8 hours ago, Vacuum said:

This is very easy to say, sitting in front of your lap/desktop.

I agree but they may still be alive if they had just hit him square on.  A lot of the time that's going to do lesser damage. However it too is easy to say without the experience. RIP to the Family.

48 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Again, not absolving the Pajero driver at all but on reflection, this is a U turn area. There are lots of warning signs as you approach a u turn and usually an amber flashing light.  Those warnings are there to advise you to take extra care.  The Thai government is not without blame either - 3 lane highways carrying the amount of traffic they do these days, are no place for these damned dangerous u turns.  They are outdated and totally unsafe - if Thailand wants to have as much traffic as it does, travelling at the speeds they do, the roads need proper junctions etc. Never mind building new roads everywhere, make the existing ones as safe as possible first.

What a pity Thais can't grasp the concept of roundabouts , it would cut these events by half but they would need to be taught how to use them and Thai drivers know it all already.

english left side way has idiot system, many peoples live if has right side way. old stupid system all left side road.wery dangerous at crossroad,u-turn,many other too. idiot if not change. same has before sweden but then change right side and accidents drop lot. and many other smart countries too.

“...a senior forestry department official and head of a protected animal species  reserve...”

 

The only protected animal species in Thailand is senior officials. 

The only way to ever make Thai drivers safer is to mandate all drivers wear full face helmets. Motorcycles, cars, trucks and passengers because their driving skills will never improve. They cant multitask like steer and brake at the same time forget about texting, that takes 120% concentration

6 hours ago, wirat69 said:

Nah... Thais need three lanes for a U-turn.... I don't understand why.....

The near side / hard shoulder third / extra lane is a design feature of the U turn, which enables traffic to make the U turn manoeuvre into a lane outside of the main traffic carriageway allowing a distance to gather speed sufficiently and safely join the main traffic flow without impeding other vehicles progress and causing many a rear end shunt.

 

All this talk of the Pajero / Thais not being able to turn the steering wheel in this situation is nonsense, and only displays a lack of driving skills / knowledge.

 

Whether or not the Pajero made an error of judgement of his capability to cross the oncoming traffic is one question. The second question is whether or not the Vios was driving with due care and attention, it would appear not as it appears a clear straight road and the Vios should have slowed, or pulled into the outside lane to go around the manoeuvring Pajero if he wanted to continue travelling at speed, which would anyway have been the sensible manoeuvre to attempt to avoid the Pajero if he was too close to slow down sufficiently.

 

From the brief video footage it would appear the accident could have been avoided, but having said that not enough is shown to state definitively either way.

Does a Vios hold 7 people? 

3 minutes ago, phil2407 said:

Does a Vios hold 7 people? 

If they can pack 4 people on a motorcy I wouldn't be surprised with Vios holding 7.

10 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

The guy looks so nonchalant, just texting or doing something on his phone like it was no big deal......Just killed 3 people including a child and seriously injured 4, I don't know about you but I'd be horrified and remorseful. 

I’d say he’s pretty confident and is well enough connected to beat any wrap that may be thrown his way. Won’t be at all surprised o see him get off. 

2 hours ago, kannot said:

I think they should also hold the govt responsible for these death trap u turns they're an abomination

They are certainly not ideal, but what's the alternative?

 

The majority of Thai's are scared sh.tless of pulling into the centre of the road to turn right across the opposite carriageway where no U turn facility exists, rightly so considering the level of competence and alertness of most drivers here. At least with a dedicated turning lane and slip lane opposite they stand a fighting chance.

 

In disciplined driving environments roundabouts are the usual solution for making manoeuvres off a dual carriageway / busy highway, but we all know Thai's in general haven't got a clue what to do on one.

All is forgiven with the famous Thai Wai. As super chief of Forestry dept, maybe he'll get you a discount on wood for the necessary caskets. Thai nonchalance on others deaths, particularly the child's.

A classic dangerous U-turn situation, with resulting accident.

The Pajero did not see the Vios when starting its turn, because the sight was blocked by the red car waiting for its U-turn. Then guessing that there is no oncoming traffic, the Pajero makes its turn only watching where to go onto the far left lane.

The imho obvious unexperienced Vios driver did not brake and tried to avoid collission by wrongly steering to the left (a common deadly mistake) instead of driving into the right lane and pass the Pajero.

 

If I would have driven the Pajero in this scaring situation, I would have waited for the red car to try his chance making its turn that could give me clear vision onto oncoming traffic.

2 minutes ago, Khunangkaro said:

A classic dangerous U-turn situation, with resulting accident.

The Pajero did not see the Vios when starting its turn, because the sight was blocked by the red car waiting for its U-turn. Then guessing that there is no oncoming traffic, the Pajero makes its turn only watching where to go onto the far left lane.

The imho obvious unexperienced Vios driver did not brake and tried to avoid collission by wrongly steering to the left (a common deadly mistake) instead of driving into the right lane and pass the Pajero.

 

If I would have driven the Pajero in this scaring situation, I would have waited for the red car to try his chance making its turn that could give me clear vision onto oncoming traffic.

