Brake failure: 4 killed, 45 injured in runaway bus accident in Loei

[webfact]

Brake failure: 4 killed, 45 injured in runaway bus accident in Loei

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

 

A tour bus on its way back from a trip to Khunming Muang Thai in Loei province in Thailand's north east suffered brake failure. 

 

The driver was unable to control the vehicle as it went down a hill on the Nong Hin to Phu Pa Poh Road. It overturned by the side of the road. 

 

Four people were killed and 45 injured, the local district chief told Manager.  

 

Victims were taken to three hospitals in the area. 

 

The accident happened yesterday evening around 6.40 pm. 

 

The people on the tour bus were described as tourists in a Thai Rath story and elderly in Manager. 

 

They had gone from Prakhonchai in Buriram to Loei and were on their return journey. 

 

A tour bus on its way back from a trip to Khunming Muang Thai in Loei province in Thailand's north east suffered brake failure. 

 

The driver was unable to control the vehicle as it went down a hill on the Nong Hin to Phu Pa Poh Road. It overturned by the side of the road. 

 

Four people were killed and 45 injured, the local district chief told Manager.  

 

Victims were taken to three hospitals in the area. 

 

The accident happened yesterday evening around 6.40 pm. 

 

The people on the tour bus were described as tourists in a Thai Rath story and elderly in Manager. 

 

They had gone from Prakhonchai in Buriram to Loei and were on their return journey. 

 

Sources: Manager Online | Thai Rath

 

 

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WARNING: The following video may be disturbing for some viewers. Discretion is advised

 

 

 

[Mango Bob]

Same stuff over and over again.  Why is maintenance not done on a tour bus before each trip.  Always the brakes fail.  Now the government sit on their butt and wonder why tourism is down.  Too many people come here and die.

[Jessi]

RiP to the ones that have died in this bus accident and a quick recovery for those injured.

 

Brake failure my fat ass, more like brain failure. 

More carnage for the Thai roads.

[Just1Voice]

Same Site, different day.  Nothing new here. 

[Matzzon]

Nothing as terrible as another brake failure story. Instead of making the needed maintenance and repairs, they continue to let people die. I wonder if TAT is happy with this kind of commercial for the country, but they probably have more important things to do. Like, how can we spin the numbers this time to look good.

[VocalNeal]

Automatic transmission, engine idling going downhill, driver keeps dabbing brakes. Then runs out of air.

Not failure. Lack of understanding about operating a system?

[justaphase]

They just failed on the hill? What kind of idiot driver..no never mind, he's a Thai bus driver. Normal.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Automatic transmission, engine idling going downhill, driver keeps dabbing brakes. Then runs out of air.

Not failure. Lack of understanding about operating a system?

Even an auto has a down shift to aid braking.

[Happy Grumpy]

29 minutes ago, Mango Bob said:

Why is maintenance not done on a tour bus before each trip. 

That would require forethought. 

 

 

And my God, if something was wrong they might actually have to work or spend money.... on something that hasn't even broken yet, how stupid is that, spending money on something that isn't even broken, and after spending time trying to find it! 

[RichardColeman]

I wonder how many buses would suffer from brake failure if 'brake failure' meant automatic life in prison for the driver, the engineers and the company owners if resulting in a death ?

[brokenbone]

17 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

Nothing as terrible as another brake failure story. Instead of making the needed maintenance and repairs, they continue to let people die. I wonder if TAT is happy with this kind of commercial for the country, but they probably have more important things to do. Like, how can we spin the numbers this time to look good.

its not a brake failure in the first instance,

its a failure to brake, period

[unamazedloso]

did anyone investigate the brake fail claim or its just taken as legite? Just no way there is this many brake failures. Even still most brakes still work a little bit if there is no pads or shoe friction material left, this with down shifts and even hand brakes depending on the vehicle could assist in many of these cases to bring these vehicles to a safe stop. Always sounds like a load of bs to me. 

 

[SteveK]

Thailand seems to have more brake failures than any other country in the world. It's either a face-saving way of saying that the driver had fallen asleep, or a face-saving way of saying that the company didn't bother to service the vehicle. Face has a lot to answer for.

[sammieuk1]

We are back at the crossroads of brake failure v paralytic micro sleeper stay alert to airborne out of control vehicles this happy new year????Rip 

[Matzzon]

33 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

its not a brake failure in the first instance,

its a failure to brake, period

Oooh! In Thailand same, same. No ploblem. Me no make long. Me never make long.

[Vacuum]

44 minutes ago, transam said:

Even an auto has a down shift to aid braking.

Don't they also have exhaust brakes?

[NCC1701A]

More carnage. i can't take these sad stories.  so horrible.

[Chelseafan]

It's not brake failure. It's manslaughter. Let's start calling a spade a spade.

