Lane-changing offences nearing 100,000 after four days of camera work

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Lane-changing offences nearing 100,000 after four days of camera work

By Jessada Chantharak 
The Nation

 

Image: TNA

 

Just four days after a strict ban on the practice was implemented, Bangkok traffic police had issued nearly 100,000 tickets to motorists at 18 flyovers and underpasses for illegally changing lanes to pass other vehicles.

 

The May 9 ban at 15 new locations and three longtime spots led to the tickets being issued to 96,830 motorists, with accompanying fines of up to Bt1,000, said Pol Maj-General Jirapat Phumjit, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau in charge of traffic affairs.

 

The law-breakers were caught in the act by a Lane Change Camera System, which involves four automatic cameras at each location. 

 

Eighty per cent of the offences occurred in daylight hours, with motorcyclists accounting for the majority of culprits, followed by sedan drivers, said Jirapat.

 

At 11,307 incidents, Din Daeng intersection on the inbound lane of Din Daeng Road had the highest number of offenders. Next was the Siriraj Bridge on the outbound lane of Aroon Amarin Road with 10,932 offences, and then the Huay

Kwang tunnel alongside the inbound lane of Ratchadapisek Road with 10,713. The spot with the least violations was the Sutthisan Tunnel, at 700, he added.

 

The three spots with previously installed cameras are Yommarat intersection, Prachanukul intersection and Sutthisan Tunnel.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345364

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-14

[mercman24]

i did ask this before, can someone explain the reason for the no lane changing law,  i must be a THAI as i am totally baffled by this. and the  VALID reason is ???

[PatOngo]

2 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i did ask this before, can someone explain the reason for the no lane changing law,  i must be a THAI as i am totally baffled by this. and the  VALID reason is ???

Revenue!

[Briggsy]

You cannot change lanes where there is an unbroken line dividing lanes. They occur within a certain distance of a potential hazard such as a set of lights or a u-turn. In the photo, it is the entrance to an underpass.

[Tallviking]

58 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i did ask this before, can someone explain the reason for the no lane changing law,  i must be a THAI as i am totally baffled by this. and the  VALID reason is ???

Same rule as in your own country probably

 

You are not allowed to cross a drawn uninterupted white line (like is shown in the picture)

[darksidedog]

57 minutes ago, Tallviking said:

Same rule as in your own country probably

 

You are not allowed to cross a drawn uninterupted white line (like is shown in the picture)

You sir, I suspect, have not seen as much poor driving here, as I and many other posters have. While for those who know how to drive, and to understand such subtleties as unbroken white lines, good driving is simple to understand.

Given that drivers here tend to just go where they please, with things like traffic lights and road rules, or one way streets thought of as a guideline, and with enforcement of anything, previously, close to non existent, to get pulled up for this will be a serious shock to many local drivers. They will be like "What? Who did I kill?" The fact they didn't hit anyone, will in their minds justify the poor driving.

They simply, do not know how to do it properly and safely to socially acceptable standards of the modern world. I hope the cops keep it up. Letting drivers know this is not allowed, might get them thinking about other aspects of their driving too.

Possibly the one time you won't hear me "bitchin" about the cops getting some coin.

[stud858]

I wish they would maintain clearly marked white lines on roads.  I'm all over the place trying to decide where lines are.  

 

[phetpeter]

Looking at the photograph here the courts would throw out most of the fines, due to the poor road and street signs. They need to get there and repaint the markings so they are very clear. secondly to help force drivers to obey would be to install plastic barriers extending from the fly over or tunnel. Sure it would cut back on these cash cows, but, its about safety education isn't it?

[flyingdoc]

Sounds like a good start to me, anyway !

[ebean001]

I really think this number is a measurement of the frustration Bangkok drivers have with the traffic issues. normally, if there is an acceptable flow of traffic people drive within the law. When these jams happen...some are quite serious...then some drivers (looks like a lot of them) will start doing things they would not normally due. These intersections where the numbers are high are a problem. The tickets are simply an indication where attention is required to fix the source problem. 

[Juan B Tong]

I was thinking this was a waste of time, like who is gonna pay. BUT wife informs that these citations are linked to the Land Transport system.

 

So all these citations and fines have to be cleared before a vehicle owners annual registration.  

 

So,  I like it!

[DinoSabanovic]

What is the issue here exactly? How could they dare to implement a strict ban? This is lala land, drivers can go where they want.

[blackcab]

14 minutes ago, Juan B Tong said:

So all these citations and fines have to be cleared before a vehicle owners annual registration.

 

Which is good, apart from the fact that some people therefor won't pay the annual registration fee either, and therefor not pay for annual insurance either.

 

What's the punishment for not paying the annual registration tax and also not having insurance?

 

Probably less than the cost of doing things the right way.

