Elderly Benz driver charged for fatal expressway wreck

By Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

 

Surang Supornsuk talks to police Tuesday night at the Rattanathibet Police Station in Nonthaburi city.

 

NONTHABURI — An elderly woman who crashed into a disabled truck and sent two men plummeting their deaths has been charged with fatal reckless driving.

 

Surang Supornsuk, 72, was also charged Tuesday night with destroying government property after she plowed her Mercedes-Benz into a furniture delivery truck on the Si Rat Expressway near Wat Bua Kwan on Tuesday in northern metro Bangkok. Woothichai Suracha and Caris Waraklan, 32 and 22 respectively, died after falling from the elevated roadway.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/crime-crime/2018/12/12/elderly-benz-driver-charged-for-fatal-expressway-wreck/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-12-12

Upon reading this headline I thought this was about my FIL.... 

 

Poor eyesight... terrible driving skills... often inebriated...  

We've managed to get him drinking and driving less... but he won't get his eyes sorted and he'll never become a better driver..... His amulets and Merc are all he requires to drive around with the confidence that he'll never be held responsible for the 'bumps' he's had and will continue to have...  oh.. and the obligatory yellow shirt which seems to make some wearers believe they are of an elevated untouchable class... 

 

While tragic the message here is that those who may have been untouchable a decade or so ago are no longer afforded the gratuitous freedoms from legal oversight they once enjoyed... 

RIP 

And to the driver I hope the 2 people's ghost hunting you forever 

Shame on you 

Saddly this frail old woman ,is the new posterchild for the carnage on these lawless roads...I wish I had some sympathy but I do not...

Negligence,hmm, was the mechanic anything to do with it being broken down there.?


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I wonder if this is a case of, all the 'real' lanes have a lot of traffic so progress is a little slow, but wait the 'extra' lane on the left seems empty so let's just push the pedal down and race into that lane and it's all sweet, just go go go (and perhaps also keep talking on the phone because you have to talk to your friend, it would be rude to say 'sorry i'm driving').

 

And anticipation that there may be some blockage, some traffic further down the left lane is just not in the thinking, in other words anticipation is not part of the continuous analysis of what's happening, too serious, gives you a headache.

 

Further she (and most other local drivers) don't even know that the purpose of the additional / extra left lane, especially on overheard freeways, is for emergency access, after all it's normal for ambulances to wait for the expensive cars to proceed. You buy your license what else do you need to know. 

 

Edited December 12, 20187 yr by scorecard

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

I wonder if this is a case of, all the 'real' lanes have a lot of traffic so progress is a little slow, but wait the 'extra' lane on the left seems empty so let's just push the pedal down and race into that lane and it's all sweet, just go go go (and perhaps also keep talking on the phone because you have to talk to your friend, it would be rude to say 'sorry i'm driving').

 

And anticipation that there may be some blockage, some traffic further down the left lane is just not in the thinking, in other words anticipation is not part of the continuous analysis of what's happening, too serious, gives you a headache.

 

Further she (and most other local drivers) don't even know that the purpose of the additional / extra left lane, especially on overheard freeways, is for emergency access, after all it's normal for ambulances to wait for the expensive cars to proceed. You buy your license what else do you need to know. 

 

And as this unfolds she perhaps notes that the far left white line in unbroken whereas the other lines between the lanes are broken but she just assumes (if she gives it any thought) it's unbroken because that way it looks more professional or perhaps more beautiful. 

 

 

Driving a Benz..probable Hi-So...connections...waï your way out, shell out some petty ca$h....case closed. Next.

Lessons learnt here ( 2 lessons). 1. Keep well away from Mercedes drivers as they use different road rules, theirs only. 2. Dont fight with Thai cop who carries a gun.   Then you may stay alive another year in the LOS.

Video from CCTV and several dashcams (including hers) is now out there. Played numerous times on Ch3 news last night.

 

Funny that theres hundreds if worse accidents where old uninsured Farm Truck kills Granny and the 2Kids in the Sidecar thing. Never gets a mention, you cant beat a bit of  Hi So, Benz Clikbait to fire up the TV  Fan Room Lefties.

