middle aged westerners

[EVENKEEL]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I've found it seems to be mainly Americans that don't wear helmets, they regard it as an infringement on their personal freedom.

I can still remember when wearing seatbelts became compulsory in Australia, and I visited America about a year afterwards. Every American I met then was incredulous such a law could exist in a democracy.

I guess that's why the same insistence on personal liberty has had such tragic consequences during a pandemic.

Give it a rest, we're supposed to be impressed you visited the mighty USA.

[VocalNeal]

I note the thread title is middle aged westeners.

Most of the old aged westeners on here probably wear helmets and seat belts?

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, Traubert said:

I occasionally see, on Soi Buakhao, an oldie with a baldy napper and thin wispy ponytail trying to get his Hardly Dangerous onto the stand.

 

I just think 'give it up mate.'

You could kindly suggest that he uses the side stand like the vast majority of riders do. Even those with light weight machines!

[polpott]

5 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

In ageing there is a fundalmental right, in the "Dignity of Risk" also for the competent to make their own decisons, even bad ones

Exactly. Which is why I never wear a condom.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

In ageing there is a fundalmental right, in the "Dignity of Risk" also for the competent to make their own decisons, even bad ones

I've never heard  of that expression before, but I like it.

 

I shall use it from now on whenever I read TVF killjoys criticizing us seniors for riding motorcycles. (with or without a helmet)

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

7 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I was riding my PCX down soi buakhao the other day, stuck behind a slow-moving baht bus, as I waited slowly riding I heard one of those annoying loud scooters behind so I passed the baht bus swiftly pulling over to the left to allow the Thai rider to pass. To my amazement, it was middle aged, bald, westerner riding his blinged-up Aerox with his family (wife and child) onboard, none wearing a helmet...... you'd reckon he'd be riding in a safe manner with his family as pillion. I had to laugh as he passed as I thought it was one of the funniest/silliest things I've seen for quite some time.
Seriously, this was not a funny sight, why is it that there seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets, sadly many elderly/geriatric men are also not wearing helmets. 
We see the Thais not wearing helmets, the Thais have not had the education we westerners have been given, I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

 

Education has little if anything to do with it. 'Uneducated' Thais in the UK (there are plenty of them) drive and ride according to law. . . Law is law, but law is useless without enforcement. I'm not ashamed to admit I bend the rules here from time to time. Who gives a phvk really? If I thought someone might do something about it, I might straighten out my moral compass.

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by NilSS

[Cricky]

7 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

 

I went to school but I can’t remember motor scooter helmet education. 
Most of the time I see farangs on motorbikes in Khok Kloy/Natai Beach they are not wearing helmets. Most of the Thais don’t bother either. I usually don’t bother either, usually drive a car, only use the bike for small trips up the shop, local market. 

 

i rode a BMX on roads, over jumps and ramps when I was a kid. It wasn’t a law to wear a helmet then. Never bothered then either. I survived.

 

Dont always wear a seatbelt either. 

 

The post says nothing about motor scooter education

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by VYCM

[RJRS1301]

2 minutes ago, VYCM said:

My post says nothing about motor scooter education, please read before commenting.

 

Do you race down a busy Soi on a modified noisy scooter with your family onboard all not wearing a helmet?

If you do this stupid act I reckon you do not have an Education, if you're coming from the west you probably were a school drop-out.

Richard Branson is a high school dropout. Consider him without education?

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

I'm a Minarchist, so I believe in law insofar as it prevents you from causing harm to others, or me and mine. If your stupidity kills your kids, you removed your stupidity from the gene pool, tough, but true...

 

So Somchai or some beetroot headed farang ride their bike to the cornershop without a helmet and risk cracking their own heads open like water melons. Oh the humanity. 

Sometimes I think farangs take themselves and their beliefs far too seriously. 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by NilSS

[Tarteso]

15 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets,

But they use face masks to protect dentadure.

[RJRS1301]

11 minutes ago, Tarteso said:

But they use face masks to protect dentadure.

Or protect us from visual horrors 

[Ireland32]

23 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Most of the time I and my gf wear a helmet. But not 100% of the time.

I.e. maybe we ride 300m around the block to the coffee shop without helmet.

I don't think that is a BIG problem. Most of us don't act 100% perfect all the time. And it Thailand that is possible - good luck for that.

Most accidents occur close to home much research done on this phenomenon 

[canthai55]

Go to the market, buy a watermelon.

Ride 40kmh, drop onto the road.

Then repeat with the watermelon in a helmet.

A picture is worth a thousand words

[Deli]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

I was riding my PCX down soi buakhao the other day, stuck behind a slow-moving baht bus, as I waited slowly riding I heard one of those annoying loud scooters behind so I passed the baht bus swiftly pulling over to the left to allow the Thai rider to pass. To my amazement, it was middle aged, bald, westerner riding his blinged-up Aerox with his family (wife and child) onboard, none wearing a helmet...... you'd reckon he'd be riding in a safe manner with his family as pillion. I had to laugh as he passed as I thought it was one of the funniest/silliest things I've seen for quite some time.
Seriously, this was not a funny sight, why is it that there seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets, sadly many elderly/geriatric men are also not wearing helmets. 
We see the Thais not wearing helmets, the Thais have not had the education we westerners have been given, I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

 

I am one of them. Mind your own business.

