is not a dual lane road either side of a ditch or barrier,just single lane each way. Many small soi's run off it yet these gits with their earsplitting exhuast's  drive up and down at the max speed they can get,mostly with no helmets. I saw a guy hit a pickup outside the busy main market,the busiest spot in town ,catapulted over the bonnet, he must have been doing at least 80-90kmh,how he actually survived i have no idea.

  i have told my wife when my stepson is 15 next year i will buy him a motorbike on the condition that he passes his test,always wears a helmet,and no souped up exhaust.

The louder his exhaust, the less he needs speed. I don´t know, just trying to find a way . . .

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by starfish

[Oziex1]

3 hours ago, HLover said:

Meh, instead of another government money grab; parents doing their job may be a better solution?

Once kids get to certain age all the parenting in the world is over, my parents didnt know where or what I was doing as a teen. They were good parents and cared for us. This stuff is a law enforcement issue.

[kannot]

First prize goes to the four  dead, well done youve saved  countless other lives with your  stupidity, I congratulate you all.

[Saltire]

In my mind this is definitely a parental issue. I live in a very small quiet village with the exception of the kids driving motorbikes with modified exhausts, showing off doing wheelies and racing around the village 3 on a bike. 

 

There is a school with around 800 students the majority under 15 but it seems almost everyone goes to school on a moto, even the very young. 

 

Here, the parents start 'teaching' their kids to drive the moto at a VERY early age, my neighbours boy was shown by his father recently - He is 9 years of age! and now runs around with all of his younger friends (some carrying babies) on the sidecar most of the evening after school. He is so small he sometimes has to get his Pa to kickstart it for him. This is not an isolated incident I would say there are at least 100 well-under-age drivers, and by the time they are 15 are contenders for the sad fate of these 4 young men. It goes without saying no helmets, no insurance and i would bet none are up to date on tax. 

 

After the kids are driving solo, they are almost always the designated driver and the parents seem quite happy to be ferried around  with their offspring driving. It's not long till they graduate to the family motorbike without the sidecar and then the real fun begins. Almost all of the youth here leave at some point to go work in the town or city and there they can use their non-existent driving skill on the busy roads full of similarly incompetent road users. I am really not surprised at how many stories like this are written.

 

Not a day goes by but I shake my head while sitting on my porch watching the potential disasters riding by. When I ask my g/f what Thai parents are thinking allowing, even condoning this, she says ' if baby die they will cry and then have another one'.

Edited May 7, 2018 by Saltire
spelling

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Saltire said:

In my mind this is definitely a parental issue. I live in a very small quiet village with the exception of the kids driving motor with modified exhausts, showing off doing wheelies and racing around the village 3 on a bike. 

 

There is a school with around 800 students the majority under 15 but it seems almost everyone goes to school on a moto, even the very young. 

 

Here, the parents start 'teaching' their kids to drive the moto at a VERY early age, my neighbours boy was shown by his father recently - He is 9 years of age! and now runs around with all of his younger friends (some carrying babies) on the sidecar most of the evening after school. He is so small he sometimes has to get his Pa to kickstart it for him. This is not an isolated incident I would say there are at least 100 well-under-age drivers, and by the time they are 15 are contenders for the sad fate of these 4 young men. It goes without saying no helmets, no insurance and i would bet none are up to date on tax. 

 

After the kids are driving solo, they are almost always the designated driver and the parents seem quite happy to be ferried around  with their offspring driving. It's not long till they graduate to the family motorbike without the sidecar and then the real fun begins. Almost all of the youth here leave at some point to go work in the town or city and there they can use their non-existent driving skill on the busy roads full of similarly incompetent road users. I am really not surprised at how many stories like this are written.

 

Not a day goes by but I shake my head while sitting on my porch watching the potential disasters riding by. When I ask my g/f what Thai parents are thinking allowing, even condoning this, she says ' if baby die they will cry and then have another one'.

So you were never a young rascal...?

[Lobber]

3 hours ago, hyku1147 said:

Youngsters deprived of life.

no ---idiots deprived of life 

[Odysseus123]

Well Trans..

 

If you call what was going on in my village (only about 10 k away from you) as the activities of "young rascals" -and not the behaviour of an undisciplined horde of amazingly uncontrollable and immature offspring, then I guess we will just have to differ on the subject....

Edited May 7, 2018 by Odysseus123

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Well Trans..

 

If you call what was going on in my village (only about 10 k away from you) as the activities of "young rascals" -and not the behaviour of an undisciplined horde of amazingly uncontrollable and immature offspring, then I guess we will just have to differ on the subject....

I think so, because I was one over half a century back...To this day I think about that fun stuff....Yes I/we can tut tut now, but I can remember how us rascals ticked....

The girls I reckon will too....

[Tagaa]

Probably already said, but as I don't have the patience to read 3 pages, I'll say it again...

 

Darwin at work.

 

[Odysseus123]

4 minutes ago, transam said:

I think so, because I was one over half a century back...To this day I think about that fun stuff....Yes I/we can tut tut now, but I can remember how us rascals ticked....

The girls I reckon will too....

You have got to be kidding.

 

Think of all those well educated,highly motivated,"skilled workers" lost to the nation.

 

Edited May 7, 2018 by Odysseus123

[covpete1]

3 hours ago, z42 said:

Sorry but there is zero sympathy from me. Night on night idiots like these endanger other people just getting on with their journey.

