Picture: Siam Rath

 

A Thai driver on his way home in Phayathai told Siam Rath that he experienced "lap nai" - a microsleep.

 

Sorawit, 58, had been doing some personal business and was in his Hyundai H1 van and was about to cross the Phayathai Intersection  inbound on Sri Ayutthaya Road.

 

He nodded off and hit a concrete barrier then plowed into a height restriction sign and ended up on his side.

 

He smashed his way out and said he was lucky to only be slightly injured.

 

Poh Teck Tung rescue saw him to Phayathai 1 Hospital.

 

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Phayathai police attended the scene at 12.10 am Sunday finding the van on its side with its front left wheel off. 

 

There are signs all over Thailand warning about falling asleep at the wheel, a common cause of accidents, notes ASEAN NOW. 

 

 

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it may be the cause of the accident (like brake failure or wet roads) but it's not an excuse ... these people who cause accidents through bad driving or negligence should be prosecuted and do some jail time.

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

There are signs all over Thailand warning about falling asleep at the wheel, a common cause of accidents, notes ASEAN NOW. 

 

I can't read Thai....awake or asleep

I get the microsleep part, but how can anyone say, that was the cause of the accident.  More like fell asleep, and only woke up because of the accident ... if lucky enough to survive.

 

I actually fell asleep driving one time, and let me tell you, it is one of the scariest things that ever happened while driving.  Luckily I wasn't alone, the person riding shotgun, woke me just as we were headed towards a wall, and swerved to avoid, no accident.

 

Once you do, you'll never fall asleep again, well I won't, as it was that scary.  I've driven long distance, up to 18 hrs stretches, personally and professionally (pro = illegally), and I'll take power nap if noticing them microsleeps creeping in.

Wow, looking at the damage to his vehicle, lucky to be alive. 

 

The headline should read 'lucky Amulet story' 

 

????

 

 

43 minutes ago, tonray said:

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

There are signs all over Thailand warning about falling asleep at the wheel, a common cause of accidents, notes ASEAN NOW. 

 

 

43 minutes ago, tonray said:

I can't read Thai....awake or asleep

I've never seen one these signs that are 'all over Thailand'. Maybe I was asleep at the time!

54 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

I've never seen one these signs that are 'all over Thailand'. Maybe I was asleep at the time!

They're definitely there, on hwy # 1 - 2 - 4 - 11 - 41 - 323 - 401 and most major road crisscrossing the country.  Along with the 'tailgating' warnings being a bit common.  Especially on hwy 35.

Edited March 21, 20224 yr by KhunLA

5 hours ago, webfact said:

There are signs all over Thailand warning about falling asleep at the wheel, a common cause of accidents

He didn't see them he was asleep.

Is it all because of working too many hours without a proper break.

Driving for 12 hours a shift with the drone of a motor engine the background 7 days a week is just an accident waiting to happen.

Fell asleep and his foot pinned down the accelerator while asleep, by the looks of things. 

I’m beginning to think micro sleep is more contagious than Covid.

6 hours ago, tonray said:

I can't read Thai....awake or asleep

If you are not Thai you don't need to. Non-Thais usually have the common sense not to drive if they are sleepy. Thais need to be reminded, and then they ignore the sign anyway.

40 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Fell asleep and his foot pinned down the accelerator while asleep, by the looks of things. 

Outside my house, a driver did that and drove up a verge and sailed through the top of a tree before landing inches from someone's door across the road from me, facing the opposite way from where he was driving. Thais can be quite inventive. And his insurance had expired the previous day. It was dark and several people were trying to find his mobile phone in the vicinity after he had lost it in the crash. Not one person had the idea of ringing it to locate it. I just kept quiet.

Micro sleep or any other excuse ,It just a cop out .Doesn't matter what vehicle they drive Confiscate it and take their License away(if they have one ) if a serious accident with casualties  put them in Jail for at least Ten Yrs per casualty.

A bit off-topic, because it's not LOS, but here we go.......

A few years ago, a group of 11 of us were stranded for a week in a small village on the west coast of Scotland, having flown in in small aeroplanes. The weather was abysmal and showed no signs of abating, and there was a pressing necessity to return to real life to earn a living. 

The owner of the b&b we were staying in also ran the local taxi, which was an mpv taking 10 pax. He was used to doing short local runs, but a trip back to central Scotland,

especially at night, was not something he was used to.

10 of us signed up for the trip, one elected to sit out the weather. The drive was about 2½ hours. After an hour in driving rain, Iain pulled over and said to me, "Ah canny dae it, A'm fa'an asleep. You drive! and I drove the rest of the way. 

Totally illegal, as insurance would be invalid, and I don't have an appropriate licence, 

but at least we were safe, and no harm done. So far as I know he drove back alone and survived. Nothing was said about it, next time we met.

I didn't even get a tip!

 

1 hour ago, digger70 said:

Micro sleep or any other excuse ,It just a cop out .Doesn't matter what vehicle they drive Confiscate it and take their License away(if they have one ) if a serious accident with casualties  put them in Jail for at least Ten Yrs per casualty.

Problem with micro sleep is it can happen to anyone, even people who are well rested. Also often you don't know that it is happening until you have an accident or a near miss. As some one else said in this forum it can be due to the boredom and drone of the engine effectively hypnotizing the driver. The amount of time it takes for the condition of micro sleep to arise depends on many factors including the physiology of the driver. In the UK we are advised to take a break every 2 hours but micro sleep patterns can develop much earlier than that when driving on a long straight boring motorway.

