Thailand proposes 'big bike' licenses and special bike lanes to help tackle motorcycle death toll

[zyphodb]

The only reason they're in the slightest bit concerned about big bikes is because it tends to be rich people riding and dieing on them, & farangs of course but they don't matter...

[GreasyFingers]

3 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

HA! HA! HA!!! The only way a bike lane would possibly work is if the bike lane had concrete walls either side to keep the bikes inside the bike lane and was too narrow for a minibus to get down it.

You are correct. Like the special bicycle lanes back home but the macho bicycle riders, in full peleton outfits, will not use them but travel on car roads at 30% of the speed limit, that most cars travel at. And you are not allowed to touch them even when they are obstructing traffic.

 

I ride a bike and drive a car here and understand that car drivers have no respect for a bike, even when traveling at the same speed of the car in front, they must overtake you to get 2 metres ahead..

[KKr]

lovely idea, I like it.
something like " Footpath, bicycle lane, <150 cc lane, Truck lane, Car as-if-and-when possible lane, >150 cc bike lane " ??
oops forgot the bus-stop lane ????

Edited September 25, 2019 by KKr

[prism]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The other newspaper which can't be mentioned is running a similar article but also quotes 'lane splitting ban's' for big bikes - which would potentially be a nightmare. 

 

Of course, all of the suggestions seem completely unenforceable. Imagine telling Somchai who rides down the pavement that he can't ride in the big-bike lanes, besides, there's not enough space as there is. 

 

Allow big bikes on the express ways (600cc+). 

Remove slow carts from the streets.

Encourage courteous driving (not blocking box junctions etc).

Penalise dangerous riding & driving / running lights etc more severely.

Stamp out DUI with strong campaigns and firm and unwavering penalisation.

Ensure anyone on the road has full insurance. 

 

 

 

Agree with this post, it's war against the big bikes by banning lane splitting for big bikes only. Lane splitting can be done safely, just penalize it if done recklessly. Two classes of motorcycle licenses is long over due here, hopefully the class for larger bikes allows use of motorways and tunnels.  

[tilaceer]

8 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Vietnam came up with a very effective law. Ride without a helmet, they confiscate the bike, plus major fine. Within a year, EVERYONE was wearing helmets. But then, they have a real police force as well. 

In the south, I agree.

However, go up north and it is just the same as here.
Many riding without helmets and with the same total lack of road sense.
The only difference is the continual bloody tooting of horns.

[thailand49]

W.H.O.  know the real problem behind the motorbike accidents but continue to provide millions of dollar allowing or hoping they will fix the problem and that is the core of the problem. They all come from the same swamp then they don't have the power to fix the problem outside of their own front door!

As they say it isn't the Gun nor is it the bike it is the DRIVER!  They already have the answer in fixing the problem, their motor vehicle Act of 1972-90's pretty much explain how to drive but none of it is being ENFORCED! sadly no matter what they suggest or do if you don't ENFORCE 24/7 nothing works.

W.H.O. needs to stop providing funds to Thailand if they continue to move to the top instead of backtracking,  Number 9, I don't think so either!

[sead]

So they want to make more parking slots. As if this is ever gonna happen....

[Rawairat]

The compulsory wearing of helmets has been law for nearly 20 years. Don’t create committees or new laws just enforce this one 24-7 and that will be a good start. Once Thais and tourists have learnt to obey that, then look at the rest, ignoring red lights, no license, ghost riders etc. 

[digger70]

One can't fix Stupid, Until they can it makes no sense what Law or Class Licence the try to bring in. 

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, seajae said:

maybe if they made all bike riders have a licence it would help. Just look at all the under age riders on the streets that clown around at all hours of the day and night and their parents dont give a stuff or try to stop them. Problem is thai police are too lazy to get out on the streets and do their job, how in the hell can they lower the road death toll when the police are never out patrolling the roads or pulling over drivers/riders. They want to stop deaths then they have to enforce the current road laws instead of letting everyone do as they please, seizing bikes would also help, again they need to get the police out of their air conditioned offices to do it and not simply make it a huge tea money collection 

 

Exactly. What is the point of making any rules at all when they are rarely if ever enforced. Not only do the police not go out patrolling, they completely ignore those breaking the law right in front of their nose.

