Thai road carnage: A motorcyclist is killed every 30 minutes in Thailand

[PEE TEE]

4 hours ago, bigupandchill said:

From where I live to where I drive at night is a fast 4 lane road with many bikes with no rear lights. What is it about these riders that they want to endanger themselves and me for the cost of a rear bulb?

But they all have expensive smart phones 

[EvetsKram]

4 hours ago, bigupandchill said:

From where I live to where I drive at night is a fast 4 lane road with many bikes with no rear lights. What is it about these riders that they want to endanger themselves and me for the cost of a rear bulb?

They remove them so ghosts won't follow them home

[Bradmeister]

Its just the tip of the iceberg.... 

 

No one is teaching our fellow riders, Tuk Tuk operators or saling phantom mobil business drivers the proper and correct rules of the road.

 

 No one is instructing or teaching driving/riding skills, proper maintenance or even a walk around for proper tire inflation and yes, working head and tail lights. 

 

Its not law enforcement. Its training facilities we need.  If you want to add a parameter of law enforcement.... impound the vehicle if no training certificate or no license derived from a "driver education course...... but we need instructors, facilities, areas to provide knowledge in all provinces. 

[OffshoreMig]

The Thai authorities can and should consider establishing dedicated bike lanes for scooters and bikes (Buses allowed) , Dispatch boxes at controlled intersections,This would make it so much more safer to travel on the road.  Better road line marking that allows for lane filtering.

[Artisi]

6 minutes ago, EvetsKram said:

They remove them so ghosts won't follow them home

The reason some  change  to white light bulbs, confuses the ghosts - red means you're going home so you get followed white means your going somewhere else, true example of the beauty of Thai logic. ????????????????

[Artisi]

6 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

The Thai authorities can and should consider establishing dedicated bike lanes for scooters and bikes (Buses allowed) , Dispatch boxes at controlled intersections,This would make it so much more safer to travel on the road.  Better road line marking that allows for lane filtering.

Would not make any difference what's so ever. 

[OffshoreMig]

1 minute ago, Artisi said:

Would not make any difference what's so ever. 

Of course it would.   Maybe you do not ride.   Dedicated priority bike lanes would allow cars and bikes to be segmeneted.

I am looking forward to Tesla testing its Self drive vehicles in Bangkok.

[farangroby]

4 hours ago, polpott said:

I once pointed out to a Thai that his rear light was out. His reply, "No problem, I don't use it".

 

I also admonished a Thai for flying down a notoriously dangerous road at night with no lights on. His reply, "It uses less fuel".

 

You really can't teach stupid.

 

 

A few years ago I lent my motorbike to a farang. A few days later I notice something strange: in fact, he had sprayed the finished part of the rear fender with reflective paint. When I asked him how he was allowed to do this he accused me that the bike (which he used free of charge) had no rear light as the bulb burned out. I took the bike back and with 15 baht the mechanic near my house replaced the bulb. Unfortunately, morons are everywhere, Thailand and the rest of the world.

[Surelynot]

4 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Would not make any difference what's so ever. 

Yes...I thought what a good idea...bike lanes.....but you're right....not a snowball's.

[kevc]

You want drastically cut motorbike deaths MAKE THEM WEAR HELMETS. It's that easy, a blind man on a galloping horse can see someone without a helmet why can't the police.

Two days ago taking my daughter to school and there on the main road a young girl lying possibly dead next to her bike no helmet in sight with a load of other bikers exactly the same.

.

[Surelynot]

Just now, OffshoreMig said:

Of course it would.   Maybe you do not ride.   Dedicated priority bike lanes would allow cars and bikes to be segmeneted.

I am looking forward to Tesla testing its Self drive vehicles in Bangkok.

They would have to be physically separated with barriers.....is that what you intended?

[katatonic]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

The religion is commonly cited as one of the causes of the high road fatalities as Thai’s believe fatalistically that their lives are pre-ordained and they will happily move onto the next astral plane. 

 

Of course, no one wants to die and just like everyone else Thai’s are fearful of death. Go to any Thai funeral where someone has lost a loved one and you will see how upset people get. There is comfort in the belief that a loved one will live on reincarnated, however, there is still overwhelming grief.

