Road death toll jumps to 109 in first two days of safe driving campaign

[The Theory]

We need 120kmh to make it perfect. 

[wealthychef]

4 hours ago, thasoss said:

why does this country do nothing to stop this carnage? Is it just put in the "too hard basket"

Or is it a buddha thing.............reincarnation,so why bother everyone comes back anyway?

 

Corruption.  Bribes.  No rule of law.  Nobody has a driver's license.   Same same as every year.  

[emptypockets]

10 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

And remember that there are many more cars on British roads than here which further puts this awful situation into even greater perspective 

Do you have any evidence to support your claim?

I think Thailand has a lot more motorbikes than Britain, and they make up roughly 80% of the fatalities.

[Thingamabob]

Wow ! That's 4 less than last year. Well done !

[0815]

3 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Nobody cares !

Short and precise answer. All said.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

They just don't care. 

 

It's not they they don't care, it's that the problem is too difficult to fix. Thai's are ungovernable because they will always do whatever they want to do, regardless of the consequences to others - and that includes driving the way they do. Add to that a total lack of monitoring by a Highway Patrol and a total non-interest in enforcing the law by the police, and so nothing will or can change. It's a cultural thing. Thais are simply not wired to act responsibly if it inhibits their personal freedom.

[Jimbo2014]

Safe driving days are meaningless when you are allowed to drive like a crazy mad person all year around without any reprisal.  If Thailand doesnt get year long serious on this matter the carnage will continue unabated.  Not a good message for TAT either!  

[Cereal]

4 hours ago, thasoss said:

why does this country do nothing to stop this carnage? Is it just put in the "too hard basket"

Or is it a buddha thing.............reincarnation,so why bother everyone comes back anyway?

There was a survey some time back and the results showed about 1/3 of Thais believe there is nothing they can do to prevent an accident. It is completely up to fate and it is not possible to change what is preordained.

 

As an educated Westerner, I realize how profoundly stupid and illogical that line of thinking is, but the Thais aren't particularly well educated, intelligent or logical.  Thus, they die. 

 

 

[Baggy]

3 minutes ago, Cereal said:

There was a survey some time back and the results showed about 1/3 of Thais believe there is nothing they can do to prevent an accident. It is completely up to fate and it is not possible to change what is preordained.

 

As an educated Westerner, I realize how profoundly stupid and illogical that line of thinking is, but the Thais aren't particularly well educated, intelligent or logical.  Thus, they die. 

 

 

So they come back after dead.

is good, keep tourist numbers on the increase, so more dead, more people come.

[losername]

7 minutes ago, Baggy said:

So they come back after dead.

is good, keep tourist numbers on the increase, so more dead, more people come.

Save the planet:  recycle.

[motorcycguy]

I didn't know driving with a license was iagainst the law... That was a joke I know your proofreader was on holiday.

 

[jany123]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

If you were turning right and the bike passed you on the inside i.e the left there should not have been a problem unless you are one of the poorly educated drivers who pull left before turning right.

Mmm... the “inside” is in the middle of the road, vs the outside of the road.

 

im not sure that suggesting that someone is a poorly educated driver is wise, when you don’t know where the inside is.

[hobz]

Enforcement.

It works.

There is a automatic camera system that sends fines for running the red light near my house in Chiang Mai.

Ever since it was introduced most people have stopped running red lights in this specific intersection. Enforcement works. Just gotta stop with the silly checkpoints and actually patrol the roads and increase the fines.

[hobz]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

It's not they they don't care, it's that the problem is too difficult to fix. Thai's are ungovernable because they will always do whatever they want to do, regardless of the consequences to others - and that includes driving the way they do. Add to that a total lack of monitoring by a Highway Patrol and a total non-interest in enforcing the law by the police, and so nothing will or can change. It's a cultural thing. Thais are simply not wired to act responsibly if it inhibits their personal freedom.

They respond to consistent enforcement. I blame the traffic police for this failure. I've yet to see them patrol the roads, been here 7 years.

[ParkerN]

6 hours ago, thasoss said:

why does this country do nothing to stop this carnage? Is it just put in the "too hard basket"

Or is it a buddha thing.............reincarnation,so why bother everyone comes back anyway?

