Utter carnage: Two dead and three injured in Buriram collision and pile-up

[Assurancetourix]

18 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

yesterday as the final step to obtain a thai driver license we all watched about 1 hour of gory cctv accidents, cartoon animations of correct and safe driving that repeatedly cited europe trying to educate people about serious safety. same people were seen asleep and/or playing with mobile.

 

society/culture is such that they simply are not capable of learning . (exceptions noted)

without forgetting this reflection that I heard:
"yes but that doesn't concern us, these U-Tube videos show us accidents in China ..." 

[Mac98]

22 hours ago, mercman24 said:

young girl on a scooter jumped the lights yesterday at 5 seconds, wow, nearly got T boned , at the next lights i tore into her saying what a <deleted> idiot she was, yep, i got a puzzled expression in return. what did i do wrong ?

She knew that the crossing traffic now had a yellow light and certainly no one would dare speed through a yellow. Not in Thailand anyway. ????

[SantiSuk]

On 2/14/2020 at 9:11 AM, Titan1962 said:

Been forced of the road numerous times by idiot drivers passing the vehicle in front of them,when it was clearly obvious There was oncoming traffic.

They just seem to have the attitude that the other person will move out the way for them. Well in this instance,the other driver didn’t. It seems to be a mentality the bring with them from their younger days when riding their motorcycles. I see it everyday at the nephews school,kids not old enough to have a license,leaving the school 2 up no helmets. As soon as the hit the road they are racing their mates down the road. Modified bikes with flash looking spoked rims and skinny tires,loud exhausts.

This attitude carries over to driving a car,it just seems to be accepted here. 

You must be doing something wrong yourself too. I've lived here 12 years, driven over 300,000km and never been 'forced off the road'. Sure I have had to slow down, maybe twice braked quite hard, but never left the road. Anyone else?

 

Just saying - I'm not excusing Thai driving which occasionally is execrable

[atyclb]

13 hours ago, impulse said:

21 hours ago, atyclb said:

yesterday as the final step to obtain a thai driver license we all watched about 1 hour of gory cctv accidents, cartoon animations of correct and safe driving that repeatedly cited europe trying to educate people about serious safety. same people were seen asleep and/or playing with mobile.

 

society/culture is such that they simply are not capable of learning . (exceptions noted)

 

Traffic would be just as bad back home if there wasn't any enforcement.  It's not the education.  I was a hazard my first year after going through one of the best driver's ed programs and passing a very stringent driving test.  But I was so afraid of getting a ticket, having my insurance rates go up and losing my license that I practiced driving to avoid getting pulled over.  Which, not so coincidentally, served me (and society) quite well in avoiding accidents.

 

They're perfectly capable of learning.  But they're also human and subject to behavior that minimizes negative consequences and maximizes benefits.  Back home, with a cop car every few miles, that means obeying the rules.  In Thailand, that means doing whatever gets you there quicker.   As evidence, I've seen thousands of foreigners going native on the roads in Thailand, thoroughly enjoying the freedom of not being subject to any enforcement.  Back home, they wouldn't dream of doing what they do after a year or so on Thai roads.

 

i don't disagree with what you say but its also a cultural thing and a general critical thinking deficit in society. the videos teach safe breaking distances, safe ways to pass, when you cannot pass, etc etc but in order to take that knowledge and implement it correctly one needs critical/lateral thinking ability.

 

i have seen farangs on mororbikes without helmets and some speeding in cars. imo they are basically morons that cannot comprehend safety and/or ponder consequences.  thailand is the last place you want to speed in. very few highways late night or early AM are suitable for speed

[atyclb]

21 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

The Thai government should take away all drivers licenses and reissue them after proper certified training has been issued.  Double bonus fix a small part of the pollution crisis!  

 

 

wont happen in a "non merit " based society

[Rookiescot]

And they want to raise the speed limit?

[poohy]

42 minutes ago, SantiSuk said:

You must be doing something wrong yourself too. I've lived here 12 years, driven over 300,000km and never been 'forced off the road'. Sure I have had to slow down, maybe twice braked quite hard, but never left the road. Anyone else?

