Three teachers suffer only minor injuries after their car plummets off the side of Si Racha hill, driver blames brake failure

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

Three teachers from Samut Prakan have sustained only minor injuries after their sedan fell from a hill while they were heading to a temple in the Si Racha district Thursday afternoon (October 21st).

 

Emergency responders were notified of the accident at 1:00 P.M. on Phra Kru Hill in the Surasak sub-district.

 

First response teams arrived at the scene to find the overturned sedan seven meters down from the hill off the road. Three people inside the sedan had luckily sustained only minor injuries. All three were taken to a local hospital for a check-up.

 

Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2021/10/23/three-teachers-suffer-only-minor-injuries-after-their-car-plummets-off-the-side-of-si-racha-hill-driver-blames-brake-failure/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2021-10-24

 

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[Geoffggi]

Driver blames brake failure

 

This should be relatively easy to prove/disprove ......

Edited October 24, 2021 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[robblok]

22 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Driver blames brake failure

 

This should be relatively easy to prove/disprove ......

I wonder if they ever do this, i also wonder if the insurance (if class 1) will insist on this.

[Tropicalevo]

22 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Driver blames brake failure

 

This should be relatively easy to prove/disprove ......

Not necessarily.

I had an Audi Quatro many years ago - one of the first with anti-lock braking.

Every now and again, when I braked, the car would try to spin round. I took it to the garage a couple of times but they could not find a fault.

One morning, whilst driving down a steep hill, I braked and the car spun and ended up on its roof, in a ditch.

I told the (same) garage what had happened.

A couple of weeks later the garage called me and complained about my 'dangerous' car.

Apparently, after fixing it, they took it for a test drive.

Wham! Almost wrote it off. Needed a new body shell after their accident.

A more detailed investigation into the brakes showed that on one side of the car, the brakes were locking up now and again.

[transam]

Well, serious brake fade could have happened if they kept their foot on the brakes for a very long period instead of using the engine and gears to reduce the need for excessive brake pressure..

[transam]

Just now, Tropicalevo said:

Not necessarily.

I had an Audi Quatro many years ago - one of the first with anti-lock braking.

Every now and again, when I braked, the car would try to spin round. I took it to the garage a couple of times but they could not find a fault.

One morning, whilst driving down a steep hill, I braked and the car spun and ended up on its roof, in a ditch.

I told the (same) garage what had happened.

A couple of weeks later the garage called me and complained about my 'dangerous' car.

Apparently, after fixing it, they took it for a test drive.

Wham! Almost wrote it off. Needed a new body shell after their accident.

A more detailed investigation into the brakes showed that on one side of the car, the brakes were locking up now and again.

I worked on a Camaro Z28 that did similar, the cause was a front brake hose had expanded internally, near blocking of fluid movement, it was quite scary on the test drive...????

[bbko]

This part made me laugh;

 

“Two teachers decided to get out of the car to lower the weight to attempt to help the car climb the hill. However, it backfired somehow and we had a brake failure, causing us to go backwards off the side of the hill."

[Geoffggi]

36 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Not necessarily.

I had an Audi Quatro many years ago - one of the first with anti-lock braking.

Every now and again, when I braked, the car would try to spin round. I took it to the garage a couple of times but they could not find a fault.

One morning, whilst driving down a steep hill, I braked and the car spun and ended up on its roof, in a ditch.

I told the (same) garage what had happened.

A couple of weeks later the garage called me and complained about my 'dangerous' car.

Apparently, after fixing it, they took it for a test drive.

Wham! Almost wrote it off. Needed a new body shell after their accident.

A more detailed investigation into the brakes showed that on one side of the car, the brakes were locking up now and again.

There are always exceptions to the rule, however this car is not an Audi Quatro also no reports of the car spinning therefore possibly not relevant to this issue

[kotsak]

Brain failure more like it.. ????

[mikebell]

4 minutes ago, kotsak said:

Brain failure more like it.. ????

Excessive speed? Alcohol? Being a Thai driver?

[nkg]

44 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Not necessarily.

I had an Audi Quatro many years ago - one of the first with anti-lock braking.

Every now and again, when I braked, the car would try to spin round. I took it to the garage a couple of times but they could not find a fault.

One morning, whilst driving down a steep hill, I braked and the car spun and ended up on its roof, in a ditch.

I told the (same) garage what had happened.

A couple of weeks later the garage called me and complained about my 'dangerous' car.

Apparently, after fixing it, they took it for a test drive.

Wham! Almost wrote it off. Needed a new body shell after their accident.

A more detailed investigation into the brakes showed that on one side of the car, the brakes were locking up now and again.

 

Brakes seem to fail much more often in Thailand than in any other country ... excuses-wise, it's up there with "the dog ate my homework" ????

