Study shows fewer than half of Thailand’s motorcycle users wear helmets

[hobobo]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

you think?

next study: "Thais don't know which way water flows."

 

That's easy, even for Thais. If it moves down, it flows; if it moves up, it climbs.

[thailand49]

How much this study cost?  or was it done so someone can skim off the top?

 

Stand at any corner you will get your result!  Was the study done like holiday check points?  set up a tent and the enforcers under it all eating, playing with the phones?  All show no action thus =  Thailand world worse!

[brianj1964]

3 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Of course they don't, it messes with their hair. 

   And they can't hear whose on the other end of the phone 

 

[fxe1200]

I would not wear those 200THB helmets either. There might be enough to protect a coconut, but helmets with a DOT or EC 22-05 safety standard should be mandatory.

[mike787]

impressive!!!  Now, for the bigger question...WHY?

[unamazedloso]

"despite non-stop campaigning"

 

Hmm, must be fake news. Ive never seen any campaigning about anything for safety, ever!

[DPKANKAN]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

If anyone one ever wondered, not that we did, why there're so many road fatalities involving moto riders, well, this is it...I can already feel it in the air, a new nationwide ' crackdown' on motos not wearing helmets, well, for the next couple of weeks at least...

Only half don't wear them!!! Are they blinkered or is the Survey just in Bangkok???!!!

A survey a coupla years ago said they didn't wear them 'cos it messed up their hairstyles!!! 5555

Edited July 31, 2019 by DPKANKAN

[TKDfella]

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

They needed a study to find out that ?? 

Just sit at any main junction and watch for 30 mins !! 

The only surprising thing is that 52% actually wear them... 

Ha! A couple/three times a week I have my lunch at a regular spot and sit facing the road. While I'm waiting for my meal I often count m/b that pass by and the number of users without helmets. It's usually around 55-60%

[masuk]

3 hours ago, brokenbone said:

unless you get the government funded hospital to treat for free,

its a personal decision to wear helmet imo,

it shouldnt be a law about it,

and foreigners should definitely be exempt altogether, the day wont come when we get free health care

Rubbish!!

[xerostar]

My question is: of all those wearing helmets, are those helmets really going to protect the rider from injury?

IMHO the vast majority of helmets are nothing more than an adornment offering no protection (except for a small fine in case of a police stop).

Loose fitting, no safety certification, chin strap not used, all result in the helmet being useless in a crash.

Thai riders are faced with a hefty price for a proper full face helmet so it's no wonder many wear anything that looks like a helmet. 

Shops selling a comprehensive range of sizes and fittings are few and far between.

I have yet to see a child size helmet. 

I imagine the cost for a family to fit all children with a helmet to be prohibitive.  

[Vacuum]

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

They needed a study to find out that ?? 

Just sit at any main junction and watch for 30 mins !! 

 

That's what they did.

[masuk]

Less than one-third of motor cyclists use a helmet after dark in Chiang Mai.   The reason:  "Police are off-duty".

Fortunately, hospitals ARE on-duty.

It's all a matter of education and common sense.

[worgeordie]

I think more than 10 % + have no rear lights,for the price

of a bulb,they would rather risk their lives.

regards Worgeordie

[iamariva1957]

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I believe it's either Vietnam or Cambodia where 100% of motorcyclists wear helmets....why...because if they are found not wearing one...their bike is confiscated... End of problem.

Vietnam certainly!

[Is this real]

If no enforcement, which means work and effort, no compliance.

 

Most of the helmets in use are nothing more than "Brain Buckets" that offer no protection with any head impact.  Quality helmets start at β6,000 and much more.  How many Thais can afford that?

 

How many good helmets could be purchased if the price was subsidized instead of buying useless armored personnel carriers, submarines, fighter planes, and combat helicopters.

[essox essox]

2 hours ago, Beggar said:

Perhaps at those without helmets there is nothing to protect... 

this will mean ALL OF THEM then.......

[brokenbone]

35 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I think more than 10 % + have no rear lights,for the price

of a bulb,they would rather risk their lives.

regards Worgeordie

functioning lights should indeed be enforced,

unlike helmets this is a hazard for others

[Jane Dough]

I would say that riders wearing helmets is 90% in Bangkok. We have the second lowest death rates in Thailand per 100,000. 

 

Rooster

[Khun Paul]

Stupid is as stupid does, Thais always know better and hope Buddha will protect them, forgetting Buddha takes care of the soul not the flesh !! 

[Nurseynutcase]

61% in Phuket - you must be joking!!!!  I live in Kata and the majority here don't wear helmets - only if they know they may be going past a checkpoint.

[rwill]

I would say the same percentage have burnt out lights on their motorbikes.  And a bulb only costs 10 baht.

[Geoffggi]

Once again it comes down to the fact that there is no real deterrent, if police stop them bribes er fines are sometimes paid on the spot and only fines that they can afford, where is the sense in this way of thinking.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai motorcyclist are among the worst in ASEAN for disregarding both the law and their own safety.

Police are not far behind the public in that regard... unless it's profitable of course!

Every morning I can sit at nearby traffic lights during the school run... the crossing is supervised by police to help alleviate the normal chaos that ensues as everyone ignores the lights & try to run the lights...

a fair guess would be 70% not wearing helmets... it's no good having laws if police will not enforce them.

[sjbrownderby]

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

They needed a study to find out that ?? 

Just sit at any main junction and watch for 30 mins !! 

Sitting at a junction and watching for 30 minutes would actually be a study.

[Khun Paul]

We are of course all preaching to the educated and intelligent, sadly that does not apply to the majority of Thai Motorcycle riders 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I believe it's either Vietnam or Cambodia where 100% of motorcyclists wear helmets....why...because if they are found not wearing one...their bike is confiscated... End of problem.

 

I've been to Bali a few times and just about everyone wears one. But then, the people there have both a brain and a police force, whereas Thais and Thailand has neither. Makes a big difference. You just cannot tell a Thai what to do.

[Globe Trotter]

Is that per motorcycle, or each person? Because we've all seen families on one bike, and I am so desensitised now that seeing a woman with a 6 month old baby inside a zip hoodie she was wearing, clinging to her torso, isn't odd or unusual to me. It's still disgustingly irresponsible though  

Edited July 31, 2019 by Globe Trotter

[DPKANKAN]

1 minute ago, Globe Trotter said:

Is that per motorcycle, or each person? Because we've all seen families on one bike, and I am so desensitised now that seeing a woman with a 6 month old baby inside a zip hoodie she was wearing, clinging to her torso, isn't odd or unusual to me. It's still disgustingly irresponsible though  

I will never forget the first time coming to Thailand in early 2000's. In Kho Chang seeing a guy on a motorbike driving one handed with a baby in the other hand.

We could not believe it. Sat for 10 minutes not moving. Talked about it all day.

Now see it every day but still get angry!!

[Bangkok Barry]

48 minutes ago, Is this real said:

Quality helmets start at β6,000 and much more.  How many Thais can afford that?

 

If they can afford the bike then surely they can afford a helmet.

[jkcjag]

They've "been studying the helmet wearing behavior of both motorcyclists and pillion riders for nine years". Nine years to conclude the obvious from any casual glance at the roads. Who pays these peoples salary?