Thai roads: 6,129 dead so far this year - 729 this month - 29 on Monday

[Lupatria]

In Europe the big thing is a ban of diesel cars, here it should be a ban for idiots to drive.

[justin case]

soft population control..no brains , drunk driving, 80 percent motosay

[mrfill]

10 minutes ago, dddave said:

Some will see this as racist and invoking a stereotype but there really does seem to be lower sense of situational awareness here than in other places. Thais frequently seem to be totally oblivious to what's going on around them.

You experience it frequently on sidewalks where people just cut into your path, either totally unaware or totally self-entitled to whatever space they aim to occupy. People routinely exit doorways directly onto footpaths without pause or looking either way, then give you the dirty look when they bump into you.

From the countless videos I've seen on Thai TV of deadly vehicle accidents, drivers seem to cut across busy roads and make U-turns with hardly a look or pause, frequently somehow never seeing the colossal truck bearing down 50 feet away that is about to end their time on earth. 

 

I think we from western societies sometimes fail to appreciate how much we learn as kids about how to get around.  As toddlers, we walked hand in hand with parents who knew how to walk in crowds, making way for others and observing rules of the walkway/road.  Most of us had parents with cars and though we weren't aware of it at the time, our brains absorbed a huge amount of practical knowledge on driving techniques.   

 

The inundation of Thailand with personal cars and motorbikes has happened only in the last 40 years.  Most drivers are first and second generation and I think the driving knowledge passed from generation to generation in the west is totally lacking here.  Most nations with a lot of first generation drivers have high death rates. Why Thailand's rate is above most others seems to me to be a result of that strange obliviousness that many Thais seem to have. 

 

Can you explain then how Vietnam, a country with nearly 50% more people, has a lower total road death count, not just lower per capita? Mass mobility came at the same time in both countries so if the '2nd generation' theory is fair, the figure should be similar.

Traffic laws are respected more in Vietnam and applied by the police more. I have no figures but would guess that penalties are also not as feeble as in Thailand. If you only get a tiny fine for driving like an idiot, you have no real incentive to not drive like an idiot.

[Sonhia]

Again, no surprise.

 

Just take a glance at the lawlessness , ineffective, corrupt  policing, over the too Thai ego, poor education, greed, need for speed plus Hi so, I am, can do what I want, Thai mentallity mind set.

 

Paradise 

[Chongalulu]

Another deja vu,groundhog day article. Changez le disc.

[johng50]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand is said to be number two in the world for per capita road death.

Working hard to be number 1 to save face, (again).

[Chongalulu]

8 minutes ago, mrfill said:

 

Can you explain then how Vietnam, a country with nearly 50% more people, has a lower total road death count, not just lower per capita? Mass mobility came at the same time in both countries so if the '2nd generation' theory is fair, the figure should be similar.

Traffic laws are respected more in Vietnam and applied by the police more. I have no figures but would guess that penalties are also not as feeble as in Thailand. If you only get a tiny fine for driving like an idiot, you have no real incentive to not drive like an idiot.

Valid point,so I think it’s IQ we then need to look at. If self preservation is less of an incentive than a high fine we can already subtract 10 points- in fact I recall reading that deficiency in an IQ by country statistic ...

[namatjira]

It’s clear that the government is just totall irresponsible,

they care little, if at all, for the lives of their fellow Thais.

no real need to enforce simple helmet wearing laws, easier to just let them crack their heads open, same with 3 or 4 on a bike, or a handful in the back of a pick up.....carnage and death ? Who cares.

certainly not the Thai government, they must have other pressing business to take care of......

[Saratoga Slim Anon]

Thailand needs to start a Mayor Giuliani approach and start handing out fines for every infraction. Hardly anyone signals here. There's cars double and triple parked. I'd start dinging everyone for everything.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Saratoga Slim Anon

[JulesMad]

I just checked for my country: 678 people died in traffic in 2018. That means during the accident or in the following 30 days as a result of the accident.
Thailand: 6129 dead in less than half a year (probably counted as died during the accident)...

[ebean001]

it really needs to be broken down by motorbike and....ooops, no other break down is needed. it will be 80% or close to that number. mostly YM 18-26 drunk.

[ttrd]

RE - This went along with a picture of a Nissan pick-up in which three people were injured after it collided and partly demolished the Amnat Charoen Service shop in Lam Lukka, Pathum Thani. 

 

This particular event may be related to a unsatisfied customer ...

[natway09]

The very sad part of this is that because the majority of the constabulary are corrupt

they have lost the peoples respect & take no notice whatsoever.

Also lazy, if you let vehicles go the wrong way up a one way street for 5 years with no intervention the drivers now do it with impunity hence being knocked over on the footpath 

by a motorbike going the wrong way..

On the highways we will continue to see carnage until we have mufti cops on the roads in the traffic UPHOLDING THE LAW

[moutamine]

Natural selection at work!  Thailand no. 1

[lvr181]

As for the authorities, they seem to have no freekin idea on how to deal with the problem - or even where to start!