 

 

[Youlike]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

I wonder how many buses would suffer from brake failure if 'brake failure' meant automatic life in prison for the driver, the engineers and the company owners if resulting in a death ?

I also wonder how many drivers would do a runner if they got 1 year in prison only for running away...standard punishment for not helping the passengers in need.

[AhFarangJa]

Seat belts........I very much doubt it.

R.I.P. to more innocent victims. 

[Vacuum]

@Moonlover;  An exhaust brake is a device that essentially creates a major restriction in the exhaust system, and creates substantial exhaust back pressure to retard engine speed and offer some supplemental braking. In most cases, an exhaust brake is so effective that it can slow a heavily loaded vehicle on a downgrade without ever applying the vehicle's service brakes.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaust_brake

 

[sweatalot]

When at last will they learn the correct spelling. It is brain not brake

[Assurancetourix]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The driver was unable to control the vehicle as it went down a hill

 

So this has nothing to do with "brake failure".
Another heavy vehicle driver who can't drive

 

I would like to know how a Thai passes the license for heavy goods vehicles and public transport.
I think it must be very folk and having absolutely nothing to do with the way we spend it in Western Europe.

 

In France the passage to Mines is compulsory every year for vehicles transporting goods ( over 3,5 tons ) ; and every six months, therefore twice a year, for line and passenger coaches.

And that does not prevent there from accidents of heavy goods vehicles and coaches;
But in 99.9% of cases it is still a misconduct.
The materials are not at issue.

[legend49]

Do the BIB ever get a technical inspection done by a competent engineer to find the real cause? I mean the next time wife has an accident she can say brake failure and walk away?

[lemonjelly]

Do coach, bus or HGV drivers have to do a course and pass a test here?..... please don’t tell me they’re driving on car licences

[Classic Ray]

I see lots of rebodied buses on old chassis, lovely paint job but the underpinnings can be twenty years old, and sometimes single deckers are converted to double deckers. 

 

Couple that with untrained drivers, steep roads with few runoff areas, and lack of maintenance and I am surprised even more buses don't come to a sticky end.

[AsianAtHeart]

5 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Automatic transmission, engine idling going downhill, driver keeps dabbing brakes. Then runs out of air.

Not failure. Lack of understanding about operating a system?

Those criticizing ignorance had best take care not to be ignorant themselves.  I hold a commercial driver's license, and am perhaps among the very few foreigners to have done so in Thailand, though it was only in my home country that I learned what every commercial driver should know.   I passed my air brakes portion of the test, so had no restriction on using vehicles with them placed on my license.  Here are the facts:

In a vehicle with air brakes, the air pressure is what holds the brakes OFF.  If the air pressure ever drops too low, the brakes will automatically be applied.  Perhaps "air brakes" are actually a misnomer: they would better be called "spring brakes."  As for the pedal that the driver is pushing, that is not an air brake.  That is a hydraulic brake, and uses fluid, not air, to apply brake pressure.

The most likely cause of the failure in a case like this is that the brakes became overheated, causing a condition called brake fade.  Once the brakes are hot, the amount of friction they exert is greatly reduced.  Pushing harder on the pedal, assuming the hydraulic pressure (brake fluid) in the system is sufficient to do so, will work some, but once in this state, nothing will be very effective.  To avoid this situation, the engine should have been used to help slow the vehicle via a lower gear.  Some vehicles may also have engine exhaust brakes, that put pressure on the exhaust release from the engine, which translates down the drive train to slow the vehicle.  I was once using such a brake, however, when the U-joint sheared off in the drive train, and, fortunately, I still had my wheel brakes in operable condition.  That was on such a steep mountain that I chose to park the big rig at the first favorable location and seek repairs before continuing with it (I could only have descended the mountain anyhow, there was no chance of forward power at that point).

 

But, don't believe me...even Wikipedia will tell you about how the air works in conjunction with the spring:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_brake_(road_vehicle)

[racket]

6 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

Same stuff over and over again.  Why is maintenance not done on a tour bus before each trip.  Always the brakes fail.  Now the government sit on their butt and wonder why tourism is down.  Too many people come here and die.

Don’t you get it? They always blame the breaks because that’s how you get away with complaining that it’s the drivers fault. 

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

A tour bus on its way back from a trip to Khunming Muang Thai in Loei province in Thailand's north east suffered brake failure.

Thai lifestyle, you cannot change their collective attitudes towards other peoples lives.

For the cost of a few hundred baht you keep a vehicle roadworthy, for the cost of a few hundred baht you train someone how to drive, but that few hundred baht feels better in someones pocket never mind the lifeless bodies on the side of the road!

[Burma Bill]

Brake failure possibly, but from the video clip one of the front tires (offside) looks decidedly dodgy and may have been a contributing factor. RIP victims and speedy recovery to those who survived.