 

I suspect the legendary Thai incompetence has something to do with it. If you're perfect and lead the world already, why bother actually knowing what you're doing or what you're talking about.? So they don't. It's a problem everywhere in Thailand.

 

As for the Buddha thing, yes, I'm sure it's a factor. Superstition? yes, Stupid and gullible? yes. But no Thai appears to have knowingly allowed either one of those to get in the way of their convictions. Personally I've decided not to give anything to the local wat or the local Phra. I've seen Buddha Issara in action. They should stick to burning dead people and not let personal opinion or religion come into it at all. It seems to me (FWIW), that most of Buddhism is mythology and not hagiography, and Christianity is based on the Mithraic legends. Judaism? take your pick wich lies to believe. All religions are the same, they are designed to accumulate wealth and power, not to benefit anyone except the priest-hood and the 1% whom they always serve first.

 

In respect of the road toll, I recall expressing the view that government campaigns would achieve nothing and it seems that is the way it will go - same as every year.

Edited December 30, 2019 by ParkerN

[Chongalulu]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

None of the above really, the stark truth is the populous itself.
Nothing the police, officials or ministers will do will change a damn thing.

The majority of Thais are to stubborn or just plain lazy to change their habits.

They're happy with no driving tuition... that costs money and time, both they'll swear they don't have!

They're happy not wearing helmets, that costs money too.
They're happy putting the whole family in the rear tray of a vehicle... they only have one pick-up.

They're happy with 3+ or more on a motorcycle... they only have one.

They're happy celebrating all day and driving home under the influence, or even blind drunk.
They're happy with taking a chance of being stopped, pay a fine and carry on regardless.

They're happy with road death or injury and accept that as a bad luck.

Anyone who tries to change any of the above will be met with cries of protest... from these very same people.

In short the government/police etc etc have given up and let the masses have their way and keep the peace.

Up-setting the majority of the populous would harm the votes!

Death on the road while a tragedy is acceptable, losing votes is most definitely not!

A succinct analysis- why should the authorities care when the peasants themselves don’t? 

I would only add to your list is that there is a deficiency of IQ to understand the basics of cause and effect.

[Chongalulu]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

It's not they they don't care, it's that the problem is too difficult to fix. Thai's are ungovernable because they will always do whatever they want to do, regardless of the consequences to others - and that includes driving the way they do. Add to that a total lack of monitoring by a Highway Patrol and a total non-interest in enforcing the law by the police, and so nothing will or can change. It's a cultural thing. Thais are simply not wired to act responsibly if it inhibits their personal freedom.

Therein lies the paradox- they will meekly allow their far more important and fundamental democratic freedoms to be taken away as long as they have the sop of the freedom of being allowed to kill each other on the roads with impunity. Not the sharpest tools in the box.

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, thasoss said:

why does this country do nothing to stop this carnage? Is it just put in the "too hard basket"

Or is it a buddha thing.............reincarnation,so why bother everyone comes back anyway?

Ask the Transport Minister.

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

On the second day of slaughter my true love said to me 109 dead and a PM in an ivory tree????

 

Passed by the funeral of one of the two victims slaughtered a few hundred meters from my house they were on a scooter doing a u-turn when a warp speed pickup took them out from behind. seriously take care and make it to next year. me I think I will stay in and hope a careering pickup doesn't take me out in my sleep Happy New Year????   

 

 

 

Not so long ago i got cut up by a vehicle at a roundabout close to roadworks near rayong with a coffin overhanging the rear the mind boggles.

[dcnx]

5 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

by knocking over and killing some motorcyclists;
then in the statistics, we will see that a large percentage of motorcyclists are involved in accidents while in reality they have nothing to do with them ...

Almost every serious accident I’ve seen here on a bike was due to a car hitting them. 

[USMC RETIRED 2015]

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

Yes thats  right as the  USA  has  exactly the same  number of  people in it as  Thailand right and virtually the same size as  well I  guess?

That's always the excuse...more people, more people...so therefore there are more deaths....NOT!!!  Road deaths are all over the world....is it really hard to accept that there are a lot of road deaths here when there are so many on motorbikes?  Stats in the article show 75% are motorbike accidents, not Car accidents....so if you are on a bike be careful, in a car be careful...you all know how to defensive drive so do it and no need to keep complaining every time there is a holiday. 