 

Why is it that ‘some’ Thai's spend so much on amulets that the believe will protect them from death if they welcome death so much ?

 

Amulets may of course come into the carefree attitudes of indestructibility, but the reality is more simple. Many Thai’s are simply uneducated when it comes to driving / riding a motorcycle. For the most part the high road fatality statistics are a simple facet of nothing more than the total absence of thought. 

 

Its not that many people on Thailands roads don’t know the risks, but when riding or driving their mind is simply blank, nothing is going on, no thought of consequences or what if - many appear to be on a vacant auto-pilot.

This is where education plays an important role - educate people to ride and drive safely so that when they slip into the vacant mental slumber they have safer habits. 

 

 

Certainly a valid viewpoint, but I also think a large proportion of the serious accidents are caused by the 'me first' attitude: I will never forget someone in India pointing out to me that 'a buffalo never goes backwards' which kind of translates as always go round the back of a moving vehicle - or buffalo - rather than insisting on trying to cut them off, which Thais will always try to do. I find it incredible that instead of passing safely behind a car, truck, other bike, etc, pulling out of a junction or 'U' turning, etc, they will cross, often right onto the other side of the road, to go in front. Bang. Just plain stubbornness, I think, related to the driving on the right to stop people getting past them, just as they will always do to block an escalator. If you go to Singapore for a while (in better times of course) and return to Thailand it's glaringly obvious.

[Hamselv2]

Back in 2013-16 i lived in Thailand, midway i drive my Honda PCX150 with my wife from Udon to Bangkok, Sukhumvit, no problems at all, but what i saw in general these years,  was the lack of orientation from Thai bike riders ( no matter the ages)  when turning, driving from side roads to mainroads and in general watch out from traffic from behind when they make turns..

some many "near accidents" could have been avoided by simply be more carefull in the traffic, and watch out 360 degrress around yourself, as we are used to in europe.

These issues, combined with especially youngsters, drunk or not, have to show everybody else how fast their bike runs, causes accidents, many run over for red lights, even without watching for traffic from the sides, and at red ligths, they often drive over seconds before it changes from red to green, and i guess , us who have lived in thailand, so many often cross the light crosses even after it had turned red, then bang...

Education , education and education... and a police that actually act against law breakers could help.

[thailand49]

I read this article comments from a so called expert although she has some points they aren't major factors in why Thais on motorbike are dying! 

[balo]

It keep the population numbers down, TIT.  ???? 

[Surelynot]

1 minute ago, katatonic said:

Certainly a valid viewpoint, but I also think a large proportion of the serious accidents are caused by the 'me first' attitude: I will never forget someone in India pointing out to me that 'a buffalo never goes backwards' which kind of translates as always go round the back of a moving vehicle - or buffalo - rather than insisting on trying to cut them off, which Thais will always try to do. I find it incredible that instead of passing safely behind a car, truck, other bike, etc, pulling out of a junction or 'U' turning, etc, they will cross, often right onto the other side of the road, to go in front. Bang. Just plain stubbornness, I think, related to the driving on the right to stop people getting past them, just as they will always do to block an escalator. If you go to Singapore for a while (in better times of course) and return to Thailand it's glaringly obvious.

Driving out of a multistory yesterday and a car came around  the corner on the wrong side so we were both blocked......I was not in any rush so sat there for maybe 2 minutes before it slowly dawned on the moron it was for him to move not me....which he seemed to think was totally unfair???

[Artisi]

7 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

Of course it would.   Maybe you do not ride.   Dedicated priority bike lanes would allow cars and bikes to be segmeneted.

I am looking forward to Tesla testing its Self drive vehicles in Bangkok.

Suggest you audition for comedy hour, you're a sure winner. 

Dedicated segregated lanes already exist in some places - to be used and shared by every man and his dog, bikes, cars, trucks, tuk tuks, samlors etc

[Surelynot]

2 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Suggest you audition for comedy hour, you're a sure winner. 