 

Just saying - I'm not excusing Thai driving which occasionally is execrable

I drive 15km from my house into Prachuap town, 2 choices both small country roads

Without exaggeration i woulds say i have to pull over or stop as crazed trucks, pick ups, or fat horrendous hags on salengs have been heading at me at least twice per month over the 5 years!

 

I do not dare to think about what pulls onto the road from the left without looking or motorbikes turning at junctions on the wrong side of the road

Also as its the sticks at night about 85% of salengs or motorcycles have very limited if lights

[toofarnorth]

On 2/14/2020 at 10:11 AM, mercman24 said:

young girl on a scooter jumped the lights yesterday at 5 seconds, wow, nearly got T boned , at the next lights i tore into her saying what a <deleted> idiot she was, yep, i got a puzzled expression in return. what did i do wrong ?

You spoke/yelled at her in English , I tend to do the same . I can when aggitated forget what ' Silly bitch ' is in Thai.

[atyclb]

59 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

And they want to raise the speed limit?

 

 

population control

[billd766]

On 2/14/2020 at 10:11 AM, mercman24 said:

young girl on a scooter jumped the lights yesterday at 5 seconds, wow, nearly got T boned , at the next lights i tore into her saying what a <deleted> idiot she was, yep, i got a puzzled expression in return. what did i do wrong ?

Having been T-boned a few years ago in Nakhon Sawan on my motorbike , I am now happy to be 2nd or 3rd away from the traffic lights, even though I drive my pickup and no longer ride my bike.

[CygnusX1]

On 2/14/2020 at 8:43 AM, Assurancetourix said:

Let them learn for example why a turn that can easily be taken at 80 an hour is limited to 60 ..
it is not to annoy motorists but quite simply because the visibility is low and does not allow to stop safely if the speed is higher than so many km / h

After 45 years of driving I honestly never knew that, you’ve educated me. Thought the advisory speeds were low due to usual safety paranoia.

[Assurancetourix]

13 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

After 45 years of driving I honestly never knew that, you’ve educated me. Thought the advisory speeds were low due to usual safety paranoia.

I do not know for other countries, but in France, at least when I was at the driving school and then passed my driving license (I have them all except the big category motorcycle), it was not a something we learned; it was over 50 years ago, I hope it has changed since then.
I learned about it later when I became a traffic safety instructor.
It's pure physics;
a visible distance, moving vehicles, kinetic energy ...
Whatever the vehicle and the driver, if he drives at 80 km / h with a visibility of 30 meters, he is sure to have an accident with an obstacle at 31 or even 32 meters; he will not be able to stop in time, even if his name is Lewis Hamilton.
Whether the obstacle is a broken down vehicle or a tree lying on the road ...

[gk10002000]

On 2/13/2020 at 7:58 PM, webfact said:

Locals said they saw the Bangkok car try to overtake and collide head on with the Isuzu

Things like this literally I am 100% sure is how I will buy the farm.  Some nits doing some really stupid and careless thing.

[gk10002000]

10 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

I do not know for other countries, but in France, at least when I was at the driving school and then passed my driving license (I have them all except the big category motorcycle), it was not a something we learned; it was over 50 years ago, I hope it has changed since then.
I learned about it later when I became a traffic safety instructor.
It's pure physics;
a visible distance, moving vehicles, kinetic energy ...
Whatever the vehicle and the driver, if he drives at 80 km / h with a visibility of 30 meters, he is sure to have an accident with an obstacle at 31 or even 32 meters; he will not be able to stop in time, even if his name is Lewis Hamilton.
Whether the obstacle is a broken down vehicle or a tree lying on the road ...

Most drivers really do not understand kinematics.  If they see the car in the distance they just go, totally not even considering their relative speeds.  100 meters goes by very fast when the relative speed is 160 km/hour (each car doing 80 km/hr) .. about 44 meters per second by my math or just over 2 seconds before the vehicles would hit each other. 

 

160km/hr x 1000m/km x 1 hr/3600 sec = 44.44 meters/second

 

 

[gk10002000]

On 2/13/2020 at 11:18 PM, AllThaiedUp said:

Foot to the floor, eyes on your phone, and only look up if you think a bend in the road is coming.

________________________

and they still only keep about one or two car lengths between vehicles no matter what speed they are driving.  Total disregard for reaction time, driving defensively, etc

[RichardColeman]

On the bright side, the GPS is still ok