Road accidents still account for most deaths in Thailand, report shows

[shy coconut]

14 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

and the other 2 thirds are...non-men?

No, they were men and women from all the other age groups involved, but I'm 

guessing that you knew that already.

 

Men in that age group were believed to be at the highest risk of an accident in the 

UK for many years, hence high insurance premiums.

[intherealworld]

14 minutes ago, Lenny Jones said:

Have a close look! - Note the brand of helmets.  This photo is a P.R. set-up! - nothing like the real truth!

The truth is not required in Thailand.

it kind of messes the day up,  if they face up to it.

 

 

[pennine]

12 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

Wow! So many people with helmets on the pic. Usually only 50% of Thais and expats and 90% of the tourists wear helmets in Chiang Mai. 

I thought it was in Vietnam.

[geoffbezoz]

51 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Hmmm. I think Nigerians are lambasted due to the high number of Nigerian nationals involved in various assorted criminal activities, including drug dealing and computer crime. Not for their driving abilities.

"When you have a culture where corruption is the norm from the top to the bottom" is an extract from my post.  That was a statement of fact irrespective of any particular subject hence the example of Nigeria. The relationship between corruption and the lack of law enforcement on the roads was then the connection I made between the accident death rate in Thailand. Where did I compare or make reference anywhere to Nigerian driving ?   Nowhere !

[Odysseus123]

The only issue that would topple a Thai gov't these days would be the strict and impartial enforcement of the road rules and laws.

The incumbent gov't knows this and has elected to allow the happy little anarchists to slaughter one another-mostly with impunity.

Each and every Thai is complicit in this lottery of death as they prefer their own convenience to any laws on the statute books.

[Classic Ray]

Perhaps time to set up a dedicated Roads Policing Unit separate from the regular police command, recruited and trained separately, well paid to deter corruption. Leave the regular police to do the VIP escorts and shake down the local businesses while the new officers tackle the road collisions and safety problems. Fines could only be paid online or by post so they could be properly accounted.

 

They may prove so efficient they could take over regular and immigration policing. But now I am straying into Fantasy Land!

[Asquith Production]

Just now, Classic Ray said:

Perhaps time to set up a dedicated Roads Policing Unit separate from the regular police command, recruited and trained separately, well paid to deter corruption. Leave the regular police to do the VIP escorts and shake down the local businesses while the new officers tackle the road collisions and safety problems. Fines could only be paid online or by post so they could be properly accounted.

 

They may prove so efficient they could take over regular and immigration policing. But now I am straying into Fantasy Land!

It still would not remove the bribe so you didnt have to pay the fine

[Nong Khai Man]

3 hours ago, malt25 said:

Another look will reveal all helmets are the same.

Oh ! Yeah The BIB Must've been giving them away FREE On that day....

[digger70]

15 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

and the other 2 thirds are...non-men?

Yep they could be Female or Katoey or something in between.    ????

[Joker Man]

14 hours ago, mike787 said:

They simply do not care...drive fast and if you see a brick wall, drive through it...

Yes, they are always rushing to noway and for no concrete reasons. Get on the Bike or car drive or ride like you're not on the highway.

[mike787]

Just now, Joker Man said:

Yes, they are always rushing to noway and for no concrete reasons. Get on the Bike or car drive or ride like you're not on the highway.

YES!!  This has been going for longer than TVF has been in operation.  We can talk back and forth about it, but none of this will stop - EVER! 

[lvr181]

4 hours ago, cerox said:

Why is everyone wearing a helmet on that pic???

 

PhotoShop?

[Chongalulu]

14 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

Wow! So many people with helmets on the pic. Usually only 50% of Thais and expats and 90% of the tourists wear helmets in Chiang Mai. 

But look at those helmets.... Cheap helmets for cheap heads.

[DualSportBiker]

Can you all stop with the conspiracy crap?

 

These charity events happen all the time. The police are there, foundations are there, some charity run by someone looking to get cheap name-recognition is there. Free helmets of dubious quality are given away. It is not a fake picture, it's a fake impression. 

 

Giving away helmets is not a solution. You know that, the police know that, the foundations know that, the charity knows that. The sole purpose is to be seen to do the right thing as long as it is cheap and easy to do. Actual effort and a thought-out approach is not needed; just put parsley on the dish.