Dedicated segregated lanes already exist in some places - to be used and shared by every man and his dog, bikes, cars, trucks, tuk tuks, samlors etc

They would have to be too narrow for cars to enter and separated from traffic by something akin Trump's magnificent wall.

[Artisi]

13 minutes ago, kevc said:

You want drastically cut motorbike deaths MAKE THEM WEAR HELMETS. It's that easy, a blind man on a galloping horse can see someone without a helmet why can't the police.

Two days ago taking my daughter to school and there on the main road a young girl lying possibly dead next to her bike no helmet in sight with a load of other bikers exactly the same.

.

Correct, not their problem, not their karma. 

[OffshoreMig]

3 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Suggest you audition for comedy hour, you're a sure winner. 

Dedicated segregated lanes already exist in some places - to be used and shared by every man and his dog, bikes, cars, trucks, tuk tuks, samlors etc

well obviously they do not exist.  A dedicated bike lane would clearly help. In Australia they are rolling out dedicated bicycle lanes. I would agree they do not help, But given in Thailand motorcycles and scooters are a predominate form of commuter transport ,segmentation better  line marking would help.

[OffshoreMig]

5 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

They would have to be too narrow for cars to enter and separated from traffic by something akin Trump's magnificent wall.

The design depends on what roads.  In most cases it would be just allocating a priority lane.

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

The design depends on what roads.  In most cases it would be just allocating a priority lane.

Mmmmmm

[Pilotman]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

Thailand is a nation on two wheels, when i came first 30 years ago they were many riders as motorcycles are affordable way to move around, and in the last few years with the proliferation of business offering services on 2 wheels such the messengers and the bike taxis you see now everywhere it stand to reason the increase in road fatalities...

they are never trained to ride them, that's the big issue. In the UK the basic riding skills training course is a legal; requirement before you ever get on a bike and its invaluable.  After that, comprehensive tests, more than one for younger riders, are required before you can ever get near a bigger bike.  Successive Thai governments are culpable in the deaths they record. 

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Speed warning lights come on on 110 and 125cc bikes in the UK at 90 kmph, the top speed allowed.

Wrong on all counts. The top speed allowed is 70mph (c110kph) on dual track roads, 60mph (c100kph) elsewhere. And 125cc bike can be ridden legally on motorways, although you'd be nuts to try. And in over 50 years of motorcycling, I have not seen any 125cc bike with speed lights. A friend did have a Kawasaki 400 with a speed light, but that was a Japanese import and the only one I have ever seen in the UK (around 350 motorcycle deaths per annum)

 

[Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

The design depends on what roads.  In most cases it would be just allocating a priority lane.

not at all true and unattainable . Train riders correctly and they can deal with the roads

[David T Pike]

Eugenics at it's finest...

[Artisi]

10 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

The design depends on what roads.  In most cases it would be just allocating a priority lane.

Do you actually live in Thailand, and if you do - have you ever been outside your condo. 

This is Thailand and not Australia, lanes here are just another place to drive in/on,  irrespective of its supposed designation. 

 

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, mrfill said:

Wrong on all counts. The top speed allowed is 70mph (c110kph) on dual track roads, 60mph (c100kph) elsewhere. And 125cc bike can be ridden legally on motorways, although you'd be nuts to try. And in over 50 years of motorcycling, I have not seen any 125cc bike with speed lights. A friend did have a Kawasaki 400 with a speed light, but that was a Japanese import and the only one I have ever seen in the UK (around 350 motorcycle deaths per annum)

 

Fairly immaterial if a car is doing 60/70/80 and hits you or runs over you!!!!

[Surelynot]

Just now, Artisi said:

Do you actually live in Thailand, and if you do - have you ever been outside your condo. 

This is Thailand and not Australia, lanes here are just another place to drive in/on,  irrespective of its supposed designation. 

 

Ha....just about to write the very same!!

[steevjee]

HINT TO STAY ALIVE:

Do not ever drive onto a divided road in Thailand without looking both ways, as there could be a motorcycle barrelling down the wrong side in the Bike Lane with the rider half tanked on Thai Whiskey or just simply ignorant

I came within half a second of killing my passenger and the rider in such a situation recently and I've seen few very nasty crash sites where that was obviously the circumstance