Our first traffic accident, just what is the law?

[faraday]

It's here in post #6 from Tywais, started by Bluesofa.

 

Btw, whatever happened to Tywais....?

 

http://thailaws.com/law/t_laws/tlaw0140_5.pdf

Read section 51 on turning right.

Edited April 19, 2019 by faraday

[gunderhill]

5 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

The bike driver said he was trying to overtake us but we cut him up.

Rule 46b says not to overtake within a distance of 30 metres of a  junction, therefore he was trying to overtake you at a junction, his  fault.

But  you've admitted  fault .

[tifino]

eet eeez really simple to understand...

 

Rule number 1: 

 

Yield and Forgive 

[Orton Rd]

9 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

Rule 46b says not to overtake within a distance of 30 metres of a  junction, therefore he was trying to overtake you at a junction, his  fault.

But  you've admitted  fault .

Mrs saw him in Hospital changed his story, now admits he was on the wrong side of the road and did not see the car until too late. Maybe busy on the phone, not seriously hurt but of course the Hospital wanted him st stay in

[gunderhill]

Just now, Orton Rd said:

Mrs saw him in Hospital changed his story, now admits he was on the wrong side of the road and did not see the car until too late. Maybe busy on the phone, not seriously hurt but of course the Hospital wanted him st stay in

Ive found Thais to be compulsive liars, been involved in 2  accidents the Thais  went out of their way to  lie but my Wife will not be walked over, once after an hour of "discussion" the other party admitted  fault then pronounced it was  all  just bad  luck.

[Orton Rd]

1 hour ago, donim said:

And the bil for the mec? DO you know for what reason? Maybe you do have an update on that.

Insurance man said some stations do insist, nice little earner looks at the car agrees 3 panels need replacing! If you want to go to court the car stays at the station, guess that puts most people off. Insurance is AXA.

Edited April 19, 2019 by Orton Rd

[gunderhill]

1 minute ago, Orton Rd said:

Insurance man said some stations do insist, nice little earner looks at the car agrees 3 panels need replacing! If you want to go to court the car stays at the station, guess that puts most people off. Insurance is AXA.

They  will often suggest you can get other things fixed  with the car at the same time and run it  in on this  claim ie  all caused by this incident.

[madmen]

5 hours ago, smutcakes said:

In all my years reading Thai Visa i have never once ever seen an expat admit fault in any scenario, its always a scam, the Thais were always wrong etc etc.

 

Maybe the bike was on the main road with right of way. Small village roads dont really have left or right, car pulls out into the motorbike who has right of way.....

You nailed it. No farang will EVER admit fault because the Thais are out to get him , even the judge is in on it. 

[Orton Rd]

Why admit fault if you are following the so called highway code and the bike that hits you was not?.

Mrs rang old Police friend tonight who said he never heard of this have to call mechanic procedure, looked less like a mechanic than I ever saw, maybe a cops son. He said dont pay more than 500 fine.

[richard_smith237]

7 hours ago, thequietman said:

n I ask please about the camera for the bike. Have been looking for one but none of them are waterproof!

There are plenty....

 

mine is an INNOVV K2

[brokenbone]

11 hours ago, faraday said:

Are there any written laws that we can refer to- like the Highway Code in the UK?

fundamentally you arent allowed to cut into a lane already occupied, so if the bike was in the overtake lane already it was the cars fault.

here it comes down to the lack of advanced warning

in thailand, its disturbing how most here think signals means nothing, either never bother to signal, or turn on the signal the same second they start to cut a lane, - at which point it no longer serves the purpose.

on the flip side many also dont bother to turn off the signal,

and may well be indicating one side when in fact they intend to do the exact opposite, tis a bad place and bad habits on the roads here

 

[Orton Rd]

It was not an overtake lane he was driving almost in the gutter on the wrong side of the road, still not found out why or where he was going, claims did not see the car, if he had not hit us he might well have had an accident further down the road. It's not one where bikes routinely ride the wrong way as there is not heavy traffic. In fact having been here 7 years I cant think of one other time when I saw a bike travelling on the wrong side of this road.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Orton Rd

[Rally123]

15 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Constant u turn straight into the junction so one big mele, and when on red the same except those in the left lane can go straight on anyway. Lights are more for decoration.

Our cleaner will not go to the the nearest town on her motorcycle because there are traffic lights and she doesn't know what to do when the colours change.

[Orton Rd]

Ha ha, there is a women round the corner, actually a great driver now but only had one lesson. Started to rain, after she got her licence, and she was in tears as she had no idea how to put the wipers on!

