drive slower

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, Presnock said:

a couple of years ago, there was an editorial by a well-known Thai about driving in Thailand.  He said that he went to college in the US.  He said that what he sees here in Thailand is that Thai drivers drive a vehicle as if there is no other vehicle on the road, thus they feel they are always in the right of way.  He likened them to the horse and carriage times when blinders were put on the horse so he wouldn't be affected by anything going on around him.  A problem I note is that it seems many car/pickup drivers learned all their driving habits on a motorcycle.  Therefore, no signal of turn, cutting across lanes with no feel for right of way, etc.

In Bangkok, motorcycle drivers are taught to stay on the left side of the highway but as one Thai I know says, every time he comes to CM he immediately sees motorcycles on every side of every lane.  I also don't understand the fact that many Thais refuse to wait in a queue at a stoplight, zooming up a turn lane and then forcing their way into the lanes going through the stoplight!  worse every day

 

Nothing wrong with riding up a turn lane on a motorbike if there is plenty of room, just as long as you do not stop any vehicles who want to make that left hand turn at the lights.

That is one of the reasons I got rid of my car and bought a bigger motorbike, no more waiting in long queues of vehicles at traffic lights or any other queues. 

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

One of my favourite games to play here. I'm waiting patiently at the stoplight on the line. Scooter slews in front of me and stops. I know that they will get away more slowly than me, forcing me to overtake them again.

 

I slowly edge up to their back wheel and start pushing them forward with my bumper. Blind panic from the Thais, making me split my sides with laughter.

Any farang who ever does that to me on my motorbike won't be splitting his sides with laughter for long.

[ben2talk]

9 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I was recently in Australia with my daughter driving. We can to a urban junction , stopped and drove across while the other car simply sat there. My daughter commented that Australians don't understand the convention at a four-way stop. Which by the way is first in, first out.

 

In your cases you should be able to tell by looking at the other drivers eyes.

Comical...

 

12 years ago, riding through traffic along a packed Ramkhamheang (Traffic pretty much gridlocked) there was a bike sitting looking over his right shoulder at me approaching. He waited patiently, then pulled out less than 5m from my front wheel, even at 20km/h it was too late - causing my wheel to glance off and meet the rear of a bus where I came to a full stop as he scrambled up and rode off...

and that is the one accident that gave me a permanent injury to one vertebrae in my neck that gave me some nerve pain for another ten years...

 

Full eye contact, and his wheels were locked for a good 10 seconds leading up to the incident.

 

There's more to it than speed.... yes, speed WAS a factor but however defensively you drive, it's impossible to eliminate the ability of something as insane as that to catch you out... 

 

 

Also, you can't see the faces of drivers in this country - the glass is usually tinted.

[ben2talk]

38 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Any farang who ever does that to me on my motorbike won't be splitting his sides with laughter for long.

5555 proper comedian. Car vs bike and the bike will win? really? Any biker gets off and challenges me I won't get out the car, I had a friend in Manchester who was once knifed by a mad biker, he died a week later - I'll drive right over him to get away - so good luck when you meet me dude ???? because I'm truly a crazy coward - and ain't nothing scarier than that.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, ben2talk said:

5555 proper comedian. Car vs bike and the bike will win? really? Any biker gets off and challenges me I won't get out the car, I had a friend in Manchester who was once knifed by a mad biker, he died a week later - I'll drive right over him to get away - so good luck when you meet me dude ???? because I'm truly a crazy coward - and ain't nothing scarier than that.

I meant what I said, cars or bikes, you cannot expect to go around assaulting people and get away with it.

[ricklev]

9 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it's not so much about speed. It's about expecting the unexpected all the time.

Sometimes speed is good, because it brings you fast far away from all the others.

I ride bikes in Bangkok now since about 20 years without any accident with more than walking speed. Obviously it can also happen to me. But I think most of the time I avoid trouble by anticipating all the bad things which others might do. And in doubt I don't do anything which could go wrong.

Exactly my motorcycle driving in Bangkok philosophy!  But it didn't help when the security guard decided to lower the gate at the exact moment I was passing through.  Minor injuries...

 

I like to play a game with my self when I am riding in Bangkok which I call "Enter the fool, stage right"  where I try to predict the upcoming moronic maneuver of a driver I perceive to be a danger. 

[DannyCarlton]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Any farang who ever does that to me on my motorbike won't be splitting his sides with laughter for long.

