Four year old dead - he was in the front of a car and grabbed the driver's steering wheel

[Sakeopete]

In Thailand dummy seatbelt buckles are sold to stop cars from beeping to remind the occupants to buckle up. That says it all.

[HashBrownHarry]

There's really no point discussing the stupidity of car safety in this country, it'll never change.

 

Sad for the child!

[Benmart]

Corruption/pay as you go to the cops, impotence by authorities to enforce traffic laws, ignorance on the part of the public, superstition and more, contributes to such sad and preventable deaths. The deaths by the latest virus overshadows the pathetic safety situation on Thai roads.

[tifino]

 

thai drivers only care for their own apperent immortality powers 

 

[atyclb]

4 hours ago, Metropolitian said:

Should lock them up and give the child to who really cares.

 

would need to build massive capacity facilities if you were to lock up all the people negligent like that.  truth is it is normal / baseline in society thus police just acept it .  rooted in lack of critical thinking, lack of safety importance in society, massive ignorance and cultural mores.

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, CGW said:

British? I was taught the same - then they invented power steering ????

You may have heard the term “10 and 2 driving”. This refers to the position in which you should hold your hands on the steering wheel (it is most often described in terms of how the placement of your hands relates to numbers on a clock). However, the technique for proper placement of your hands on the steering wheel has changed dramatically over the years. NHTSA now recommends the technique known as “9 and 3”. Place your left hand on the left portion of the steering wheel in a location approximate to where the nine would be if the wheel was a clock. Your right hand should be placed on the right portion of the wheel where the three would be located. These recommendations are quite flexible, but keep in mind that10 and 2 o’clock is no longer recommended because it can be dangerous in vehicles with smaller steering wheels and equipped with airbags.

Quite right about the recommended now being 9 and 3 but the reason was air-bags. At 10 and 2 you can get your thumbs blown off...

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

4 yo in the front on mother's lap.   Nothing more to add really.

Like the other child killed in a very recent post, sat in the front !!

I have a female neighbour who lets her 3 year-old twin daughters both sit in the front passenger seat while she drives, no belt used of course.
I'm waiting for the day she loses them both!

[Pedrogaz]

Not to be harsh but....we have 10 year olds careering around the roads on motorbikes, so why shouldn't a 4 year old think he can drive a car?

[impulse]

9 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Maybe it did JW.......... I don't like the way I have started to view things since I moved to Thailand (22 years) ---2 people in the middle of a screaming argument, car crashes but no one can be arrested ...its the sole fault of the infant, stronger than the driver when he grabbed the wheel........ no car cam I Take it..........

 

Or maybe they figure losing a child was punishment enough.

 

[richard_smith237]

Reports in Thai contradict the story outlined here. 
 

The mother (girlfriend) has confessed that during an argument the boyfriend ‘shook the [steering] wheel’ in anger, lost control and crashed. 

The 4 year old was unrestrained on his mother’s lap at the time.

The boyfriend made up the story of ‘Rome’ [the deceased 4yo] grabbing at the wheel. 
 

 

 

The boyfriend should be on manslaughter Charges [or the Thai equivalent of]. 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by richard_smith237

[sawadee1947]

9 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. Ignorance. Too stupid to understand the first thing about safety and what happens to anyone in a moving vehicle that is not restrained when it comes to an abrupt halt. The mother should be charged for causing the death, while the driver should also face charges for allowing it to happen in a vehicle he was driving. There are way too many unnecessary deaths caused here by ignorance, which is no defense under the law.

We all know that Thais and driving won't match, no matter what kind of driving.... Bike, motor bike, cars, pick ups, vans, lorries, boats, scooters,.....all same stupid..????

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

We all know that Thais and driving won't match, no matter what kind of driving.... Bike, motor bike, cars, pick ups, vans, lorries, boats, scooters,.....all same stupid..

 

What's even worse is the foreigners who go native after a few months of driving where there's no traffic enforcement.  

 

[richard_smith237]

24 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

What's even worse is the foreigners who go native after a few months of driving where there's no traffic enforcement.  

 

Must admit to going ‘native’ a few times myself, the traffic flow in car parks here seem to have all been deigned by guards who don’t drive but have access to more cones than the British motorway maintenance departments....  turn right & 5mins to exit or take this left and exit s

immediately..,

 

 

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. Ignorance. Too stupid to understand the first thing about safety and what happens to anyone in a moving vehicle that is not restrained when it comes to an abrupt halt. The mother should be charged for causing the death, while the driver should also face charges for allowing it to happen in a vehicle he was driving. There are way too many unnecessary deaths caused here by ignorance, which is no defense under the law.

Thai law?

 

Bwaahhh-ha-ha-ha...!

[Yinn]

35 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Reports in Thai contradict the story outlined here. 
 

Correct. 

 

[Mac98]

17 hours ago, CGW said:

British? I was taught the same - then they invented power steering ????