And it is impossible without blanket advertising on all platforms to get people not to drive as if they are playing a video game. Even that wouldn't make a difference to the majority of people, who do whatever they want regardless of the possible consequences. A young lad who lived opposite me tore half his head off while driving his bike drunk, and the very next day I saw his brother roaring off up the wrong side of the road, no helmet. You can't fix stupid, and there is too much of it around for anything the government says to change that.

[finnomick1]

8 hours ago, sweatalot said:

you nail it. They don't need newe law. What they do need is the police doing their job effectively. Without that any new law is as worthless as the existing ones

Just go to any school in Thailand either in the morning or late afternoon and watch dozens if not hundreds of school children riding bikes with no helmets, no license, no insurance and three or more on a bike often assisted by traffic police. It starts at school and carries on into adult life. I berated my sister in law only this morning for buying her son / our nephew a Honda Cub so he could ride to and from his new school when he gets to 12 next year.  

[traveller101]

10 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Baby steps are better than no steps. Most US states treat scooters and MCs separately, I think its 50 cc and above.....

You still don't seem to get it ..... how about seriously enforcing the existing laws, such as wearing a helmet, holding a motorcycle license, not driving on the wrong side of the road, adhering to speed limits and traffic lights and functioning breaklights or any lights at all ....... Before ......... 

introducing new laws that judging from experience are without a doubt equally disregarded and not enforced.

[Airbagwill]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

The WHO has declared Thailand as having the 9th most road accidents in the world. (The per capita number puts the kingdom at number 2, notes Thaivisa). 

This is a misinterpretation of the stats.

the figure Thaivisa is referring to is the number of deaths per 100,000, which may be interpreted as number 2 in the world.

Road accidents" are a different matter. They presumable - although it isn't clear refer to road INCIDENTS, collisions etc. which have been reported and incur fatality, serious injury or minor injury.  In fact Thailand's collation of R/S stats is far too haphazard for nothing but a general impression anyway.

 

t is this that makes the proposed measures laughable.......they appear not to be based on any lengthy research or even evidence from around the world, they are just nape of the neck reactions to a few current events.

 

some of the main problems facing motorcyclists in Thailand are the dreadfully designed, engineered and maintained roads which ensure maximum injury once a rider has lost control and the patchwork inconsistent and almost non-existent emergency services.

 

Those authorities who seem to operate in the dark on all aspects of road safety seem to think they can just legislate their way out of the existing situation......no other country in the world has ever succeeding in doing this

[ICECOOL]

I thought they had special lanes!   Called footpaths!! 

[irwinfc]

three words... enforce current laws

[sawadee1947]

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Different licenses for bigger bikes is all very well, as are dedicated bike lanes, the problem though comes back to the fact that many people simply don't have a license at all, a large number don't wear a helmet and they go wherever they please, including the wrong way down one way streets. Rider education and implementation of existing laws will do a whole lot more than making people with big bikes get a different license.

Well, well, 

There are two options however :

1. You buy a license, meaning no change whatsoever

2. You have to pass a test for this license and learn first time in your life about traffic rules aso. 

Which option you reckon Thai will prefer? 

Honest reply requested ????????????

[ICELANDMAN]

 

Nice bike but where two mirrors ? Naturally removed because the bike loses its aesthetics according to the parameters of the brainless,  is not the only bike so but almost the norm

 

Edited September 25, 2019 by ICELANDMAN

[Airbagwill]

6 minutes ago, irwinfc said:

three words... enforce current laws

Quite apart from the untrained police force, there is a myriad of obstacles to that. For laws to be enforced there have to be fixed perimeters - e.g. clearly marked and signed roads with marked lanes and formally agreed on and scientifically researched speed limits ec. The police then need to be legally informed themselves and equipped with and trained to operate the appraise equipment. You then need a modern legal system that can judicature on the laws and then a whole system to administer and collect fines..........it took decades for Europe to set up these sort of systems.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Airbagwill

[Calach]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

A top level meeting heard that 74% of the death toll on the roads is made up by motorcycle riders. 