 

[kotsak]

1 minute ago, mikebell said:

Excessive speed? Alcohol? Being a Thai driver?

Or all of the above 

[kingkenny]

Another one that doesn't understand that failing to apply the brakes does not constitute brake failure. 

[topt]

I'm amazed looking at the picture that they only suffered "minor injuries".........

[trainman34014]

3 hours ago, nkg said:

 

Brakes seem to fail much more often in Thailand than in any other country ... excuses-wise, it's up there with "the dog ate my homework" ????

 

'If' any of the Brake Failure stories are true then lack of proper Maintenance will be a factor too.   Majoroty of Thai's stop taking their Vehicle for Maintenance after the first 'free' service; they usually wait until it stops, something breaks, or falls off before they go near a Garage !

Edited October 24, 2021 by trainman34014

[Retiredandhappyhere]

It is good to hear that the three teachers only suffered minor injuries.  Luckily it looks as if the car got off similarly lightly as well and should be back on the roads in time to take the teachers to school on Monday. ????

[animalmagic]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Well, serious brake fade could have happened if they kept their foot on the brakes for a very long period instead of using the engine and gears to reduce the need for excessive brake pressure..

Brain fade is another possible cause.

[seajae]

after reading the full version it would appear that they didnt have brake failure but rolled backwards down the hill after stopping to let 2 people get out, more than likely the driver stalled the car while it was in neutral without the hand brake on or foot on the brake, only way it can roll backwards

 

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, bbko said:

This part made me laugh;

 

“Two teachers decided to get out of the car to lower the weight to attempt to help the car climb the hill. However, it backfired somehow and we had a brake failure, causing us to go backwards off the side of the hill."

Made me laugh too, must have been some porky teachers living a fine life.

[PETERTHEEATER]

4 hours ago, nkg said:

 

Brakes seem to fail much more often in Thailand than in any other country ... excuses-wise, it's up there with "the dog ate my homework" ????

 

In combination that could be "The dog chewed the car wiring causing a short circuit to the brakes which failed".....

[Saanim]

This could be another entertaining thread in case we do not hear anything about the gun in Isaan pond and 290 kB.

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

obviously not driving teachers then…..if footbrake fails use handbrake to slow vehicle at low speeds….might have been speeding or poor driving as should be entering road bends at correct transition speed without braking….possibly brakes failed through lack of scheduled maintenance.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

An awful lot of brake failure, in this country known for its love of mobile phones and alcohol. ????????????????

[HeijoshinCool]

.

 

In other news, Driver's Ed classes at Samut Prakan High School have been temporally suspended....

[Almer]

I blame the slicks on the front unless it’s a bit of an optical illusion.

[Benmart]

7 hours ago, transam said:

Well, serious brake fade could have happened if they kept their foot on the brakes for a very long period instead of using the engine and gears to reduce the need for excessive brake pressure..

I wonder if drivers have any concept of using the engine and lower gears to reduce speed downhill. From observation these years, the accelerator pedal is the favorite option.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Benmart said:

I wonder if drivers have any concept of using the engine and lower gears to reduce speed downhill. From observation these years, the accelerator pedal is the favorite option.

Think most cars are auto, and they don't know about it having a low gear selection...????

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, animalmagic said:

6 hours ago, transam said:

Well, serious brake fade could have happened if they kept their foot on the brakes for a very long period instead of using the engine and gears to reduce the need for excessive brake pressure..

 

Keeping their foot on the brake for a long period? Brake fade?

 

Did you not read the full story? They were going uphill at the time of the accident.

 

It was clearly a very steep hill because two of the passengers had to get out. It sounds to to me as the car stalled on a very steep hill and yes, the brakes do fail don't they because there is no pressure assistance from the engine.

 

Thais are, in general not used to driving on steep hills and driver just didn't know how to handle the situation.

[Maybole]

Many years ago I had a brake failure descending a long hill in Malaysia. I recognised it as overheating brake fade and used the gears and handbrake to stop.

I now take care to teach my younger relatives the technique.

The technique is not taught in Thailand and is unknown to every Thai driver (and a few falang) that I  have spoken to. Almost all the cars in Thailand have automatic transmission but it is still possible to select a lower ratio and using the handbrake, stop the car.

I am old-fashioned and drive a car with a manual gearbox.

[Meat Pie 47]

1 hour ago, Maybole said:

Many years ago I had a brake failure descending a long hill in Malaysia. I recognised it as overheating brake fade and used the gears and handbrake to stop.

I now take care to teach my younger relatives the technique.

The technique is not taught in Thailand and is unknown to every Thai driver (and a few falang) that I  have spoken to. Almost all the cars in Thailand have automatic transmission but it is still possible to select a lower ratio and using the handbrake, stop the car.

I am old-fashioned and drive a car with a manual gearbox.

yeah I drive a manual one as well but then again my car is 26 years old