You may have heard the term “10 and 2 driving”. This refers to the position in which you should hold your hands on the steering wheel (it is most often described in terms of how the placement of your hands relates to numbers on a clock). However, the technique for proper placement of your hands on the steering wheel has changed dramatically over the years. NHTSA now recommends the technique known as “9 and 3”. Place your left hand on the left portion of the steering wheel in a location approximate to where the nine would be if the wheel was a clock. Your right hand should be placed on the right portion of the wheel where the three would be located. These recommendations are quite flexible, but keep in mind that10 and 2 o’clock is no longer recommended because it can be dangerous in vehicles with smaller steering wheels and equipped with airbags.

Two hands? How am I supposed to drink my coffee, eat my donut, smoke my pipe, and tune the radio? ????

[Metropolitian]

1 hour ago, Mac98 said:

Two hands? How am I supposed to drink my coffee, eat my donut, smoke my pipe, and tune the radio? ????

Just like Billy Joel.

He smokes, drinks,  play and blows at the same time.

 

 

When I am driving, I have my hands on 9 and 5 o'clock.

9-3 is not an option for me, can't keep the wheel straight.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Metropolitian

[Just Weird]

22 hours ago, tifino said:

my angle, being that the kid must have had very long arms, to reach the wheel (by itself) from mums lap

(bucket seats incurs quite a gap between seats)

 

...in a Vios?

[Just Weird]

22 hours ago, Wiggy said:

Yes, I used to own one. And there's no way a four year-old's arm could reach the wheel unless sat near the middle of the car

Perhaps he wasn't sitting, perhaps he stood up on his mother's lap and the incident did happen just as the woman claimed.

[Just Weird]

23 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

I don't know where  the car hitting the kerb came from, the actual wording was---- - "the Vios veered all over the road" --THAT'S A TIME THING--"and ended up hitting a central reservation power pole".

It came from the OP!  To hit a pole on the central reservation the car had to mount the central reservation,

[tifino]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

...in a Vios?

never been in one, but from photos it looks similar to a Camry in size?

[Wiggy]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

Yes, I used to own one. And there's no way a four year-old's arm could reach the wheel unless sat near the middle of the car

Is that better? The point being she was negligent by letting the kid be near enough to the wheel to grab it. 

[Samuel Smith]

7 hours ago, Mac98 said:

Two hands? How am I supposed to drink my coffee, eat my donut, smoke my pipe, and tune the radio? ????

Steer with your knees ????

[Moonlover]

On 2/18/2020 at 12:29 PM, Wiggy said:

How could a four year-old reach the steering wheel from mother's lap in the passenger seat? Even if he did, the driver would have the strength to wrestle it back. I don't believe a word of it. Fine and jail them both for causing death through negligence. Yeah, I know, fat chance of that.

I have been present at 2 incidents of this nature. The first was about 5 years ago when my wife's niece's daughter was very young and traveled on granny's lap in the the front. One day the kid decided that she wanted to sit on mummies lap and granny tried to stop her. She threw an almighty tantrum and fought her way across the centre consul to be with mum. I suggested that maybe I should sit in front with granny and kid behind, but that was vetoed.

 

Just recently we were out with wife's son and family. this time it was agreed that I sit up front with DIL and and grandchild behind. Less than a hour into the journey, the kid decided that she wanted to be with daddy and fought off both mum and grandma (my wife) and began climbing between the fronts seats. I managed to keep her away from the driver, but once again it was a very fraught few minutes.

 

From those two experiences I can well imagine how this accident took place. I've tried several times to persuade the families about the dangers of this practice, but to no avail. It falls on deaf ears and I've given up trying. I've adopted that well known Thai attitude of: 'It's up to them'.

 

I also refuse to travel in a car if kids are involved, preferring the relative safety of my motorcycle where I'm in charge and control.

[Wiggy]

37 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I have been present at 2 incidents of this nature. The first was about 5 years ago when my wife's niece's daughter was very young and traveled on granny's lap in the the front. One day the kid decided that she wanted to sit on mummies lap and granny tried to stop her. She threw an almighty tantrum and fought her way across the centre consul to be with mum. I suggested that maybe I should sit in front with granny and kid behind, but that was vetoed.

 

Just recently we were out with wife's son and family. this time it was agreed that I sit up front with DIL and and grandchild behind. Less than a hour into the journey, the kid decided that she wanted to be with daddy and fought off both mum and grandma (my wife) and began climbing between the fronts seats. I managed to keep her away from the driver, but once again it was a very fraught few minutes.

 

From those two experiences I can well imagine how this accident took place. I've tried several times to persuade the families about the dangers of this practice, but to no avail. It falls on deaf ears and I've given up trying. I've adopted that well known Thai attitude of: 'It's up to them'.

 

I also refuse to travel in a car if kids are involved, preferring the relative safety of my motorcycle where I'm in charge and control.

Get a child car seat. 

[Moonlover]

5 minutes ago, Wiggy said:

Get a child car seat. 

One of the families I've made 'suggestions' to has one. and when the mother travels alone with the child, she uses it. But when traveling with family it's back to the usual habit. Like I said 'deaf ears'.

[Wiggy]

15 hours ago, Moonlover said:

One of the families I've made 'suggestions' to has one. and when the mother travels alone with the child, she uses it. But when traveling with family it's back to the usual habit. Like I said 'deaf ears'.

True. You can't teach stupid.