Out of which 90% don't ride big bikes. 

[Calach]

I wouldn't mind that they pass new laws that will never be enforced, but if we're supposed to behave like cars in traffic, it would also be fair that we can use the highway. 

[NeoDinosaw]

The photo on the opening page tells us one of the reasons for all the death.  The bike is proudly called "RACING"

 

Those owing one, and bikes like it, feel a duty to live up to the name !

[Tounge Thaied]

12 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Vietnam came up with a very effective law. Ride without a helmet, they confiscate the bike, plus major fine. Within a year, EVERYONE was wearing helmets. But then, they have a real police force as well. 

Things can get certainly get done quickly with a singular Vietnamese Communist Party dictatorship. 

[TEFLKrabi]

Generally, how many of us expats have taken a separate motor bike test it Thailand?

[paul1804]

When will the Thailand authorities face up to the fact that a larger portion of motorcycle riders and car drivers for that matter do not have a license, dont wear a safety helmut, continually disobey the road rules, constantly ride in the wrong direction against traffic, have no respect or idea that a white line is a division between lanes and weaving between lanes and traffic is a hazard to all including themselves. They often have three people on a motorbike and so it goes on, you could honestly write a book on thai drivers and the fact that a large percentage just do not obey or follow simple and basic road rules, round abouts are unbelievable, they drive straight through stop signs onto a round about, red lights and more. Probably the majority dont know the rules so what dont the authorities see that this is a simple case of making intending drivers sit a proper comprehensive test and then enforcing the law. When I went for my Thailand drivers test you watch a video, what happened to a written and oral test of basic road rules and the do's and donts on the road, if you dont know the correct answers then you fail the test. Thailand is a great country full of mostly good people but the road toll is the outcome of a very poor system with little enforcement and its so glaringly obvious. If a tourist doesn't have a licence they should not be able to rent a motor bike period, you cannot have one rule for citizens and another for aliens as you call us wether we are tourists or residents, maybe exceptions could be made for tourists if motor bikes have 50cc or less engine capacity?  What good will lowering the speed limit do if drivers dont know or obey simple road rules which includes speeding, come on Thailand get your act together. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by paul1804

[paul1804]

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

Well, well, 

There are two options however :

1. You buy a license, meaning no change whatsoever

2. You have to pass a test for this license and learn first time in your life about traffic rules aso. 

Which option you reckon Thai will prefer? 

Honest reply requested ????????????

they will choose 1 because thats the easy way out and we know will make absolutely no difference to the current status. 

[Isaanbiker]

The WHO has declared Thailand as having the 9th most road accidents in the world.

 

Really? Nobody knows what it's like to be the bad man, to be the sad man behind blue eyes.....My dreams are always empty.

 

RIP to those who've lost their lives. 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[DUNROAMIN]

Every time I go somewhere I shake my head with a few choice words, motorbikes doing stupid things on the road, no road sense, no formal training, no license, kids on bikes, no helmets, no safety gear what so ever, un-roadworthy bikes, overloaded, too many people on one bike. Lets do another motorbike license check, that will stop all these people dying.  Just another day in the LOS, nothing will change, especially when you have a police force that just doesn't give a sh#$%@t.

Have I missed something? 

As they say here, "up to you how you die, not my problem".

I just accept it now, life's cheap here, except mine.

[dogfish180]

How about enforcement of a helmet law???? Duh! 

[Geir Rasch]

Every day police watch schools where underaged pupils ride their motorbike and do nothing! Then all talking about license make no sense. They have all the laws they need, it is only to enforce them!

[Isaanbiker]

11 hours ago, VYCM said:

In the real world yes.

 

Imagine the lost productivity, no one would turn up for work.

Schools would be empty. 

But less people would die.