[dufusdonald]

14 hours ago, mercman24 said:

i did ask this before, can someone explain the reason for the no lane changing law,  i must be a THAI as i am totally baffled by this. and the  VALID reason is ???

Unfortunately, this just exemplifies the fact that Thai drivers have no clue what traffic laws are or for that matter what a solid white or yellow or double yellow line means.  How in the hell they passed an exam is beyond me.  

 

I can only assume all Thai drivers are color blind as well. lol 

[Confuscious]

Correct me if I am wrong, but, to my knowledge, the car in the picture isn't doing anything wrong.
In the picture (a dotted line + a straight line) it is allowed to cross the line from the left to the right but not from the right to the left.
Or not?
Strange rules.

[anon467367354]

What begs the question is crossing solid white lines the cause for so many deaths on Thai roads? Thailand has the most dangerous roads in the world, the most deaths, and crossing the white lines the reason. If so, how did they come to this conclusion?

Is this going to prevent more deaths? Is the car in the picture doing something that may be fatal? Considering the police make commissions every time they write a ticket, safety is not nor ever will be an issue. Nothing will change, the easiest vehicle to pull over is a motorcycle. The corruption continues as does the pre-election campaigning.

[Destiny1990]

Yup make traffic violatiors hurt in their wallets...

Great income earner for the country 

[peperobi]

Wow, you make nearly 100 million Baht in a really short time, if you continue that way you will be able to make more money then any other industry in Thailand...but the road carnage is still growing up...

[wvavin]

So what if the figure exceeds 100,000? Everything is caused by the mentality of the people and no equipments or gadgets could eradicate this!

[Hans Rayong]

You are not wrong, but Thaland is not like the rest of the World, so you are wrong.

[Hans Rayong]

I collided with a Thai motorcyclist who did not have a driving license. He was fined 100 bath for not having a driver's license.

Now you get 10 times higher fine when you drive over a solid line.

Where is the logic?

[Classic Ray]

58 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but, to my knowledge, the car in the picture isn't doing anything wrong.
In the picture (a dotted line + a straight line) it is allowed to cross the line from the left to the right but not from the right to the left.
Or not?
Strange rules.

It is a very bad example, as they have painted the solid white line subsequent to the dotted one, without erasing the original dotted line. I can see why drivers are confused. They should have made it a double solid white line to make it really clear you cannot cross it.

[NextStationBangkok]

Past two days, i can see the traffic is flowing smoothly.

 

Well done Thai police!

[Gandtee]

Perhaps cameras stationed to check those  overtaking on unbroken double yellow lines might me more sensible in reducing accidents. But that would mean less bounty and only reducing death and injury.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Gandtee
add new word

[maccastime]

Years and years to late to attempt to teach thais the road rules.they know only one rule and that is do what ever you wish.was wondering when thais or farang sit for a licence are these road rules explained??

[Borzandy]

16 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Lane-changing offences

I even didn't know we have to respect the lanes in Thailand.

[harleyblacknight]

1 hour ago, dufusdonald said:

Unfortunately, this just exemplifies the fact that Thai drivers have no clue what traffic laws are or for that matter what a solid white or yellow or double yellow line means.  How in the hell they passed an exam is beyond me.  

 

I can only assume all Thai drivers are color blind as well. lol 

They only learn the basics I think when / if they actually take lessons, lady friend passed hers a couple of years ago after 20 hours of lessons, (she paid for 24 hours) i think and then I took her to learn in my car. I said can you do an emergency stop?.....a three point turn?......a hill start?......reverse around a corner?......reverse into a parking spot?........no idea about anything and as for mirror, signal manoeuvre...or the highway code.......forget about it!! just shows what standard is taught. She soon learnt and is quite careful on the roads now but so many other useless selfish drivers its not gonna get any better. When I renewed my licence a couple of years ago, did all the 2 hour video stuff and no one was paying any attention. All playing around on the phones. One guy failed the eye test as he was color blind but made me wonder how he got it the first time??.......Suppose it would be a waste of  time doing actual driving refresher courses when people renew after a certain time??/.......yeah nothing would change....cheers all drive safe!!!

[stud858]

11 minutes ago, Borzandy said:

I even didn't know we have to respect the lanes in Thailand.

On behalf of all TV members and the court of public opinion I have written a friendly infringement notice to city hall traffic authority for payment of a fine for not maintaining roads and traffic conditions.

[BuaBS]

Good reason to avoid driving in Bangkok , as if we need a reason.

Luckily we're still free to drive on country roads as if there were no lane lines .

[Kurtf]

1 hour ago, Confuscious said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but, to my knowledge, the car in the picture isn't doing anything wrong.
In the picture (a dotted line + a straight line) it is allowed to cross the line from the left to the right but not from the right to the left.
Or not?
Strange rules.

That's the way I was taught to interpret two lines side by side like that.