[OneMoreFarang]

32 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Go to the market, buy a watermelon.

Ride 40kmh, drop onto the road.

Then repeat with the watermelon in a helmet.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Did you, or any other of the posters here, ever ride on a motorcycle without helmet?

And how about riding on a bicycle? Isn't that dangerous as well?

 

One of the reasons why I like Thailand is that most people don't take every rule 100% serious like that is the case in other countries. Live and let live. And if someone lives a little dangerous and risks his own health live: Up to him.

[KKr]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

Seriously, this was not a funny sight, why is it that there seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets, sadly many elderly/geriatric men are also not wearing helmets. 
We see the Thais not wearing helmets, the Thais have not had the education we westerners have been given, I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

Simple:

what is the point of a helmet on a block-head.

[KKr]

17 hours ago, NilSS said:

I'm not ashamed to admit I bend the rules here from time to time.

I say !!!

[Pilotman]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:58 PM, kingofthemountain said:

You are probably right, some of the westerners here in Pattaya

are obviously without any decent education

Or manners/social skills, many elderly European westerners in Pattaya are just ignorant peasants. 

[johng]

15 minutes ago, KKr said:

what is the point of a helmet on a block-head.

Bigger brained block-eds often acquire.. black and orange cars, premature ejaculation drivers their soft-top's got roll-bars ????????  (Ian Dury and the Blockheads)

[Jeffrey346]

This has nothing to do with education.. It's ignorance. Or perhaps a death wish..

[thailandbeachisland]

you just landed ?

all these "smart" foreigners not wearing helmets are a shame for human beings...

just as the very old men driving a motorbike and saying that it is perfectly safe ! (news confirm it often!)

 

 

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

One of the reasons why I like Thailand is that most people don't take every rule 100% serious like that is the case in other countries. Live and let live. And if someone lives a little dangerous and risks his own health live: Up to him.

I do many dangerous things - riding a bike is inherently so ...

But a reasonable man would mitigate the risk as much as he can, to ensure that when - not IF - something goes wrong he is liable to suffer the least harm possible.

At the end of the day - do what you want. I do

[seancbk]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

I was riding my PCX down soi buakhao the other day, stuck behind a slow-moving baht bus, as I waited slowly riding I heard one of those annoying loud scooters behind so I passed the baht bus swiftly pulling over to the left to allow the Thai rider to pass. To my amazement, it was middle aged, bald, westerner riding his blinged-up Aerox with his family (wife and child) onboard, none wearing a helmet...... you'd reckon he'd be riding in a safe manner with his family as pillion. I had to laugh as he passed as I thought it was one of the funniest/silliest things I've seen for quite some time.
Seriously, this was not a funny sight, why is it that there seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets, sadly many elderly/geriatric men are also not wearing helmets. 
We see the Thais not wearing helmets, the Thais have not had the education we westerners have been given, I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

 

Why does it bother you?   

[Fairynuff]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:45 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

Wrong assumption, it’s because there’s nothing inside the head to protect.

[bkk6060]

Who cares.

Adults not wearing a helmet should be a personal choice anyway.  With all the problems in the world, seems so petty.

[RandG]

On 11/30/2020 at 7:45 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

I was riding my PCX down soi buakhao the other day, stuck behind a slow-moving baht bus, as I waited slowly riding I heard one of those annoying loud scooters behind so I passed the baht bus swiftly pulling over to the left to allow the Thai rider to pass. To my amazement, it was middle aged, bald, westerner riding his blinged-up Aerox with his family (wife and child) onboard, none wearing a helmet...... you'd reckon he'd be riding in a safe manner with his family as pillion. I had to laugh as he passed as I thought it was one of the funniest/silliest things I've seen for quite some time.
Seriously, this was not a funny sight, why is it that there seems to be so many middle-aged western guys not wearing helmets, sadly many elderly/geriatric men are also not wearing helmets. 
We see the Thais not wearing helmets, the Thais have not had the education we westerners have been given, I can only assume all of those westerners not wearing helmets have no education. 

Without continuous and consistent enforcement, all the driving education in the world will not help.

[EricTh]

On 11/30/2020 at 3:27 PM, uncleP said:

In some countries  riding with a helmet is a choice not a law. Personally I always wear one , although it did not save my Thai GF in 2006 when a small truck ran over her head ????

 

What happened to your gf? Was she riding the bike alone at that time?

 

[Jaxxper]

Unfortunately after they have been here a while many foreigners seem to “go native” as far as the rules of the road are concerned. This applies to motorcyclists, and motor vehicle drivers. Comes down to spotty enforcement in my view.

[RocketDog]

On 11/30/2020 at 3:49 PM, Surelynot said:

I bet Flash already knew that.

For sure. He ran into a wall at high speed once. It bent both arrows on his helmet. 

[exemplary21]

70 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. Just what does that say about your "western education"?