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

[Artisi]

54 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

With that attitude of course not.  But common sense says that providing a space for Motorcyclist to travel separate from Trucks and Cars would have to be a positive. It is one of many things that should be considered. Shared Bus lanes are common in Australia and other Western countries. It works

 

To Thai drivers / riders, a lane is a lane - to be used by whoever feels like it when they like, just like a footpath or breakdown lane, if it's there use it - who cares. 

[OffshoreMig]

2 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Do you live in Thailand????

Yes I have already answered that. Bangkok. Ride my scooter every day. A shared bike/bus lane would be great.  The problem is the cars and trucks not the motorcyclists. Shared lanes work well in Australia and other countries. Would work well here even more so.

[Artisi]

6 hours ago, OffshoreMig said:

Yes I have already answered that. Bangkok. Ride my scooter every day. A shared bike/bus lane would be great.  The problem is the cars and trucks not the motorcyclists. Shared lanes work well in Australia and other countries. Would work well here even more so.

Last time I looked this is Thailand, not Australia or another country where the majority follow the rules and have an understanding of what is a reasonable approach to road safety, plus the traffic laws are enforced as required. 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

On 2/4/2021 at 5:20 PM, balo said:

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

This is also the view toward Thai education. We can’t fail any students, but we can’t give everyone high scores either.

 

High scores are still needed to get into good universities, and thus we have to be frugal in handing them out so that the elite few are still differentiated. Some parents pay for extra tutoring, who want it known and validated to everyone that their kids are better than the others. Such parents with money and influence then whine to the admins that their kids’ scores are too low, while others’ are too high, which given their influence are then adjusted no matter whatever we put in.

 

Thus, the purpose of scoring isn’t at all the assessment of students’ ability, nor a motivating factor for them to improve, much as it is the weeding of certain people out. Such appears to be a major factor in why such road carnage is allowed, much as it is for many students to be given minimum passing scores.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

On 2/4/2021 at 5:17 PM, Hamselv2 said:

Back in 2013-16 i lived in Thailand, midway i drive my Honda PCX150 with my wife from Udon to Bangkok, Sukhumvit, no problems

My wife and I have made this round trip twice, and twice to Issan provinces further out. Thank God we're still alive. We stay on the shoulder or outside lane, drive slow, stop frequently, and travel only in daylight.

[Brian Hull]

Mainly because there are no traffic police on the roads to enforce the rules (which are much the same as those in any developed country). Who is responsible for this blatantly negligent dereliction of duty? Where is the accountability? TLM (Thai Lives Matter).

[OffshoreMig]

On 2/7/2021 at 6:09 PM, Surelynot said:

I would, however, add the people at the test centre who give out licenses for as little as 1000 Baht

How much was your Thai licence?

[Surelynot]

2 minutes ago, OffshoreMig said:

How much was your Thai licence?

Ha.....free (I think, can't remember)....already had my UK license and international license......shouldn't say this......driven for 48 years and never had so much as a near miss.....oh dear!

[Artisi]

7 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Ha.....free (I think, can't remember)....already had my UK license and international license......shouldn't say this......driven for 48 years and never had so much as a near miss.....oh dear!

On my 4th Thai licence, cost was whatever the licence fee was each time it was issued, plus I've held an Australian heavy vehicle licence for 63 years. 

[Daveyh]

This topic has been discussed at all levels a million times & I refuse to enter into any further discussion on this. It is pointless trying to stop this tragic loss of life unless the government here get tough & seriously tackle the problem. That is not going to happen anytime soon, if ever ........... sad fact.

 

[MikeyIdea]

Why is no one posting about how safe Thailand has become over the last 30 years? I drove 35,000 km per year on a Honda Dream 100 in Bangkok in the early 1990s. Incredible difference

 

Incredible bike too. Drove 135,000 km on it. Now that is quality 

Edited February 11, 2021 by MikeyIdea

[Artisi]

16 hours ago, Daveyh said:

This topic has been discussed at all levels a million times & I refuse to enter into any further discussion on this. It is pointless trying to stop this tragic loss of life unless the government here get tough & seriously tackle the problem. That is not going to happen anytime soon, if ever ........... sad fact.

 

Well you just did (discuss) .........????

[DualSportBiker]

On 2/10/2021 at 10:25 AM, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

My wife and I have made this round trip twice, and twice to Issan provinces further out. Thank God we're still alive. We stay on the shoulder or outside lane, drive slow, stop frequently, and travel only in daylight.

Riding slowly is dangerous. Easy to get hit from behind, so have to pay constant attention to mirrors. Always ride at the pace of other users so you can concentrate on what is in front of you.

[VocalNeal]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:30 PM, Brian Hull said:

Mainly because there are no traffic police on the roads to enforce the rules (which are much the same as those in any developed country).

 

Not driven on the Chonburi Motorway then?

[DualSportBiker]

On 2/11/2021 at 8:56 AM, MikeyIdea said:

Why is no one posting about how safe Thailand has become over the last 30 years? I drove 35,000 km per year on a Honda Dream 100 in Bangkok in the early 1990s. Incredible difference

 

Incredible bike too. Drove 135,000 km on it. Now that is quality 

Maybe because the number of accidents and deaths goes up every year. Maybe because every goal ever set by the authorities has been missed.

