Almost 11,000 killed on Thai roads so far this year

[Bundooman]

Only 11,000 dead?

 

Meanwhile, 13 million other drivers - all caught on camera - speeding, wrong side of the road, unsafe loads, illegal number of passengers, probably unmaintained vehicles, bald tyres, not insured - with drivers who are unlicensed , tired, drug induced, unqualified and drunken, careless, unrepentant and unwilling to change their ways or obey the laws - unregulated by the police - ignored by the government, condoned by the public - have all decided not to pay their traffic violation fines.

 

Furthermore, with Loi Krathong approaching, followed by Christmas and New Year - these same people, (less those who are included in the 11,000 dead already this year), will be hurtling around Thailand's roads, oblivious to rules, other oblivious drivers, road conditions, the state of their vehicles, all swilling Red Bull to stay awake, playing their I-phones at all hours of the day or night - ignored by the police, amulets a-swinging on their rear view mirrors, will be creating more mayhem for the rest of the other selfish, uncaring, unqualified and lazy drivers swamping the highways and byways of the country.

 

There! I have just quantified in my own mind, some  of the dangers I will face on my annual trip mid-December, (ten years now), from Chiangmai - Tak - Kangpaeng Phet - Inburi Highway(?) - Lopburi - Saratburi - Nakon Ratchasima - Buriram and finally Surin. Even taking the less dangerous, (minimally)  but longer, mainly dual carriageway route, (about 1,000 Kms), I will attempt to remain alert, calm, aware and safety conscious, driving defensively the whole trip, (with some driver sharing by my wife) in the hope that we arrive safely.

 

The return journey, every year - same route will be re-enacted on New Year's Day. Actually, a lot safer than other days around the country with less traffic as hopefully the Thais will be to legless to get behind the wheel.

 

One can only hope. 

[outsider]

34 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Often, when someone cuts onto the highway in front of me, as I am doing 100kpm or more on the highway, I look in my rearview mirror, and there is nobody behind me for quite some distance. Which means, had they paused, and waited 2 or 3 seconds, there would have been zero risk to them, their family, or me and my family.

 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy.

 

Yes, this! I've always wondered why they do it. It's one thing if they cut me up then speed off. Ok, you're in a hurry. Go ahead. But on most occasions, they just cut in, and the speed difference isn't that great. Sometimes, they're even slower! Then you look in the rearview mirror, and realise there is enough space at the back for an A380 to land, and you start to wonder, what goes on in this git's head??? Yeah, one can argue this is due to the Thai 'me-first' mentality and ego, especially when driving, but really, to the point of common sense and logic taking complete leave of absence?

 

I completely agree with your 'survival on Thai roads' tip, with an extension - assume every one on the road is a stupid idiot.

[Assurancetourix]

2 hours ago, sweatalot said:

I just looked up the number of traffic deaths in Germany 2017 - it was 3177 the whole year. Same number of population

20 millions more inhabitants in Germany ;88 millions 

and you forgot to mention that there are a considerable number of km of motorways in Germany;
some portions are at unlimited speed

 

One of the solutions for all trucks , buses, coaches and minibuses 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachograph

 

an old photo, now they are digitals .

[Sir Dude]

I do think they should take a different approach to how they write these articles as it subliminally advances the idea that it was an unavoidable accident with no-one to blame and therefore inevitable. 

"..cars crashed head on..."

"...a bus overturned..."

"..a van skidded off the road..."

 

How about apportioning the blame to where it belongs? And that's with the morons who are driving the vehicles too fast and in an inappropriate way...although that might be too disturbingly close to the truth for them and we can't have that now, can we.  

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, poohy said:

Apologies slightly off topic but never fails to amaze

 

Why do people on motorbikes mainly,  turn right from the left hand side of the road it seems suicidal for all concerned especially if you are the one over taking the "special challenged one "

I see that too.

I'm guessing they a) don't know about vehicle positioning, or b) are scared they will be hit by an oncoming vehicle performing an overtake without looking ahead.

The logic they often use too, is to indicate right and move into the left, to wait for traffic in both directions to clear, before cutting across the entire road.

[overherebc]

7 minutes ago, outsider said:

 

Yes, this! I've always wondered why they do it. It's one thing if they cut me up then speed off. Ok, you're in a hurry. Go ahead. But on most occasions, they just cut in, and the speed difference isn't that great. Sometimes, they're even slower! Then you look in the rearview mirror, and realise there is enough space at the back for an A380 to land, and you start to wonder, what goes on in this git's head??? Yeah, one can argue this is due to the Thai 'me-first' mentality and ego, especially when driving, but really, to the point of common sense and logic taking complete leave of absence?