 

Unfortunately, in the Kingdom, where there is no will there is no way! Perhaps you can lead the horse to water, but you CANNOT MAKE it drink. Until the elitists and the military chiefs start losing family and friends to road trauma there will be NO CHANGE! Unpalatable fact (to farang & modern Asian nations) but, sadly, there it is. ????

[chaihot]

I would like to see the exact age breakdown ... it makes a difference.

[rudi49jr]

3 hours ago, samsensam said:

In their headline Daily News said that brakes are important

I would hazard that brains and common sense are far more important, judging by the madness one can witness on the roads in Thailand every day.

[Asquith Production]

4 hours ago, Wilsonandson said:

The police enforcing motorcyclists to wear helmets might help reduce those number of deaths.

Sent from my SM-A700FD using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

The Police here in Maahasarakham enforce helmet law day in day out every week and it doesn't make the slightest difference. Mahasarakham is a student city and the students bring there motorbikes for term time on the back of the family Toyota then take them back home when finished. I have no idea if they have licences but most do not wear helmets.  To be honest if they dont want to wear them that is their problem. The only people they kill are themselves. Like seat belts if you dont wear one you only kill yourself in an accident. Not wearing a helmet or a seat belt normally only causes death or greater injury to that person. The offences that affect other people are drink drive, speeding and running red lights and are the offences that should be policed more rigorously.

[4MyEgo]

Some pretty good posts, just today I was pulled over for turning right from the middle lane with a green arrow, there were 3 lanes, one for left, one for straight and one for right, no oncoming traffic, my wife argued with the police officer, saying we just paid 400 baht to fix our car, we are not from this area (true), the cop smiled and said oh ok, and reduced the fine to 100 baht, no paperwork, same for the bloke before us, and there you have one of the biggest reasons why there are so so so many deaths in Thailand.

 

Most of the force are only interested in making money from corruption, and until the entire police force is wiped out, there will never be any reduction in road deaths, sadly, IMO.

 

Forget the 100 baht, chicken feed, there is no police force in Thailand enforcing the law as we know, hence the large amounts of deaths on the road.

[wensiensheng]

2 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Do they still fiddle the numbers by only counting you dead if at the scene? They were found out at one time to be counting a victim as injured if they died in the ambulance on the way to Hospital, or at the Hospital if they reached it alive.

The article makes this point very clearly.

[Cranky]

What makes it more pathetic is how much publicity surrounds the various 'dangerous periods' and their respective 'clampdowns'.  A quick look at the numbers show very little difference between driving completely hammered at each event and 'normal' days on the road.  

[wensiensheng]

26 minutes ago, Asquith Production said:

The Police here in Maahasarakham enforce helmet law day in day out every week and it doesn't make the slightest difference. Mahasarakham is a student city and the students bring there motorbikes for term time on the back of the family Toyota then take them back home when finished. I have no idea if they have licences but most do not wear helmets.  To be honest if they dont want to wear them that is their problem. The only people they kill are themselves. Like seat belts if you dont wear one you only kill yourself in an accident. Not wearing a helmet or a seat belt normally only causes death or greater injury to that person. The offences that affect other people are drink drive, speeding and running red lights and are the offences that should be policed more rigorously.

I am willing to bet you that the Mahasarakham police do not enforce the helmet law. They may stop people, fine them and allow them to ride on without a helmet. THAT is not enforcing the law.

[elephant45]

good, lessen the idiots on the road.

[tom in bangkok]

Since moving to Thailand, I've become quite anxious about the rear bumper of my car when I have to inevitably hit the brakes when some idiot pulls into the reasonable braking distance I left between me and the car in front of me. Seriously, why do Thai drivers drive with 1m of space in front of them when travelling at 120kph??

 

In the 1 year I've been living here, I think I've only seen two cop cars on the road. Is it a funding problem or an apathy problem?

[Asquith Production]

48 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

I am willing to bet you that the Mahasarakham police do not enforce the helmet law. They may stop people, fine them and allow them to ride on without a helmet. THAT is not enforcing the law.

Whatever way you look at it it still costs the student money.

 

 

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[nasa123]

Accident Data Center Thailand:

http://www.thairsc.com/eng/

 

 

[TKDfella]

Nope, there is a perfectly plausible explanation...the Earth moves under the wheels not the opposite. Under these conditions it is difficult to steer and apply the brakes in time when the Earth speeds up. Yes I'm joking but the Thai guy who told me wasn't (I thought he was). That's hard to swallow I know...I told him he should publish the idea. I mean why blame the brakes, the rain etc. when you can simply blame the world...these guys need locking up.

[user46546545]

Darwinism at work- culling is always good for a race

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, tom in bangkok said:

Since moving to Thailand, I've become quite anxious about the rear bumper of my car when I have to inevitably hit the brakes when some idiot pulls into the reasonable braking distance I left between me and the car in front of me. Seriously, why do Thai drivers drive with 1m of space in front of them when travelling at 120kph??

 

In the 1 year I've been living here, I think I've only seen two cop cars on the road. Is it a funding problem or an apathy problem?

They drive 1 metre from the car in front because they are idiots. Quite simple really.

And by the way, if you have to stop suddenly and they hit the back of your car they will blame you for stopping too quickly. ????