Motorcyclists seriously injured in U-turn collision

By Eakkapop Thongtub

 

The motorbike riders were seriously injured in the collision in Thalang. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub
 

PHUKET: An accident between a car and a motorbike at a U-turn in Thalang has left two people seriously injured.

 

Lt Col Kittiphum Tinthalang of Thalang Police was notified of the accident at about 9:30pm on Friday (May 24).

 

Police arrived at the on the west side of Thepkrasattri Rd near the PEA Thalang branch where they found a red Toyota Yaris with frontal damage, and a Yamaha Fino motorbike lying badly damaged on the road.

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/motorcyclists-seriously-injured-in-u-turn-collision-71546.php#F5CAIVht9z8haCVo.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-05-25

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U-Turns of Death: Poorly engineered but less expensive to build than safer alternatives.  

I never remembered seeing so many U-Turns on the US roads.  U-turns normally were made at 'clover-leaf' intersections on highways and at stop lights on other roads. 

 

Here?  Thais are in a huge hurry to get wherever they are going and seem to need the opportunity to turn around every kilometer of so.  The end result of these U-Turns of Death?  Carnage.

 

 

 

 

I sincerely hope the injuries aren't fatal, however U-turns, no matter how well signposted always seem to create problems here.

 

Although having said that, the day before yesterday three Chinese couples on motorbikes decided to do a U-turn and a right turn from the left-hand side of the road, straight across the traffic and onto the other side of the road, before attempting to go the wrong way down a one-way street.

 

Aside from the horn tooting and shouts from all and sundry, these clowns still proceeded to go down the one-way street, the wrong way.

 

There were no signs here, because there wasn't an actual U-turn, it's just that they decided they wanted to do one – – bloody idiots.

      There's nothing wrong with the U-turns, it's the total dipsticks that can't use them safely, too many who just refuse to slow down, or are totally oblivious to other road users.

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I sincerely hope the injuries aren't fatal, however U-turns, no matter how well signposted always seem to create problems here.

 

 

Along with red lights, lane changes, speed limits, drink driving laws.... etc

4 hours ago, MadMuhammad said:

Along with red lights, lane changes, speed limits, drink driving laws.... etc

And don't forget the normal everyday occurrence on Thai roads and just this afternoon I was unlucky enough to see four of them all within about two or 300 m of one another on the Patong Hill.

 

Going up the second Hill out of Patong, a little way down from the temple on the left-hand side was a minivan which was in some distress, or which had been, because behind it there was a lot of debris/dust/oil on the road, with the forlorn driver standing nearby with his hands on his hips.

 

Go over the top of the hill by the temple and at the bottom of that road almost opposite the shooting range there was a very large articulated flatbed truck which had broken down, which was not surprising because it looked very old, and it was laden to the gunwales with concrete slabs and pipes and although a few warning cones had been put down behind it, obviously they didn't make a lot of difference as they had been knocked over.

 

Travelling further north and just another 50 m down further there was a water truck which had run off the road and had fallen over onto its side in the concrete ditch by the side of the road. Obviously it was not going anywhere as none of the wheels were touching any part of the ground and quite how it got there, god only knows as it is extremely difficult to run off the road at that particular point!

 

And that was not the end of it because another 50 m down the road further north there was a car which had stopped with its hazard lights flashing and laying beside of it was a motorbike, along with a couple of shoes and a hat, with two other people standing by their motorbikes, inspecting themselves and their bikes, as obviously there had been a bit of a pileup!

 

So all within the space of perhaps 500 m there were four incidents/accidents and that's the most I've ever seen in a short distance, although I've seen many on that hill.

 

The madness never stops here and I doubt that it ever will; and perhaps it's made even worse with the Chinese drivers descending upon the island and who have never driven a motorbike in their lives but feel that the flight from China to Thailand bestows upon them the skills to do so.

None of the above posters appears to have read the link. The incident had nothing to do with the U-turn as such, but is the usual story of a motorcycle wanting to turn right from the left lane and acting as if they are the only vehicle on the road. That, as this driver discovered, is pretty stupid and can result in getting hurt.

Will he do the same thing again when he recovers? Probably.

6 hours ago, connda said:

I never remembered seeing so many U-Turns on the US roads. 

You didn't. You are correct.

 

Western road systems use :-

 

1) roundabouts. However these are highly problematic in Thailand. There are a few but the majority of road users either flagrantly ignore the rules, have no idea of the rules or are too intellectually inferior to grasp the rules of using roundabouts. So, for Thailand, roundabouts are out.

 

2) roads without a median strip so turns across the flow of traffic (left in the U.S., right in Thailand) can be made anywhere. This solution is again highly problematic in Thailand. Complete lack of lane discipline means vehicles often use the oncoming lane in careless high-speed overtaking manoeuvres. Those who do attempt a right turn correctly run a considerable risk of being rear-ended at high speed by a speeding driver not paying attention or even being obliterated from the front by a driver undertaking the manoeuvre described above. So the median strip is here to stay.

 

The U-turn is the poor driver's remaining option and Thailand has them in spades.

9 hours ago, grumpy 4680 said:

      There's nothing wrong with the U-turns, it's the total dipsticks that can't use them safely, too many who just refuse to slow down, or are totally oblivious to other road users.

There is a reason there are no u-turns in most western countries.

They are dangerous.

U turns on heavy volume roads with speed is a design flaw....

 

roundabouts and smart signals are much safer and efficient alternatives 

 

saving money over lives is the policy here...

19 hours ago, xylophone said:

U-turns, no matter how well signposted always seem to create problems here.

U-turns are in-animate objects... people cause problems!

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

U-turns are in-animate objects... people cause problems!

True but I'll go along with the posters above in that the design of them is STUPID...............you have to access the turn from the fast lane, which in itself is dangerous (moving into the fast lane to slow down to a stop to exit).

 

Then trying to merge into the fast lane traffic going in the other direction.......pure madness. All this because Thais are too stupid to understand how to use a roundabout. So a stupid design along with stupid drivers means the inevitable result we see many times here, let alone the near misses.

there is no hope, dam, they cant even wait for traffic lights to turn green..

11 hours ago, xylophone said:

True but I'll go along with the posters above in that the design of them is STUPID...............you have to access the turn from the fast lane, which in itself is dangerous (moving into the fast lane to slow down to a stop to exit).

 

Then trying to merge into the fast lane traffic going in the other direction.......pure madness. All this because Thais are too stupid to understand how to use a roundabout. So a stupid design along with stupid drivers means the inevitable result we see many times here, let alone the near misses.

Watching Granny with 4 children hanging on to her on her motorbike about to pull out into a gap in the fast traffic, pause at the U turn and then move out across lanes of cars and lorries and motorbikes taking any chance to change lanes and move into any gaps.......I wish she had a better option.

Me too.  I ride a bicycle.