Thai roads are deathtraps to motorcyclists, says campaigner: Spend 15 billion a year to save 7,500 lives

[JTXR]

No doubt it's true that bad roads contribute to the outrageous death toll of motorcyclists, but by far the major causes are speed and reckless driving.  In Bangkok, a three-lane road actually has seven "lanes".  There are three official ones that cars drive in, and an additional four that motorcycles also use whenever they can, weaving in and out at high speed with no signals or other warning. 

 

[seedy]

2 million per person - No way will they pay this year in and year out.

Riding here 18 years, scooters to HD,s Got run off the road once, got side swiped once.

Why? ... Pay attention, Stay Alert. They ARE trying to kill you.

Be Aware  Beware

Don't expect anyone to give a rats for your life - as in all things

CYA

[JMonroe]

Which means they are also death traps to the many of us who have no choice but to take motorcycle taxis when necessary. Even if the roads were great, we're risking our lives with some of the drivers.

[Saanim]

4 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

How easy to say from the depth of a condo or a gated moo baan when on the way to 7/11 and back.  Some even speak about "paved road". I have yet to see such road on my numerous trip all over the Thailand, not even such a soi in the last village.

 

Yes, there are also some roads with potholes, what a surprise in a third world country, we have not been used to see such <deleted> in our perfect home countries...

 

   

[Screaming]

I rather enjoy the potholes, it slows the crazy motorbike drivers down. The other day I saw a girl driving a motorbike in heavy rain holding an umbrella with one hand and the bike handle with the other. She hit a pot hole and went in head first. I almost died laughing. I wish I could have gotten a video of that and submitted it to "Bad driving Thailand."

[sirineou]

The main road into our village is falling apart, and this is not a rural area, a couple of kilometers outside the ring road of Khon Kaen. 

When they build that road, They took the money, and then they just layed a couple of inches of black top on top of clay. After the rain the clay got soft and the road collapsed in many places with big poholes,  

Do you want to know how they fixed the potholes?

They filled them up with compacted dirt!! Then a couple of rains later the dirt washed out, and now not only is the road full of potholes, but it is also full of dirt. 

[Rampant Rabbit]

50 minutes ago, SS1 said:

It's not the roads, it's the millions of idiots driving on them.

Reallly  you want to see the "road"  if  you can call it that through my  village,  bloomin Romans 2000 yrs  ago did  way  better

[Rampant Rabbit]

22 minutes ago, sirineou said:

The main road into our village is falling apart, and this is not a rural area, a couple of kilometers outside the ring road of Khon Kaen. 

When they build that road, They took the money, and then they just layed a couple of inches of black top on top of clay. After the rain the clay got soft and the road collapsed in many places with big poholes,  

Do you want to know how they fixed the potholes?

They filled them up with compacted dirt!! Then a couple of rains later the dirt washed out, and now not only is the road full of potholes, but it is also full of dirt. 

Yep, for  motorbikes its a nightmare, sometimes they just throw  in loose  gravel, ideal for when on a bike  you need to stop, sitting in my garage a  bike I would  love to drive but the Thai drivers and the holes now disuade me

[Rampant Rabbit]

14 minutes ago, Saanim said:

How easy to say from the depth of a condo or a gated moo baan when on the way to 7/11 and back.  Some even speak about "paved road". I have yet to see such road on my numerous trip all over the Thailand, not even such a soi in the last village.

 

Yes, there are also some roads with potholes, what a surprise in a third world country, we have not been used to see such <deleted> in our perfect home countries...

 

   

in many of our  perfect countries you can easily  claim from the local  council for damage, I did many times and got refunded, new   wheels  on 2  occasions, then then if there was  an accident due to a hole the council would be in a "hole" lot  of pain re compensation

[sirineou]

5 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Yep, for  motorbikes its a nightmare, sometimes they just throw  in loose  gravel, ideal for when on a bike  you need to stop, sitting in my garage a  bie I would  love to drive but the Thai drivers and the holes now disuade me

You would not catch me dead on a motorbike lately. Or rather, dead is the only way you will catch me on a bike. LOL

Unfortunately most poor thais have no other option. This is one of the main roads heading inside Khon Kaen , in the morning and evening it is full of people on bikes coming or going to work. many times in the pouring rain, with wives, and children on the bike. 

Those who manage these thing should be ashamed of themselves.!!

 

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

Just now, sirineou said:

Those who manage these thing should be ashamed of themselves.!!

They have NO  shame they ARE always  doing a  GOOD  job, witness  now their  lackeys driving round deafening everyone with their vote for me pickups, Id  vote for the one who didnt  have a  blaring pick  up

[mran66]

"... three out of four Thai roads are not fit for motorcyclists." 

 

What he says maybe true. But what really is the root cause for bike accidents is the other way: three out of four Thai motorcyclists are not fit for roads.

 

No matter how the roads, if people don't adjust their driving to roads, they will continue to die. 

 

[sawadee1947]

5 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

The Chinese will show them as they do in many countries (eg Africa) 

[bougnat]

The problem is not the condition of the roads, but driver training. NON-EXISTING.