 

Here are some fun facts from the 2 largest states in the USA in which their population is equivalent to Thailand's Population...."2018 data from the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, the state of Texas had the most car fatalities of any state in the U.S. with 3,722. California had the second most car fatal crashes with 3,602, followed by Florida with 3,112.

So let's do some creative thinking here....

Texas 3722 + Calif 3,602 = 7,324 CAR ACCIDENT DEATHS.
2018 Thailand Road Deaths = 22,491 - It is reported 70% of these deaths were motorbike deaths...so some easy math... 22491 * .70% = 15,743 motorbike deaths...which means there were ONLY 6,747 CAR accident deaths in Thailand last year....less than the 2 USA states that are of equivalent population. 

 

You all obviously know (because of all the insightful posts here) that the young Thais don't wear helmets...drive to fast...drive while drunk...drive on the wrong side of the road...drive recklessly while driving their modified motorbikes....so is it really that hard to understand there will be many deaths?  I don't think it's "CARNAGE" ON THE ROADS....car fatalities are similar or less to other countries....it's more motorbike deaths.  I've seen 2 deaths in the last 3 days on the road in front of my housing complex...both motorbikes hitting parked cars because they were driving too fast and drunk.  So there you have it.

[Chazar]

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

in my opinion

dont  forget  that

[Chazar]

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Does the US have the same proportion of two wheeled vehicles as

Thats NOT what you said, you said  this, absolutely  no mention of what vehicles were involved

 

"The USA has double the number of people killed in traffic accidents per year compared to Thailand."

[Chazar]

23 minutes ago, USMC RETIRED 2015 said:

That's always the excuse...more people, more people

suggest you go re  read whats been said, never any mention by  the other poster initially of it being "motorcycle" deaths  only           just deaths, below

 

The USA has double the number of people killed in traffic accidents per year compared to Thailand.

[ivor bigun]

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

If you were turning right and the bike passed you on the inside i.e the left there should not have been a problem unless you are one of the poorly educated drivers who pull left before turning right.

Why would i pull left before turning right? i was taught to drive and passed a test ,i drive properly ,unlike most Thais . Also if you are giving a signal to turn left ,why would anyone undertake ? you overtake on the outside ,or do you not drive properly?

Edited December 30, 2019 by ivor bigun

[Chazar]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

Why would i pull left before turning right? i was taught to drive and passed a test ,i drive properly ,unlike most Thais .

so he passed u on the LEFT and you turned right............. you dont understand what u  r  saying i  think,  bike  did  nothing wrong in this scenario, if you were turning left its  another matter but you  state right?

[ivor bigun]

5 minutes ago, Chazar said:

so he passed u on the LEFT and you turned right............. you dont understand what u  r  saying i  think,  bike  did  nothing wrong in this scenario, if you were turning left its  another matter but you  state right?

Think about it ,i am driving along ,i indicate i am turning right, he is behind me he should have overtaken me on the left ,ie the outside ,but he underertook on the inside ,ie the right side ,the way i was turning ,whats so hard for you to understand?

Edited December 30, 2019 by ivor bigun

[P100]

Not surprised at all. Aggressive people (not just reckless) with horrible driving skills in combination with akcohol or other drugs. What do you expect?

1.Suspend all driver's licenses until everyone has visited a real multi-week school and has passed a real test, just like in other countries too. A car is a car and not a boat!

2.Force people to strictly follow traffic rules (a good source of income for police). A solid line is a solid line. Wrong direction is wrong direction. Make them pay.

3. Much more speed checks needed.

I have never seen any in Pattaya. They go full speed on Sukhumvit and many times even on smaller streets. Buy laser guns and set up mobile checkpoints.

 

The problem is, police is going the easy way to collect money by ripping off people who did nothing wrong instead of doing real checks at dangerous places.

 

[Chazar]

15 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

Think about it ,i am driving along ,i indicate i am turning right, he is behind me he should have overtaken me on the left ,ie the outside ,but he underertook on the inside ,ie the right side ,the way i was turning ,whats so hard for you to understand?

Ok your  totally  confused and Im  not the first to mention this, heres  what you are saying in a diagram you turn right he "undertakes" Im  guessing you mean he "overtakes"  on the OUTSIDE as you are  turning right 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Chazar

[Chazar]

7 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

Think about it

ironic