 

17 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

Oh ! Yeah The BIB Must've been giving them away FREE On that day....

1 hour ago, pennine said:

I thought it was in Vietnam.

1 minute ago, nchuckle said:

But look at those helmets.... Cheap helmets for cheap heads.

 

1 hour ago, intherealworld said:

The truth is not required in Thailand.

it kind of messes the day up,  if they face up to it.

 

 

[Chongalulu]

Yet another unoriginal copy and paste story about Thai driving which could be summarised by a headline "Thai drivers IQ remains below par ...and no one cares".

[cracker1]

The Royal Thai Police and Road Accident Victims Protection Co Ltd – showed that a third of the victims were men and most were between the ages of 15 and 24. 

Who is this Company ?

Are they suggesting that two thirds of accident victims are women ?

I would doubt that to be true !

[sawadee1947]

14 hours ago, nickstav said:

A friend's 15 year old son recently needed brain surgery for a motorbike accident. No helmet of course. He's alive, but his mental capacity will never be the same. Such a shame.

There must be enforcement of helmet laws by the police, whatever it takes. 

Don't let children drive! I was cut off on my motorbike by a kid who couldn't have been older than 12 and in his school uniform. If a kid is driving the police should impound the bike and the parents have to go claim it and pay a hefty fine to have it released. Let that happen a couple of times and they won't let the kid drive.

Good point. I suppose you wrote a letter already to PM? ????

[stevemac]

 
An old Nigerian work colleague of mine who still keeps in touch often tells me that Thais make Nigerians look like saints yet the world over Nigerians are lambasted yet Thais appear to roam the globe untouched. 

An old Nigerian work colleague of mine who still keeps in touch often tells me that Thais make Nigerians look like saints yet the world over Nigerians are lambasted yet Thais appear to roam the globe untouched

Sent from my SM-G965F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Cake Monster]

15 hours ago, nickstav said:

A friend's 15 year old son recently needed brain surgery for a motorbike accident. No helmet of course. He's alive, but his mental capacity will never be the same. Such a shame.

There must be enforcement of helmet laws by the police, whatever it takes. 

Don't let children drive! I was cut off on my motorbike by a kid who couldn't have been older than 12 and in his school uniform. If a kid is driving the police should impound the bike and the parents have to go claim it and pay a hefty fine to have it released. Let that happen a couple of times and they won't let the kid drive.

An enforcement of helmet Laws would be a really good idea if the helmets that were being enforced were capable in any way of saving a life.

The vast majority of Helmets sold in Thailand are cheap Plastic Mouldings, that are not capable of withstanding any kind of impact at all.

I am all for enforcing a Law that saves lives, but to enforce a Law that says to a wearer of a Plastic helmet " you are now safe "is a nonsense.

 

[spidermike007]

It is all about somehow motivating the police and highway patrol, into catching people performing moving violations and driving recklessly. Without a deterrent, the current situation will just continue. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. 

 

If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

 

Getting on a scooter, or a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand, much less Phuket, Phangan, Dark Tao, or Samui without a very good helmet, is like playing Russian Roulette with three or four bullets in the chamber. It is absolutely asking for problems. The degree of recklessness here is astounding. And many foreigners come here thinking "how much trouble could I get in on a little scooter, on a tropical island"? Well, the answer is alot. The amount of foreigners who are killed on the Southern islands is staggering. Most are not reported in the media. I had a friend who worked for Samui rescue for many years, and said the numbers were about 30-60 a month, on Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao. The official number is about 3 a month. Rider beware. Use as good a helmet as you can afford, and do not use these eggshells pieces of crap. They crack at the first impact, and what lies underneath them? Your skull, which is very delicate. 

 
Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have two friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last two years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older. 

[intherealworld]

3 hours ago, DualSportBiker said:

Can you all stop with the conspiracy crap?

 

These charity events happen all the time. The police are there, foundations are there, some charity run by someone looking to get cheap name-recognition is there. Free helmets of dubious quality are given away. It is not a fake picture, it's a fake impression. 

 

Giving away helmets is not a solution. You know that, the police know that, the foundations know that, the charity knows that. The sole purpose is to be seen to do the right thing as long as it is cheap and easy to do. Actual effort and a thought-out approach is not needed; just put parsley on the dish.