[Derek B]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

But it was not just a question of potholes and uneven surfaces - what car drivers might perceive to be the problem.

Potholes appearing on new roads or recently resurfaced roads point to a failure of quality or care. If you cannot get newly laid black top to stay in place what hope for other design & engineering issues - none.

 

I see more & more concrete roads being constructed.

 

 

[0815]

What about riding with open eyes, adapt to road conditions and use brain ?

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand needs to get real and follow UN recommendations and spend 15 billion baht a year on upgrades.

Lol... roads, subs are the future no need for roads.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

You mean Burmese?

[BadSpottedDog]

I would guess that bad roads cause far fewer motorbike deaths than
1. Lack of helmets
2. No proper (required) road training
3. No enforcement of traffic laws 
I've never seen anyone get a moving violation. I recently got my Thai license, and watched the process carefully. The "testing" was non existent & shameful actually.
Western foreigners who had licenses in their country all shiver at the behavior of Thai drivers. Passing on blind turns. Pulling out without looking. No seatbelts. Speeding is unbelievable, and by in large, NO helmets. BUT they ARE all wearing masks ????. I'd think the chances of dying on Thai roads are far higher than dying from covid.
But "this is Thailand".

[itsari]

5 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

I agree . There is a new fly over been built close to where I live where there is a round about built with a concrete side wall that is obscuring the view of  the cars on your right as you filter into the roundabout . To be sure of not colliding with a car from your right you need to almost stop which then eliminates the advantage of a roundabout .

 

[bougnat]

Letting a thai go on the road is giving a colt45 charge, safety off to a bonobo. Run for your life !

[johng]

6 minutes ago, BadSpottedDog said:

I would guess that bad roads cause far fewer motorbike deaths than
1. Lack of helmets
2. No proper (required) road training
3. No enforcement of traffic laws 

All good points   but I believe a lot is also down to "bad" roads

as in  they are poorly designed from the start ,bad lighting,bad signage,bad drainage  poor maintenance  no mechanical road sweepers to get rid of the sand and other debris  which can be lethal for motorcyclists   also the paint they use for the road markings are often incredibly slippery

(lucky the markings don't seem to last long anyway)  not to mention the diesel oil spilled at many U-turns  which themself are death traps.

 

[BadSpottedDog]

11 minutes ago, johng said:

All good points   but I believe a lot is also down to "bad" roads

as in  they are poorly designed from the start ,bad lighting,bad signage,bad drainage  poor maintenance  no mechanical road sweepers to get rid of the sand and other debris  which can be lethal for motorcyclists   also the paint they use for the road markings are often incredibly slippery

(lucky the markings don't seem to last long anyway)  not to mention the diesel oil spilled at many U-turns  which themself are death traps.

 

Yes. All contributors! I've noticed the slippery paint on the roads, and ALSO the trash trucks dripping grease/slime on the streets. I've known several people wipe out because of that. It's so hard to understand why they have never properly addressed these issues. Thailand road deaths are terribly high.
We literally moved away from Koh Samui, because we almost got hit head on at high speed a couple of times from the tourist vans overtaking in a blind spot. 

[DPKANKAN]

6 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

Indeed!! Watched them replace a concrete road 4 years ago 'cos the pumpui princess was coming. The concrete was so wet when poured, that the surface was <deleted>!! 2 years later they scraped it and re-topped it as the surface broke up. That then broke up so low and behold last year they topped it with asphalt!! Then, as they had not raised the few gullies leaving 50mm drops!!,they came round a few months later, broke out the gulley gratings and raised them using concrete <deleted>!!!????????????????

[vandeventer]

6 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

All they seem to do is patch over the the existing roads. Most new roads where I live only have a few years of life at best before the pot holes are there.  The road construction is pitiful and where are the drains? I am on my Honda Cbr650f most days and I won't ride at night because of the pot holes.

[PETERTHEEATER]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

three out of four Thai roads are not fit for motorcyclists.

Correction! Three out of four Thais are not fit for Motorcycles.....

[ChrisY1]

It's actually 3 out 4 Motor cycle riders are not fit for Thai words!

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A leading Thai engineer and campaigner for road safety Nobody has said that three nine out of four ten Thai roads are not fit for motorcyclists pedestrians.

 

[Dont confuse me]

Firstly I can't see any Thai administration spending that amount of money on infrastructure.

Secondly even if you had roads built to the same standard as the 27" thick German Autobahn, it will never stop SomChai attempting to ride/drive at the speed of light possibly whilst chatting with friends on Facebook and ploughing into whatever can't get out of his way.

Having said this, it's not fair to compare SE Asia with Europe they simply cannot afford to live to the same standards as the West.

A 300 THB fine for us is nothing but for a lot of Thai's it's a days wages.

How many vehicles on the road being driven without the driver holding a currant driving licence or insurance?  

[IvorBiggun2]

6 hours ago, keith101 said:

Thai dont know how to make a good road and doubt they ever will .

Absolutely right. They fail at the first hurdle they don't put the subbase in and they certainly never use a basecourse. That is the load bearer and also assists with drainage. I've never seen a Thai road built to the spec below.