She'll walk. Benz-driver  and beneficiary of the famous Thai "respect for the elderly. The victim's families will probably be charged for having a relative who hindered the progress of a hiso.

That will amount to a couple of small fines that won't be paid because those who drive Benz are 'special' and will be treated as such.

CCTV video here

 

 

Her dashcam here

 

https://www.thairath.co.th/content/1443560

 

Hat, sunglasses, yellow shirt and inhaler......all the props are in place. Have they blurred out the coffee and cookies in the picture?

From the CCTV she appears to drift left as she approaches the truck.

 

Sad situation - BUT that's the way the "Mercedes Benzds".

 

R.I.P those killed.

Wow that dash cam footage is terrible, the truck even made an effort to pull to the far left and was barely touching the white line. Unlike most Thai drivers and Taxis they will take up the lane and make no effort to move over and drop off and pick up people and hold up the traffic like it's no problem. They should make people over a certain age retake their tests to make sure they're fit for driving as she clearly wasn't, just plain negligence which cost 2 people their lives

10 minutes ago, Crossy said:

From the CCTV she appears to drift left as she approaches the truck.

 

 

I agree, saw that as well, thanks for putting up those links to the videos. 

The truck is also guilty for not using the hazardlights.

Just now, fruitman said:

The truck is also guilty for not using the hazardlights.

Yeah, I was going to comment that, would it have made much difference, who really knows?

Just now, Crossy said:

Yeah, I was going to comment that, would it have made much difference, who really knows?

And if i was the truckdriver i would have never stopped on that small left lane....unless the car stopped driving i would always have gone to a more safe place, no matter what.

1 minute ago, fruitman said:

And if i was the truckdriver i would have never stopped on that small left lane....unless the car stopped driving i would always have gone to a more safe place, no matter what.

Assuming of course, you could continue, we don't know at this point what went wrong with the truck. It does seem that the bonnet (hood) was open and the chaps were peering into the engine bay when the collision happened.

 

I'm sure the truck carried flares or safety warning triangles and they had been deployed to help prevent this.

I'm sure yellow, hi-vis vests are required to be carried for the drivers of motor vehicles in Thailand. /sarc

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Yeah, I was going to comment that, would it have made much difference, who really knows?

I doubt if it would have made any difference. Elderly driver = reflexes probably very very slow. 

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Upon reading this headline I thought this was about my FIL.... 

 

Poor eyesight... terrible driving skills... often inebriated...  

We've managed to get him drinking and driving less... but he won't get his eyes sorted and he'll never become a better driver..... His amulets and Merc are all he requires to drive around with the confidence that he'll never be held responsible for the 'bumps' he's had and will continue to have...  oh.. and the obligatory yellow shirt which seems to make some wearers believe they are of an elevated untouchable class... 

 

While tragic the message here is that those who may have been untouchable a decade or so ago are no longer afforded the gratuitous freedoms from legal oversight they once enjoyed... 

 

Did Surang Supornsuk undergo a gender reassignment?

54 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Video from CCTV and several dashcams (including hers) is now out there. Played numerous times on Ch3 news last night.

 

sorry to fast should have read more.

Edited December 13, 20187 yr by robblok

4 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

I'm sure the truck carried flares or safety warning triangles and they had been deployed to help prevent this.

I read somewhere (memory fading) recently that you should NOT place a triangle or other warning due to the danger of being hit whilst doing so.

 

On the couple of occasions my ancient Beemer stopped on the expressway the breakdown chaps arrived very promptly and placed cones before getting the car going again (free of charge too).

27 minutes ago, Crossy said:

From the CCTV she appears to drift left as she approaches the truck.

 

Yes it is not as i expected first someone driving on the left to get away from busy traffic, on her own dashcam you see she is not driving like that all the time it just seems to happen. Could be as she described a blackout for some reason. 

It's fairly common for a fast moving vehicle to drift into the rear of a parked vehicle, not realizing that it is a stopped vehicle (if they don't totally have their wits about them).

As we all know, "wits" are required on all roads, especially Thai roads.