 

 

Have you been drinking or smoking Turkish cigarettes.

as i have no idea why you have quoted me ?

 

 

[DualSportBiker]

2 minutes ago, intherealworld said:

Have you been drinking,

as i have no idea why you have quoted me ?

That would be a problem you need to solve, along with some grammatical improvements...

[natway09]

Over a bottle of Sangsom recently my police friend & I had a discussion on this.

I asked why the Road Transport Authority did not let the Police put mufti cops on the road ?

I got 2 answers,,,, 1, against human rights,,,2 waste of fuel & resources

So there you go,,,,they will just keep on killing each other

[intherealworld]

1 hour ago, DualSportBiker said:

That would be a problem you need to solve, along with some grammatical improvements...

Kind of thought so. 

[connda]

Just yesterday we had an "Oh Sh*te" moment as a woman on a motorcycle came blasting out of a blind side-road onto the highway.  The momentum of the bike brought her out into the highway lane and we had to swerve to miss her.  She not only did not look, but her head was actually turned completely left in the direction she was turning.  

It's suicidal.  And it not a aberration - it is the norm.  And for about the thousandth time I ask my wife - "what are Thais who drive this way thinking?" 

 

22 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Motorcycles accounted for up to 70 per cent of the fatal crashes

Yep!  And there is a reason for that!  Thai + Motorcycle = Suicidal Driving  And my guess is that 70% is actually a low estimate.

[MaxYakov]

5 hours ago, connda said:

Just yesterday we had an "Oh Sh*te" moment as a woman on a motorcycle came blasting out of a blind side-road onto the highway.  The momentum of the bike brought her out into the highway lane and we had to swerve to miss her.  She not only did not look, but her head was actually turned completely left in the direction she was turning.  

It's suicidal.  And it not a aberration - it is the norm.  And for about the thousandth time I ask my wife - "what are Thais who drive this way thinking?" 

 

Yep!  And there is a reason for that!  Thai + Motorcycle = Suicidal Driving  And my guess is that 70% is actually a low estimate.

"what are Thais who drive this way thinking?"

 

"thinking"!?

 

When I'm out I don't speculate about their ability to "think". I'm totally immersed in about what they are doing or are about to do.

 

I'll contain my rant about modern mans' ability to "think" (especially that of those riding motorbikes). ????

 

 

 

[brianthainess]

Who cares ? !

[brianthainess]

waiting at a T junction to turn left in my car, M/C  pulls along the side of me on right side. road clear i pull out, M/C also turns left and cuts in front of me, forcing me to brake,i sound the horn, he stares back at me several times while we are both driving, giving me dagger looks coz he cant figure out why i sounded horn, idiots abound in the Land Of Smashes.

[brianthainess]

On 7/25/2019 at 7:59 PM, connda said:

It's suicidal.  And it not a aberration - it is the norm.  And for about the thousandth time I ask my wife - "what are Thais who drive this way thinking?" 

I just say "they all want to die" or balancing a child on their knee etc. i now say "kill the baby," if my window is open i shout it. sorry but it seems to be true.

[Airbagwill]

All this report shows is the profound ignorance that prevails amongst the Thai authorities with regards to road safety.

Firstly they are concentrating only on one statistic - which on-one with any knowledge of road safety would do. They encourage "International" standards yet fall fouls at the first fence.

We need stats on Fatalities, Serious Injuries and minor injuries, the numbers of collisions and an in depth analysis of ALL road related incidents.....Thailand does absolutely NONE of this yet then has the audacity to make pronouncements like this "meeting".

 

It's quite clear they don't understand even the basics of the problem and think by addressing just one aspect of the problem they will somehow achieve something. This is patently shown alll around the world to be utter nonsense.

(for instance if you concentrate of DEATHS of young motorcyclists - why re you not considering the almost total lack of emergency services, first responders and subsequent medical care - how many injuries are transformed into deaths as a result of this failing??)

Until Thailand's authorities listen to those who study road safety and stop making up their own nape-of-the-neck theories, theousands of people will be injured or dies on or near Thai roads and the resulting cost to the Nation is trillions.

 

(PS - just take a look at the demographic of that meeting and you can see you're on a hiding to nothing!)