 

There have been improvements. When I first started riding long trips up-country, very few cars or trucks would move out of the right-hand lane for a bike. Very few indeed. Now a significant portion of Thai drivers will not only move out the way, but signal beforehand. The large groups of bikes I used to ride with made an effort to thank any driver who moved out the way, I still do the same. When 100 BMW GS thunder passed you and give you a nod, you remember. Rewarding correct behaviour enforces it (like training puppies) so I always give a thumbs-up and a nod to any cage that moves out of my way. 

[DualSportBiker]

8 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Not driven on the Chonburi Motorway then?

One strip of highway doesn't make up for the rest of the country. Those patrol cars are there to steal from truck drivers. I used to tow a trailer behind an old Landy. I got pulled over on that stretch for a number of concocted reasons and was asked to pay 500 Baht. Never did, but my Thai colleague paid 100 a couple of times while I was asleep after a hard day's work. They crawl along the emergency lane and flash truck drivers to stop for no other reason than they are passing the cop. The ultimate in lazy muppets!

Edited February 12, 2021 by DualSportBiker

[MaxYakov]

Every 30 minutes. One can set one's watch by this...but don't do that while you're riding.

[Artisi]

36 minutes ago, DualSportBiker said:

Maybe because the number of accidents and deaths goes up every year. Maybe because every goal ever set by the authorities has been missed.

 

There have been improvements. When I first started riding long trips up-country, very few cars or trucks would move out of the right-hand lane for a bike. Very few indeed. Now a significant portion of Thai drivers will not only move out the way, but signal beforehand. The large groups of bikes I used to ride with made an effort to thank any driver who moved out the way, I still do the same. When 100 BMW GS thunder passed you and give you a nod, you remember. Rewarding correct behaviour enforces it (like training puppies) so I always give a thumbs-up and a nod to any cage that moves out of my way. 

I don't ride a bike, but when driving I always try to acknowledge any courtesy offered / given. 

[DualSportBiker]

25 minutes ago, Artisi said:

I don't ride a bike, but when driving I always try to acknowledge any courtesy offered / given. 

Good on yer mate.

 

I drive an immediately recognisable truck; I can't flip people off or drive like a muppet anywhere near where I live. Instead I do the English-village thing and wave at everyone who lets me go or simple doesn't drive like a muppet. There are a few neighbours who have picked up the habit!

[Artisi]

18 minutes ago, DualSportBiker said:

Good on yer mate.

 

I drive an immediately recognisable truck; I can't flip people off or drive like a muppet anywhere near where I live. Instead I do the English-village thing and wave at everyone who lets me go or simple doesn't drive like a muppet. There are a few neighbours who have picked up the habit!

It's also less stressful... 

[KC 71]

Blimey, thats alot !

[MikeyIdea]

11 hours ago, DualSportBiker said:

Maybe because the number of accidents and deaths goes up every year. Maybe because every goal ever set by the authorities has been missed.

There were 37,000 dead in 1996 i think it was, road deaths are down a lot, not up compared to that period. There wasn't a week, often no more than a couple of days between when i saw the painted profile of a dead body, a totally smashed up bike or occasionally, a dead body in the nineties. They were good in the sense that they really made me concentrate and think about my own safety. Now-a-days you hardly see any. Thailand has more than halved the road fatalities since the mid 90s. 

 

I find Thailand very much safer now-a-days

Edited February 12, 2021 by MikeyIdea

[DualSportBiker]

On 2/12/2021 at 9:56 PM, MikeyIdea said:

There were 37,000 dead in 1996 i think it was, road deaths are down a lot, not up compared to that period. There wasn't a week, often no more than a couple of days between when i saw the painted profile of a dead body, a totally smashed up bike or occasionally, a dead body in the nineties. They were good in the sense that they really made me concentrate and think about my own safety. Now-a-days you hardly see any. Thailand has more than halved the road fatalities since the mid 90s. 

 

I find Thailand very much safer now-a-days

Point taken. Wikipedia states 13,836 deaths in 1997 and Thai RSC report shows 7,465 for 2020. Songkran accidents and deaths have been up for several years consecutively despite the annual campaigns.

[tinca tinca]

i was at an outside restaurant.......motorbike drivers were going past (many of them no helmets) along comes a copper on a bike, had helmet on......he over take 5 or 6 of them NEVER STOPPED anyone who was NOT wearing  a helmet......here lies the problem......or at least one of them....

i see hudreds driving down this road....and up it....most wearing masks but NO helmet........!!!!!

[MaxYakov]

1 hour ago, tinca tinca said:

i was at an outside restaurant.......motorbike drivers were going past (many of them no helmets) along comes a copper on a bike, had helmet on......he over take 5 or 6 of them NEVER STOPPED anyone who was NOT wearing  a helmet......here lies the problem......or at least one of them....

i see hudreds driving down this road....and up it....most wearing masks but NO helmet........!!!!!

The mask helps prevent the mouth-breathers from injesting bugs.

[kevc]

The other day I was driving down a 110 kph road and counted the first ten motorbikes that past me with twelve riders not wearing crash helmets.

[HaoleBoy]

"Bringing in a system where younger riders were limited in the power of their machines - Graduated Driver Licensing - until they proved in tests that they could handle bigger machines could lower accidents by 25%.  Such systems were used abroad."

 

Big bike licenses went into affect a week ago for new / renewal licenses - Feb 19.

No Land / Transport office will give you one since the criteria to get a big bike license has not been specified yet.  No certified instructors are there to verify / validate either.

 

[SmartyMarty]

Education, training, enforcement. Can solve this quite easily if only the xenophobic Thais would adopt overseas successes.