Totally correct. If no clear vision, just wait a moment until the obstruction (red car) has completed his maneuver.

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He said he never saw the Vios coming 

He what? He cut in front of it. Where the hell was the prat looking if he didn't see what was in front of his face? 

2 hours ago, finnishmen said:

english left side way has idiot system, many peoples live if has right side way. old stupid system all left side road.wery dangerous at crossroad,u-turn,many other too. idiot if not change. same has before sweden but then change right side and accidents drop lot. and many other smart countries too.

You what? What kind of dozy logic is that? 

'... roundabouts are the usual solution for making manoeuvres off a dual carriageway / busy highway, but we all know Thai's in general haven't got a clue what to do on one.'

 

And most sizeable junctions.

 

But you're right: Thais would have no clue what to do with one - never mind several, like Swindon's Magic Roundabout.

when he say's he will take full resposibility does he mean he will do the relevant jail time or does he actually mean he will 'compensate' the families for their loss and then carry on without a care in the world!? I would also love to know if the police will inspect his phone to see if it was being used at the time of the accident.

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

In a road safety presentation by a traffic policeman in Australia a long time ago, I still remember his statement "In an argument between a car and a tree, the tree almost always wins".

Very true!

 

Who knows the mindset of these people? He certainly does not seems distraught in anyway whatsoever after killing three people & injuring another four! I've given up trying to understand these "hiso" type of people ......... the value they seem to put on life is non-existent ........ unless of course it's their own! A quick "Wai" & sorry seems all that is needed to resolve matters ........ they then move on as if nothing happened .......... I'll never understand the culture here it's so unique.

11 hours ago, Vacuum said:

11 hours ago, thequietman said:

My god, that's bad driving from the Vios. Seriously, loads of room and time to make any other manoeuvre than that.

This is very easy to say, sitting in front of your lap/desktop.

 

I would say the same thing having watched the video a few times.   The Vios driver must have seen the Pajero doing the u-turn. Yet he only appears to apply a bit of braking and didn't slow down at all, instead he tried to swerve around the Pajero.   Question is why didn't the Vios driver go to the right?   Why go off the road when overtaking should always be to the right?

21 minutes ago, Daveyh said:

Who knows the mindset of these people? He certainly does not seems distraught in anyway whatsoever after killing three people & injuring another four! I've given up trying to understand these "hiso" type of people ......... the value they seem to put on life is non-existent ........ unless of course it's their own! A quick "Wai" & sorry seems all that is needed to resolve matters ........ they then move on as if nothing happened .......... I'll never understand the culture here it's so unique.

Seeing this man sitting at the police station casually using his phone suggests to be that he is without conscience or shame for his actions.

Pajero used three lanes and a wee bit of the shoulder to turn and seemingly took his sweet time doing it.  Vios made the mistake of heading in the same direction and probably didn't stand on the brakes hard.  Damned shame.

52 minutes ago, Daveyh said:

Who knows the mindset of these people? He certainly does not seems distraught in anyway whatsoever after killing three people & injuring another four! I've given up trying to understand these "hiso" type of people ......... the value they seem to put on life is non-existent ........ unless of course it's their own! A quick "Wai" & sorry seems all that is needed to resolve matters ........ they then move on as if nothing happened .......... I'll never understand the culture here it's so unique.

Being a high ranking government official does not make him "hi-so". I'm married to one and she is far from that. I believe most Thai act this way. Some of my students come to school the day after one of their parents die. You wouldn't know it unless they told you. Thais view death very differently than we do. 

He only went to police once he had figured out that  he was going to get busted!!

 

 

13 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

The guy looks so nonchalant, just texting or doing something on his phone like it was no big deal......Just killed 3 people including a child and seriously injured 4, I don't know about you but I'd be horrified and remorseful. 

You need to change your nationality then you would not give it a second thought

9 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

no need to use seat belts since no visible police checkpoints were around

Why bother with any if there is not enough for everyone

8 hours ago, bristolgeoff said:

the video shows the white car was travelling fast it seems.no braking as previous commented.could have being on a mob too from another comment..it all looks like the white car was not paying attention to the road.who knows what will be the end results

Some of us have a fairly good idea what the result could be  

5 hours ago, finnishmen said:

english left side way has idiot system, many peoples live if has right side way. old stupid system all left side road.wery dangerous at crossroad,u-turn,many other too. idiot if not change. same has before sweden but then change right side and accidents drop lot. and many other smart countries too.

You cant legislate for Muppets

3 hours ago, phil2407 said:

Does a Vios hold 7 people? 

This one did apparently so I suppose the answer is yes

I leave it up to Vios owners to decide if thats a good idea

2 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

I would say the same thing having watched the video a few times.   The Vios driver must have seen the Pajero doing the u-turn. Yet he only appears to apply a bit of braking and didn't slow down at all, instead he tried to swerve around the Pajero.   Question is why didn't the Vios driver go to the right?   Why go off the road when overtaking should always be to the right?

No you dont me first