Thailand Road Carnage: 37 dead yesterday - this year's running total worse than 2020

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Daily News continued to report on the carnage on Thailand's roads, something they do every day.

 

Today's warning was about how a moment's "lap nai" or "microsleep" can change everything.

 

A couple on their way home from Ayutthaya to Klong 3 in Pathum Thani experienced that but they both lived.

 

A man was driving a Honda Civic when he dozed off and plowed into a speed sign and tree on the Lam Lukka Road inbound. 

 

Picture: Daily News

 

Police will charge him with damaging state property.

 

Yesterday 37 people died at the scene of accidents, a figure that is always less than the actual number killed in road accidents in Thailand when deaths on the way to and at hospitals are added to the tally.

 

Picture: Daily News

 

In 2019 14,907 deaths at the scene were recorded, in 2020 it was 14,825. 

 

Up to July 1st this year it has already been recorded as 7,187.

 

In the same period last year it was 6,921 deaths. 

 

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[Justgrazing]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

A man was driving a Honda Civic when he dozed off and plowed into a speed sign and tree on the Lam Lukka Road inbound. 

 

Phew there's a fortunate powepole out there somewhere tonight .. sadly though a member of the speed sign community has payed dearly so that powepole can see another day .. 

As for the rest of it nothing will change so carry on .. 

[ezzra]

Poor people, caught between a rock and a hard place,  if it's not the Covid that is killing people by the bucket you have road fatalities to add to the mayhem...

[trainman34014]

Never forget these figures are fudged to make things look better than they are .     That 7k is probably more like 9k so far.

 

I don't know about anyone else but by taking evasive and thoughtful action on Thai roads i must save at least another 20-30 lives every year; so between us we are doing them a lot of favours; not that we will ever be thanked for it !

[BKKTRAVELER]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

In 2019 14,907 deaths at the scene were recorded, in 2020 it was 14,825. 

The is actually scary considering people have traveled much less in 2020 than in 2019 with all restrictions in place and many worked from home during long periods. This is very worrying...

[sandyf]

31 minutes ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

The is actually scary considering people have traveled much less in 2020 than in 2019 with all restrictions in place and many worked from home during long periods. This is very worrying...

Not good but a logical progression. It is not so much the travelling that is the issue. Better roads have led to higher average speeds which in turn lead to a higher incidence of instant fatality.

They have no chance of teaching the old dogs new tricks so unfortunately the upward trend will continue until the younger generation are better educated in how to drive. Not going to happen before I am pushing up daisies.

[BKKTRAVELER]

1 minute ago, sandyf said:

Not good but a logical progression. It is not so much the travelling that is the issue. Better roads have led to higher average speeds which in turn lead to a higher incidence of instant fatality.

They have no chance of teaching the old dogs new tricks so unfortunately the upward trend will continue until the younger generation are better educated in how to drive. Not going to happen before I am pushing up daisies.

That is a sad but fair assessment. Didn't think about it this way.

[Sydebolle]

And how does this compare to the Corona mania these days? 

[ivor bigun]

To be blunt if half the drivers i see every day had another brain cell they would be a plant ,yesterday alone a woman on a motorbike turned in front of me as i was pulling out she had not given a signal and a guy was up the back of my bumper  forcing his way through ,he then overtook on the inside ,nearly sideswipped a car and then on pulling over in front of me again had to break hard to stop running into the back of another car ,driving here you need eyes in the back and sides of your head.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Yesterday 37 people died at the scene of accidents, a figure that is always less than the actual number killed in road accidents in Thailand when deaths on the way to and at hospitals are added to the tally.

Almost keeping up with Covid.

[Muhendis]

To be fair, most Thai drivers are reasonably good but the trouble, as I see it. is there are plenty of others who have neither road discipline nor patience and should really be taken off the roads, but who will do that?

[bdenner]

All falls on the Czar.

75% of deaths are motorcyclists!

I sit here in my Isaan Village and watch the bored schiteless teenagers, who should be at school, racing up and down the road then await the ambulance sirens.

Our village of 1700 is recording 1 death a month and who knows how many injuries = Idiot parents and Idiot Czar.

[Mr Wong]

In Australia there is a huge police presence on the roads with heavy fines which not only helps to keep the road toll low but is also a great revenue raiser for government. Not sure if it would work here in Thailand but something needs to be done. Its not just the deaths but also the countless seriously permanently injured.

[kennw]

5 hours ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

The is actually scary considering people have traveled much less in 2020 than in 2019 with all restrictions in place and many worked from home during long periods. This is very worrying...

Less traffic YES    faster speed particularly the (big) bike idiots  riders

[BKKTRAVELER]

1 hour ago, kennw said:

Less traffic YES    faster speed particularly the (big) bike idiots  riders

Another good point indeed, drivers may be more reckless thinking the roads are theirs. 

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, Muhendis said:

To be fair, most Thai drivers are reasonably good but the trouble, as I see it. is there are plenty of others who have neither road discipline nor patience and should really be taken off the roads, but who will do that?