 

I completely agree with your 'survival on Thai roads' tip, with an extension - assume every one on the road is a stupid idiot.

I posted on the coming out of the side road in front of other drivers before.

I asked why do that, why not wait? The amswer I got was, it's better just to drive out slowly and stay left so it's easier for cars on the main road to see you and overtake you while you're going slowly.

????????????????

[Assurancetourix]

6 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

 

The logic they often use too, is to indicate right and move into the left, to wait for traffic in both directions to clear, before cutting across the entire road.

Cycling a lot in my   and in neighboring provinces , I do as they do if I want to turn right;

I'm too young ( only 70 ) to die because of a bababobo tingtong thai driver.

[Blackheart1916]

No Sir, the accident wasn't caused by the slippery road. The accident was caused by people not driving to the conditions correctly, ie. the slippery road.

[mercman24]

i read that there were no road markings,, well i can clearly see  centre road markings in that photo

[mercman24]

i had a car cut me up yesterday and imediately turned left in front of me to go into Tesco, no indication, imagine the chat inside the car, whistling along in the middle lane, * oh hubby i have to go to tesco, yes dear,  ok,* no mirror check, or left check to see if anyone was alongside, then its hard left (twice) and hey ho Tesco here we come,   very sad for the people who lost their lives,and also the injured, l

[Lupatria]

2 hours ago, sweatalot said:

I just looked up the number of traffic deaths in Germany 2017 - it was 3177 the whole year. Same number of population

Yeah, and the German figure includes those who died after a month in hospital.

Maybe it's time for a novelty and put someone with competence in charge.

From the news: politics September 01, 2016

Prawit tasked with solving chronic traffic

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i had a car cut me up yesterday and imediately turned left in front of me to go into Tesco, no indication, imagine the chat inside the car, whistling along in the middle lane, * oh hubby i have to go to tesco, yes dear,  ok,* no mirror check, or left check to see if anyone was alongside, then its hard left (twice) and hey ho Tesco here we come,   very sad for the people who lost their lives,and also the injured, l

That sort of thing happens to me, especially if I'm on a motorbike, as bikes do seem totally invisible to four wheel vehicle drivers.

I do sound the horn more now than I ever did, and for probably five seconds or more. I realise I could be dicing with death doing that, especially if the recipient was a Thai male with a fragile ego.

 

[rtco]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“So, the accident might have occurred because of the slippery road,”

Yeh right ... this should read "the driver of the vehicle had deliberately jammed his GPS so he could put his foot down and drive at speed irrespective of the road conditions without any regard for his passengers".

 

I suppose that could be a standard statement for all bus accidents!

[Dorian232]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

If you want safer roads, you need police to patrol, deter bad drivers and enforce existing laws fairly.

 

Unfortunately, the police do not do that; until they do, nothing will change.

 

11,000? Is that all? I would have guessed higher.

 

Thousand and thousands more needless deaths are coming; stop being surprised.

 

 

I have spe nt a lot of time over the last 4 months in Issan, very few motorbike riders were helmets, childres as young as 8 ride motrbikes on the roads and in small towns, motorbikes and cars drive on the wrong side of the road, car reverse on to busy main roads from side roads, on the highways cars pickups and vans drive on the righthand side, rear lights are only on newer vehicles and hardly any motorbikes.   Police do NOTHING.except stop vehicles whete the think they can ectort dome money. Double yellow lines in the middle of the road.also actually.means NO PARKING 555.  In parking lots does anybody repect places for mother and baby or deisabled bays 555.  And you wonder why people die on the roads nobody obeys the law not even the police.

 

[IamNoone88]

Cheaply produced tin can cars that are barely recognizable after an accident and the lack of emergency exits on mini vans and coaches also prime pump the numbers. Combine that with the shear lunacy seen daily on the roads, throw in some alcohol, amphetamines and lack of traffic rule enforcement and bingo!!

[dcnx]

Let them die. 11,000 obviously isn’t enough for anyone to care so let them double or triple or quadruple this number. Whatever it takes to knock some sense into thier heads that they need police enforcement and serious driver safety awareness. Everyone should be retested every 10 years here. A real test.

 

Its going to take a literal blood bath on the roads for them to say enough. The sooner this can happen the better.

 

A society who can’t comprehend the basic concepts of red and green lights is destined to fail. 

 

But maipenrai, let’s just chase bikes during the daytime so we can give the ticket money to the bosses.

 

Natural selection is at work in the land of smiles.

[bust]

As I have said before.....people who believe in reincarnation should not be allowed to operate motor vehicles ???? 