Oh trust me, I would.

[DannyCarlton]

48 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I meant what I said, cars or bikes, you cannot expect to go around assaulting people and get away with it.

I do. All the time.

[papa al]

9 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

I slowly edge up to their back wheel and start pushing them forward with my bumper. Blind panic from the Thais, making me split my sides with laughter.

papa does same

a real yuk !!

[EVENKEEL]

My truck has been properly tattooed on visor and header, suggest all do the same at local temple. 

[MadMuhammad]

I figure if I’m going faster than everyone else there’s less chance of being sideswiped or hit from behind which is never fun on a bike. 

[soi3eddie]

13 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Through the blacked out windscreen? I actually find this to be a very common problem in this country. Drivers cannot make visual gestures to each other because of the dark windscreens.

 

My GF's car has blacked out totally dark side windows and a dark tinted screen too. I refuse to drive or be driven in it at night as it's impossible to see anything. I keep telling her to take the (deleted) film off the front screen at least but no way! CARR TOOO HOTT IF TAKE OFF!  

[brokenbone]

18 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

 

 

 

Luck is a big factor though, you could do everything right and someone just pulls out in front of you

yes, this was the case, sometimes it just makes no difference how you do

or how good you are or how much experience you got in predicting the unpredictable,

you are going to crash either way, and lower speed will result in less pain.

i sure wish i was in less pain, and i wish my arm were functional 2

[guzzi850m2]

Yes riding slower is generally safer. I have to admit that after upgrading from a 650 to a 900cc bike I sometimes finding myself going way too fast and I force myself into slowing down.

If you want to ride fast, you have to pick your places carefully, no side sois, good view of the traffic ahead. Instead of riding super fast, I instead enjoy the superior acceleration that a big bike has.

Regarding tinted windows, we have it on the truck because my wife feel safer when she drives it alone, which she does 6 months per year when I am overseas working.

 

[Chazar]

20 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I was recently in Australia with my daughter driving. We can to a urban junction , stopped and drove across while the other car simply sat there. My daughter commented that Australians don't understand the convention at a four-way stop. Which by the way is first in, first out.

 

In your cases you should be able to tell by looking at the other drivers eyes.

At intersections without traffic lights, signs or road lines:

• you must give way to any vehicle entering or approaching the intersection from your right.

[Chazar]

19 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

Always drive with a Buddha amulet dangling from your rear view mirror. Works for me.

Remove  the  mirror  ...works for me

[Chazar]

18 hours ago, brokenbone said:

in this case, the car in front of me shifted lane to the left,

i carried on business as usual  but a car traveling in the opposite direction

decided to turn over my lane. this can not be anticipated,

its just a fact there is suddenly an obstacle in my path and i got less then 2 sec

to brace for impact. less speed= less skidding on asphalt in my calculations

How do you stop the  vehicle behind ramming into you whilst  you are stationary at say traffic  lights..............c'mon less  speed  is  safer right? Nip into reverse?

[Chazar]

17 hours ago, AlexRich said:

It took me a long time to realise the pointlessness of high speed. Getting to your destination five minutes earlier (if that) is not worth the added risk. It doesn’t eliminate you from the stupidity of others but gives you a better chance of survival.

 

 

 

just remember that your standing on a planet thats evolving, and revolving at 900  mph,  thats orbiting at 90  miles a  second so its  reckoned the sun that is the source of  all our  power, the sun and you and  me and all the stars  that we can see are  moving t a  million  miles a  day...............Monty  Python

[Nemises]

19 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yes speed is key, i see many falang going too fast passing risky junctions or overtaking when they shouldn't. We know thais do it.

 

Luck is a big factor though, you could do everything right and someone just pulls out in front of you

 

 

 

Luck is a big factor though, you could do everything right and someone just pulls out in front of you

... or one of the many unlicensed, underaged, drunk, distracted or dangerous drivers on Thailand ridiculously under-patrolled roads runs into the back of you, or overtakes you as you’re turning right, or “undertakes” you as you’re turning left.

Maybe your demise will be caused by one of the millions of unrestrained Thai soi dogs, or a driver texting from behind a Thai-permitted blackened windscreen. 
So many more ways for an experienced farang motorcyclist to be killed in Thailand than from whence they came. 

Yes as mentioned above, luck plays a big part of surviving on Thai roads, regardless of how many decades of riding experience you’ve had here, or abroad. 