Karma?

[HaoleBoy]

There was a previous article (last week??) stating that there have been fewer cars on the roads this year due to Covid-19.  People weren't traveling as much.  Thus, if the # of deaths is higher than 2020 this is a REALLY bad year for traffic fatalities.

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

And how does this compare to the Corona mania these days? 

Why even compare it to Corona....... irrelevant.

[mtls2005]

7 minutes ago, HaoleBoy said:

Thus, if the # of deaths is higher than 2020 this is a REALLY bad year for traffic fatalities.

 

Meh.

 

We need real data and statistics. Like defining a death once and for all; scene vs. hospital. Then yes, the total, per capita, per 100,000 vehicles, and per 100,000 Km.

 

Motorbike. auto breakout as well. Pretty sure motorbikes make up 2/3 of the deaths. So focus on motorbikes.

 

Publishing endless drivel like this is useless, maybe worse than useless.

 

Microsleep? Yeah. More like maxi-Sangsom.

 

 

[clivebaxter]

Do they still count people who die in the ambulance as 'injured', or the same if they die later in hospital?

[sandyf]

16 hours ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

That is a sad but fair assessment. Didn't think about it this way.

One of the big problems is U turns into high speed traffic and has been acknowledged for many years but progress is like watching paint dry.

This prototype U turn arrangement has been under development for something like 7 years. The original trials failed due to Thai impatience with 2 or 3 vehicles trying to make the turn at the same time. A barrier was put on the lead in to create single file entry. Another problem on the exit, vehicles would stop as they tried to get into the moving traffic, defeating the objective of a continuous flow. Again a barrier was used to keep vehicles in the exit lane when turning. Next came the problem of vehicle length and adjustments had to be made to prevent longer vehicles getting stuck.

It is located between Chonburi and Bang Saen and I have been passing it regularly over the years. The current setup seems to be working reasonably well but how long to be put into general use is anyone's guess.

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, Mr Wong said:

In Australia there is a huge police presence on the roads with heavy fines which not only helps to keep the road toll low but is also a great revenue raiser for government. Not sure if it would work here in Thailand but something needs to be done. Its not just the deaths but also the countless seriously permanently injured.

A couple of years ago my wife was caught in a mobile speed trap, policeman behind a tree with a hand held camera. Only one I have ever seen here in Thailand, wider deployment would certainly help.

There was no roadside fine, she was just shown the photo from the camera and told the fine would come in the post.

The sad thing was as they filled in the details I could see our destination about 500 metres away.

[Road Warrior]

well done thai drivers,, again good thing government increased speed limit that's help to the figure to go up so thailand can stay on the world worst drivers !! (official) 

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, sandyf said:

Not good but a logical progression. It is not so much the travelling that is the issue. Better roads have led to higher average speeds which in turn lead to a higher incidence of instant fatality.

They have no chance of teaching the old dogs new tricks so unfortunately the upward trend will continue until the younger generation are better educated in how to drive. Not going to happen before I am pushing up daisies.

Not going to happen at any time, driving and riding is about 80% common sense, and most Thais just do not have that, and this not only applies to driving, at my local indoor market, you will be lucky to stand 10 mins before some idiot comes in on a motorbike pumping their horn at you to get out of their road.

It is so easy just to park outside and walk in.

[NoshowJones]

17 hours ago, Muhendis said:

To be fair, most Thai drivers are reasonably good but the trouble, as I see it. is there are plenty of others who have neither road discipline nor patience and should really be taken off the roads, but who will do that?

"To be fair, most Thai drivers are reasonably good"??????????????????????????

Do you drive about blind folded or what?

[Muhendis]

56 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Do you drive about blind folded or what?

No I do not drive blindfold. It is those that only see bad that are suffering from selective vision.

[NoshowJones]

2 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

No I do not drive blindfold. It is those that only see bad that are suffering from selective vision.

But you said most Thai drivers are reasonably good, I just can't ride my bike during my morning exercise, it is very rare for anyone to give way to me. Most drivers and motorbike riders just act as if i'm not there.

[Muhendis]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

But you said most Thai drivers are reasonably good, I just can't ride my bike during my morning exercise, it is very rare for anyone to give way to me. Most drivers and motorbike riders just act as if i'm not there.

Ah! I see. You are talking from a cyclist's perspective. I have also ridden my bike and noticed lack of respect but more than that I have noticed how others that overtake give me plenty of space.

[NoshowJones]

Just now, Muhendis said:

Ah! I see. You are talking from a cyclist's perspective. I have also ridden my bike and noticed lack of respect but more than that I have noticed how others that overtake give me plenty of space.

I have been here in Thailand for 15 years, the bike is only for exercise, I have a motorbike. I also had a car. I have driven and ridden all round Thailand, in Bangkok and Pattaya, I still say that most Thai drivers are not fit to be behind a steering wheel or handlebars, and their dreadful mentality will never change.

[fusion58]

Thailand: Where every day is a field day for Darwin.