[petedk]

1 hour ago, outsider said:

One word - stupid. That's what comes to mind.

 

Slippery roads? Slow down. Faulty brakes/tyres? Have them checked/repaired/changed. Every single excuse reeks of one thing - the incompetence of the idiot behind the wheel. And charging the van-driver for overloading? If that git drove carefully, people wouldn't have died even if there were passengers ON THE ROOF! Not that I condone overloading, but the fact is, it's just like speed. Speed itself doesn't really kill, it's suddenly coming to a halt that does.

 

Let's face it - Thais just can't drive. And the sooner they start realising this and becoming more self-critical, instead of hiding behind that face-saving crap and blaming everything else as the cause of a crash, more lives can be saved.

Of course they can drive. 

 

Only last Friday the van driver was doing 130 -140 km/hr about 2 meters behind the car in front and rain pouring down. I sat behind him, so I could see the speedometer.

 

When I complained he told me that he had been driving the van for 5 years without any accidents. That made me feel much safer!!

[300sd]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“So, the accident might have occurred because of the slippery road,” he said. 

Dr Taejing Siripanich, secretary-general of the Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation, said the above.

 

I think they need a new secretary-general.

[bluesofa]

17 minutes ago, bust said:

As I have said before.....people who believe in reincarnation should not be allowed to operate motor vehicles ???? 

Well, not in this life anyway.

[bluesofa]

17 minutes ago, petedk said:

Of course they can drive. 

 

Only last Friday the van driver was doing 130 -140 km/hr about 2 meters behind the car in front and rain pouring down. I sat behind him, so I could see the speedometer.

 

When I complained he told me that he had been driving the van for 5 years without any accidents. That made me feel much safer!!

5 years without any accidents. Mind you, he's seen hundreds.

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Need to teach road safety in Schools and have a real driving test for starters

Yes, sure. But who will teach the teachers?

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Well, not in this life anyway.

Next life you get a BENZ, don't you????

[Tchooptip]

3 hours ago, sweatalot said:

I just looked up the number of traffic deaths in Germany 2017 - it was 3177 the whole year. Same number of population

And the % of motorbikes? Same too? Because in Thailand the deaths in motorcycles must be around 70%

 

 

 

 

 

 

44/5000

 

 

[Dmaxdan]

23 minutes ago, petedk said:

When I complained he told me that he had been driving the van for 5 years without any accidents. That made me feel much safer!!

But that's the whole problem in a nutshell. These arrogant idiots seem believe that what has gone before  

is somehow is relevant to what will transpire tomorrow, next week or next year. 

 

All those 11,000 people who died this year will have something in common....they won't have died before and in many cases they won't have even been involved in accidents before. Until these people stop believing that accidents only happen to other people then death toll will never be reduced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bbi1]

"A MEDICAL student and a 10-year-old girl are among the latest victims of Thailand’s notorious roads after their cars crashed head-on in Si Sa Ket province yesterday morning." - What the hell is a 10 year old doing driving a car in the first place?

[bbi1]

Is Thailand still ranked as the 2nd most deaths on the road in the world after some African nation like it was a few years ago?

[Saladin]

Although the authorities like to blame drink driving for this appalling situation I suspect that alcohol is only a minor factor. The buck stops with the police who are doing practically nothing to pro-actively enforce the road rules. Thai drivers and riders are like children, always pushing the limits of their behaviour to see how much they can get away with before getting their bums smacked. Nothing can change until the police are made accountable. Bring on Big Joke.

[connda]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The accident killed five people and seriously injured another on a misty day, bringing the spotlight once again on Thailand’s need to promote road safety. 

The real question here should be, "Why can't Thai authorities implement modalities that actually work?" 
A camera on a pole taking pictures of speeder and spitting out tickets in the mail that are ignored and not paid - that isn't enforcement.
Road blocks which are more of a shake-down that a deterrent - that isn't enforcement.

 

The 500 kilogram gorilla in the room is the fact that most Thais can't drive to Western standards and most of those drive aggressively with no concern for anyone but themselves - and that is deadly. 

This will never change until Thailand puts cops in patrol cars and those patrolmen start pulling over the moronic drivers on the road - which is just about everybody.  

So the prognosis?  More carnage for the foreseeable future.

[The Deerhunter]

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

the roots are cultural; thai's lack of respect for orderliness , embodied in this case as laws, and lack of respect for others are a deadly combo

.......and sub standard  roads.  But, in view of the fact that people should drive with due consideration of conditions, we return to your conclusion.  Culture: Face , ego & me first.