 

[melvinmelvin]

19 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it's not so much about speed. It's about expecting the unexpected all the time.

Sometimes speed is good, because it brings you fast far away from all the others.

I ride bikes in Bangkok now since about 20 years without any accident with more than walking speed. Obviously it can also happen to me. But I think most of the time I avoid trouble by anticipating all the bad things which others might do. And in doubt I don't do anything which could go wrong.

 

wow man,

you don't do anythinhg that could go wrong, Hmmm, king of the road are yoiu?

 

 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Chazar said:

How do you stop the  vehicle behind ramming into you whilst  you are stationary at say traffic  lights..............c'mon less  speed  is  safer right? Nip into reverse?

At traffic lights, bikes should filter down the side and make their way to the front. Not a good idea to stay behind a car especially when lights have just turned red.

 

Probably twice the amount of thinking required riding a bike vs driving

[DannyCarlton]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

At traffic lights, bikes should filter down the side and make their way to the front. Not a good idea to stay behind a car especially when lights have just turned red

Probably the most annoying thing that bikes can do in Thailand. All go well beyond the stop line (one law for bikes. one law for cars) spread themselves across the road and blockade cars when the lights turn green. A hazard for all as cars then have to pick their way through the slower moving scooters.

 

A typical Thai philosophy of complete lack of consideration/awareness of others.

 

 

[brokenbone]

1 hour ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

wow man,

you don't do anythinhg that could go wrong, Hmmm, king of the road are yoiu?

 

 

what i hope he will understand before its too late is:

sometimes it doesnt matter in the slightest if he did everything right,

its not in his hands

[brokenbone]

24 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Probably the most annoying thing that bikes can do in Thailand. All go well beyond the stop line (one law for bikes. one law for cars) spread themselves across the road and blockade cars when the lights turn green. A hazard for all as cars then have to pick their way through the slower moving scooters.

 

A typical Thai philosophy of complete lack of consideration/awareness of others.

 

 

scooters almost invariably accelerate faster, and further down the road they

will just continue expand since they can constantly overtake and undertake,

while a car typically can not

[scubascuba3]

33 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Probably the most annoying thing that bikes can do in Thailand. All go well beyond the stop line (one law for bikes. one law for cars) spread themselves across the road and blockade cars when the lights turn green. A hazard for all as cars then have to pick their way through the slower moving scooters.

 

A typical Thai philosophy of complete lack of consideration/awareness of others.

 

 

Not correct, a couple of reasons they do it, one is speed to get ahead of the cars and two it's safer, if they are further back they will just have to overtake the cars sooner or later. I guess you don't ride a bike so don't understand. It's like the guys who hate cyclists also

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Yes riding slower is generally safer. I have to admit that after upgrading from a 650 to a 900cc bike I sometimes finding myself going way too fast and I force myself into slowing down.

If you want to ride fast, you have to pick your places carefully, no side sois, good view of the traffic ahead. Instead of riding super fast, I instead enjoy the superior acceleration that a big bike has.

For how long to you enjoy your acceleration? 3 seconds or maybe even 5?

My VFR400 accelerated in 1st gear to 100km/h and in 2nd to 140km/h. Great fun and great noise with 14500 RPM. But over in seconds...

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, brokenbone said:

what i hope he will understand before its too late is:

sometimes it doesnt matter in the slightest if he did everything right,

its not in his hands

I wrote already in my originals post: "Obviously it can also happen to me."

 

Anybody can have an accident, there is no question about that. But we also all agree that in part it's up to us how many risks we take and how much we expect the unexpected.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

wow man,

you don't do anythinhg that could go wrong, Hmmm, king of the road are yoiu?

 

 

[Moonlover]

20 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Then there's the head-whip as everything around him takes off with the ensuing manic pumping of the selector to get a gear before weaving all over the shop as he gives it right-hand laldy.

On an automatic Scoopy? That'll be a first!

[DannyCarlton]

1 hour ago, brokenbone said:

scooters almost invariably accelerate faster, and further down the road they

will just continue expand since they can constantly overtake and undertake,

while a car typically can not

The opposite of my experience. Typically, driving down Sukumvit, scooters are the slowest vehicles on the road. Spread themselves across the lanes creating a slalom course for cars. Also accelerate away from traffic lights far more slowly than I do.