No helmets also, pure idiocy but quite fitting as this is probably exactly the way these sorts envision as a cool way to exit the earth

An excellent post - I'm sure there are many people who echo these sentiments!

[Kinnock]

2 hours ago, Anythingleft? said:

I feel sorry for the pick up driver, he has to live with this for the rest if his life when it appears he was at no fault...

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

Perhaps.  The kids should obviously not be racing in the street - but did the pick-up do the common turn from the middle lane without indicating.  How come none of them managed to avoid the truck - I guess he turned across their path suddenly, leaving them nowhere to go,

 

 If it was an old lady on her Wave who was killed we'd all be blaming the truck driver - probably more like 50:50 blame, but 99:1 for the end result.

[trainman34014]

4 hours ago, z42 said:

Sorry but there is zero sympathy from me. Night on night idiots like these endanger other people just getting on with their journey.

No helmets also, pure idiocy but quite fitting as this is probably exactly the way these sorts envision as a cool way to exit the earth

I just see it as a cool way to dispose of them !

[Maverell]

Very sad, but making harsh laws is not the answer as the harsher the law the more daring the youngsters ! From my experience here a lot of Thais do not give a damn about laws, especially as the laws do not seem to apply to everyone.

 

Education, opportunity, discipline  and parental supervision is what is required but I can't see it happening this side of the next century.

 

I joined the British Army as a boy soldier at 16 and during the next few years did more 'extreme' sports (under close supervision) than what these Thai kids ever get the chance to do properly.

[ChrisY1]

These racing bikes really do go at speed....200kph can be quite normal....quite similar to Moto GP3.....

The riders are usually in street clothing and no helmets........some of us at 17-18 did stupid things too!

But when they <deleted> up, this is the result.....street racing accidents in BKK don't even get media space any longer!

[DM07]

3 hours ago, transam said:

Folk street race in farangland even with all the laws in place...

...and how is that supposed to help?!

[tifino]

 

sympathy just for the Ute driver...

[Katipo]

Looking at the pick-up, and considering it was several motorbikes involved, I do wonder whether it had any functioning brake or tail lights. Not diminishing the stupidity of street racing, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that so many seemingly rammed straight into the it's rear.

[transam]

9 minutes ago, DM07 said:

...and how is that supposed to help?!

Help what...My point was young folk will do what young folk do...I can remember what us young folk did and young folk still do what ever country it is..

[IamNoone88]

I am trying to search for a huge outpouring of sympathy but it is being allusive........ tragic yes, preventable .... totally.

[Knee Jerk Reaction]

20 minutes ago, Katipo said:

Looking at the pick-up, and considering it was several motorbikes involved, I do wonder whether it had any functioning brake or tail lights. Not diminishing the stupidity of street racing, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that so many seemingly rammed straight into the it's rear.

Looking at the damage to the nearside of the pickup it looks like they t-boned it as it turned into the petrol station. 

[ebean001]

it is a shame but at the same time kids that do this just may kill one of your kids in an accident.

[Lupatria]

5 hours ago, HLover said:

Meh, instead of another government money grab; parents doing their job may be a better solution?

Do you know any? If so, send them to my hood to conduct courses.

[Docno]

5 hours ago, HLover said:

Safe guess would be glued to the telly or on their cell phones.

Fair enough. But when you were 17, did your parents know what you got up to when you went out? Mine certainly didn't have a clue, and when they asked, I always had some believable story to tell. Study after study shows that peers exert a greater influence on teens than parents, but yes, parents need to lay down a good foundation in the earlier years. And we haven't even got into the genetic factors underlying risky behaviour. So please let's not always be so quick to blame the parents... 

[stanleycoin]

Result, 

Now we need a repeat  performance every night. 

Loads more need to go to the Wat, before they kill your families and children

or me. 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, stanleycoin said:

Result, 

Now we need a repeat  performance every night. 

Loads more need to go to the Wat, before they kill your families and children

or me. 

 

What did you do at 15/17 years old...?

[stanleycoin]

Just now, transam said:

What did you do at 15/17 years old...?

Loads, 

But they are a special kind of stupid here.

[sammieuk1]

Is there any difference in street racing v normal Thai driving sadly no.

[stanleycoin]

1 minute ago, transam said:

What did you do at 15/17 years old...?

Bet you would not try the smart comment stuff , if one of your family

was hit buy them before they died ?

 

[MaxYakov]

3 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

we get many of these idiots going up the main street in our town wichianburi,unlike most Thai towns it is not a dual lane road either side of a ditch or barrier,just single lane each way. Many small soi's run off it yet these gits with their earsplitting exhuast's  drive up and down at the max speed they can get,mostly with no helmets. I saw a guy hit a pickup outside the busy main market,the busiest spot in town ,catapulted over the bonnet, he must have been doing at least 80-90kmh,how he actually survived i have no idea.

  i have told my wife when my stepson is 15 next year i will buy him a motorbike on the condition that he passes his test,always wears a helmet,and no souped up exhaust.

None of those will stop a truck or car (or even a motorbike) from turning across his path, as apparently happened with the red pickup. Buy him a car, ideally with airbags if you want him to have a better chance of survival on Thai roads. BTW, you omitted the "no drink drive" condition.

Edited May 7, 2018 by MaxYakov