[henry15]

If you have a first class insurance. You should have phoned your insurance company. They send somebody to arrange everything. 

Don't contact  the police

Don' talk to the other party about the accident and discus who is wrong or right. Only tell them your insurance is coming.

This is the only correct  way to handle accidents in Thailand.

[aussieinphuket]

i had an incident where i had the right of way at the traffic lights to turn right but as i was going out i could see two muslim women on a motorbike just going to go straight through the lights when i had the right of way on my left side so i slowed down thinking let them go i am not in a rush. 

 

wow bang - 3 idiots on motorbike coming down the middle of the road to my right at a tremendous speed plowed straight into my car drives door one coming through the window, me covered in broken glass and blood only superficial wounds.... 3 burmese on a motorbike doing at least 80 klms and no helmets...

 

cops turn up. i am in the wrong because in thailand the bigger vehicle is wrong, sorry i dont wear that i told him. show me their license and insurance and visas, nil nil nil for all 3, they were hurt bad. 

 

cops took my car a mercedes suv to police station said come tomorrow morning, sure... kamala ....

 

turned up with my insurance guy who is excellent in phuket, khun Lek, big crowd outside 10am in morning all either employers or family and found out later they all wanted money, something between 300/500,000 thb.... i just laughed and walked inside where cops repeated story i was 70 pct to blame and they 30 pct, we told them we not paying, cops threatened me with deportation i just said fine lets all go to court. insurance man told me get up and walk out which i did and took my car with me. 

 

final outcome was insurance fixed the motorbike for them and that was it, my car covered by insurance obviously. we get a call some 3 months later from the police saying we still have your license, i told them dont worry i thought i lost it so got a new one... but i will come and get it anyway... so my insurance man comes with me to listen, first thing i am asked by police is how much i will give them, i said what for they said we helped you, i told them only one that helped me was khun lek my insurance man... khun lek apologised to me about this being thailand etc and told me get up and walk out which i did the policeman asked where are you going i said to play golf....

 

that was the end of it.... 

[Orton Rd]

You did well there, Mrs licence runs out next week anyway and as they are holding hers I told her just to go and say up for renewal lost it. Also, will not be going back to the station in our car to avoid the you pay or car stays here lark. You were lucky the idiots who hit you were Burmese, never met a Thai with a good word to say about them, although most seem very pleasant. In our case the insurance guy was gutless.

[Orton Rd]

You can see here we were turning after stopping and indicating, nothing approaching nowt behind so turn, then whack. No way he was 'overtaking' he was just riding at speed on the wrong side. I did ask in the station did they not realize that reckless driving (us apparently) by bikes like this might have something to do with being the number one in the world for bike deaths, no reaction.

[richard_smith237]

14 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

14 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

The key is not to drive. But if you choose to drive this stuff is going to happen. 

 

No way I will ever drive here, it's like a jet crashing every week of the year killing all on board, and they really think the Thai ways are the best.

 

This logic confuses me....

The additional risks are my very reason for me driving here i.e. trusting myself more than Thai drivers. 

It doesn't bother me too much in the city, but as soon as I'm on an open road I can't remember the last time I wasn't the one driving -  I want to be the one in the control scanning the other cars and predicting what they may or may not do. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

25 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

You can see here we were turning after stopping and indicating, nothing approaching nowt behind so turn, then whack. No way he was 'overtaking' he was just riding at speed on the wrong side. I did ask in the station did they not realize that reckless driving (us apparently) by bikes like this might have something to do with being the number one in the world for bike deaths, no reaction.

 

I can't see in anyway whatsoever that your Wife could have been at fault. 

 

The Motorcycle was riding dangerously on the wrong side of the road. Any 'reckless' driving charge should be on the motorcyclist.

 

Refuse to pay anything else, refuse any other charges, refuse any blame. 

Stay calm.

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by richard_smith237

[Orton Rd]

1 hour ago, henry15 said:

If you have a first class insurance. You should have phoned your insurance company. They send somebody to arrange everything. 

Don't contact  the police

Don' talk to the other party about the accident and discus who is wrong or right. Only tell them your insurance is coming.

This is the only correct  way to handle accidents in Thailand.

we did not contact the cops but the insurance man, now we do not have first class, but still good. Cops decided who was to blame as soon as they turned up and any dispute to court they hold car hostage.

[pi2005ni]

Without knowing the exact facts and hearing first hand it’s hard to know the rights and wrongs but in all cases unless driving the vehicle it’s better for the Falang to stay well away as he is immediately seen as the source of revenue for everyone that can be involved. In my opinion the motorcycle rider is the one totally responsible ,however it is the drivers responsibility to drive in a safe and considerate manner . Cameras are now essential these days for establishing exactly what happened and well worth purchasing. The police in many cases are not really familiar with traffic laws and just go by how things sometimes play out on the day . Going to court may take years and cost a lot of money , at the end your wife may still be found at fault . TIT .

[rwill]

A dash cam in this case would not have shown anything.

[Macthehat]

Exactly the same thing happened to me with a brand new car no more than 3 weeks old.

I Indicated right ,looked in my mirror and saw a bike (in the distance )he had loads of time to slow down .... BANG!. 

He hit the drivers quarter panel and door and flew into a nearby rice field . I quickly got out and recorded everything .

I immediately asked GF to call the police after checking damage to the bike driver and car . Very quickly a crowd had gathered all muttering to each other in thai . After a lot of talk I was told not to call the cops as the guy looked stoned . I refused to accept this and insisted for the cops to see the situation before I moved the car . Cops came 1 hour later wearing what looked like gym gear with a towel round his neck. He didn't speak English but i was quickly informed of his intentions. His plan was that I was to admit 50% of the blame , he stated otherwise my insurance company wouldn't pay out .

I refused but he wouldnt have none of it and insisted I went to the police station with him to give a statement .

I may add that I was coming from the hospital at the time of the accident  with my new born son in the car and my girlfriend . 

So later that afternoon I went to the cop shop and waited on the insurance rep to come and get my statement and the cops version of events.  I refused to sign any paperwork at the cop shop until the insurance rep came.  When he came I spoke with him directly after he spoke with the cops . His English was very good and he asked me what actually happened. I told him I indicated and the bike hit me at speed after overtaking me . I also told him the guy got up and fled the scene before the cops came . I was asked if I would stand up in court and say that ,to which I agreed . ... car got immediately fixed in 1 week(free VIP insirance) . And never heard from the insurance again . Funny thing was , the cops called to girlfriends house and asked me for 500 baht for "all the hassle" . I told them where to go . Never heard a word again . 

The whole episode has opened my eyes to the cops and how willing they are to lie to save paperwork and keep the locals happy  . 

Edited April 20, 2019 by Macthehat
Added photos

[NoshowJones]

It does not matter what the law is, it rarely gets enforced except for drug and immigration offences.

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

It does not matter what the law is, it rarely gets enforced except for drug and immigration offences.

 

Once the Police have attempted and failed to exercise the solution which involves the least amount of work and conflict for them, which usually means blaming the car...  they will then be forced to use the law...  Until that point they will try anything on to do as little work as possible, including threatening you with court etc... IF you are clearly in the right any threats the police make are hollow. 

 

In this case of the Op, his Wife gave in to accepting blame and paying for the mechanic etc way too easily and thus made the Policemans life simpler instead of forcing him to make the decision and blame the motorcyclist. 

[NoshowJones]

21 hours ago, thequietman said:

OK, then explain please why vehicles coming out of side streets have right of way?

 

Surely, if straight ahead has the right of way, then the former rule is mute! .... or did you just make your rule up? ????

If the cops can make their own rules up, then we should also.????

[brokenbone]

5 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

You can see here we were turning after stopping and indicating, nothing approaching nowt behind so turn, then whack. No way he was 'overtaking' he was just riding at speed on the wrong side. I did ask in the station did they not realize that reckless driving (us apparently) by bikes like this might have something to do with being the number one in the world for bike deaths, no reaction.

yes, that is the other side of this catch 22 fessup,

the biker might just be so used to ignore signals since they are abused so often, that he didnt even see it as a hazard.

ultimately it depend who was positioned on that right lane first, that had the right of way.

i also wonder how much in advance the mrs flipped on the signal, did she give an advanced warning 10+ sec prior to turn

or did she more or less synchronize it with actually crossing ?

theres a big difference between the two modus of operandi,

a signal is of no use if the intended recipient is just a couple 

of meters away

[Rod the Sod]

21 hours ago, thequietman said:

n I ask please about the camera for the bike. Have been looking for one but none of them are waterproof!

Ah ha, I can help. Innovv make a great front and rear kit for a bike that is waterproof. I had one fitted 6 months ago and it records continuously very high quality HD, plus it all just pops up on my phone to show BIB. Auto switch off when you turn off the ignition. Auto start when you start. Hope this helps. Cheers RtS

[4675636b596f75]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:08 PM, champers said:

Sounds like one look at falang and it's ...... kerrching time. Rules made up as they go along. Good luck.

Stop the nonsense.  If they have insurance, they turn it over to their insurance company and let them deal with it.  That's why we have insurance.