Edited March 21, 20224 yr by RobU

1 hour ago, RobU said:

Problem with micro sleep is it can happen to anyone, even people who are well rested. Also often you don't know that it is happening until you have an accident or a near miss

True. 

 

Unless you've actually experienced narcolepsy, you're not in a position to judge anyone who's afflicted.  We're the same people who do a head bob during long, tedious meetings...  Got plenty of rack time the night before, but our brains work differently.

 

Sadly, the most commonly available preventative in Thailand (that I'm aware of) is Yaba.  Other, more refined treatments are generally expensive and only available through a hospital pharmacy.

 

On the routes that I frequented in the USA, I knew every rest stop along the way.  Because I probably napped at every one of them at one time or another.

 

Edited March 21, 20224 yr by impulse

44 minutes ago, impulse said:

True. 

 

Unless you've actually experienced narcolepsy, you're not in a position to judge anyone who's afflicted.  We're the same people who do a head bob during long, tedious meetings...  Got plenty of rack time the night before, but our brains work differently.

 

Sadly, the most commonly available preventative in Thailand (that I'm aware of) is Yaba.  Other, more refined treatments are generally expensive and only available through a hospital pharmacy.

 

On the routes that I frequented in the USA, I knew every rest stop along the way.  Because I probably napped at every one of them at one time or another.

 

So true about meetings. I regularly dropped off at the long unnecessary meetings where people droned on and on. They had no no outcomes other than to arrange the time and date of the next boring unnecessary meetings. My colleague used to pinch me when I snored, very sadistic woman who really enjoyed it, she was supposed to be my friend. I still have marks on my arms where she actually broke the skin with her long nails

These days that's the excuse although I am sure if the cops did their job here (LOL....I know) a quick check of his phone would tell another story of what he was doing!!!  They are always "glancing" at their phones when driving I see all the time!!  Why not put signs up for that you idiots!!!  Again...TIT !!

22 hours ago, tonray said:

I can't read Thai....awake or asleep

Nor can I, but I asked what this sign meant years ago as I had seen it so many times in the past on long journeys It was obviously a warning of some kid.

Now, I can recognise the sign - 'in red' for what it means. I do not need to read Thai to find out what it is.

 

Why can't you?

He's admitted he fell asleep ,then crashed , doubt the insurance

company will cover him for that.

regards worgeordie

11 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Sadly, the most commonly available preventative in Thailand (that I'm aware of) is Yaba.

 

Another commonly available preventative in Thailand is caffeine, a better alternative than Yaba.  There's plenty of Amazon Cafe's, Starbucks, coffee shops, mini marts all over the place.  Stop and take a break, walk around and get some fresh air and your blood circulating.

1 hour ago, Jaybott said:

Another commonly available preventative in Thailand is caffeine, a better alternative than Yaba.  There's plenty of Amazon Cafe's, Starbucks, coffee shops, mini marts all over the place.  Stop and take a break, walk around and get some fresh air and your blood circulating.

Caffeine is minimally effective on narcolepsy.  I used to stop, get a cup of joe, then take a nap before I could drive more.  It works okay if you're tired, but that's not the same as narcolepsy.

Edited March 22, 20224 yr by impulse

13 hours ago, Grusa said:

A bit off-topic, because it's not LOS, but here we go.......

A few years ago, a group of 11 of us were stranded for a week in a small village on the west coast of Scotland, having flown in in small aeroplanes. The weather was abysmal and showed no signs of abating, and there was a pressing necessity to return to real life to earn a living. 

The owner of the b&b we were staying in also ran the local taxi, which was an mpv taking 10 pax. He was used to doing short local runs, but a trip back to central Scotland,

especially at night, was not something he was used to.

10 of us signed up for the trip, one elected to sit out the weather. The drive was about 2½ hours. After an hour in driving rain, Iain pulled over and said to me, "Ah canny dae it, A'm fa'an asleep. You drive! and I drove the rest of the way. 

Totally illegal, as insurance would be invalid, and I don't have an appropriate licence, 

but at least we were safe, and no harm done. So far as I know he drove back alone and survived. Nothing was said about it, next time we met.

I didn't even get a tip!

 

That happened to me in a taxi from Bangkok to Phetchabun, 370km. After skulling 4 red bulls, the driver said he couldn't drive and I drove from Sara Buri to home, about 280km.

1 minute ago, Lazybones said:

That happened to me in a taxi from Bangkok to Phetchabun, 370km. After skulling 4 red bulls, the driver said he couldn't drive and I drove from Sara Buri to home, about 280km.

Did he have to ask you to use the meter ?

19 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

If you are not Thai you don't need to. Non-Thais usually have the common sense not to drive if they are sleepy. Thais need to be reminded, and then they ignore the sign anyway.

Yeah absolutely, it is only Thais that fall asleep at the wheel.  The 53 fatal crashes per year (and 350+ crashes in total) attributed to it in the UK are obviously fake as they are non-Thai.  Just more unjustified bashing of an entire nation, with some smug superiority thrown in, well done.

https://www.actuarialpost.co.uk/article/quarter-of-fatal-crashes-due-to-falling-asleep-at-the-wheel-15162.htm

Edited March 22, 20224 yr by josephbloggs

On 3/21/2022 at 4:18 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

Outside my house, a driver did that and drove up a verge and sailed through the top of a tree before landing inches from someone's door across the road from me, facing the opposite way from where he was driving. Thais can be quite inventive. And his insurance had expired the previous day. It was dark and several people were trying to find his mobile phone in the vicinity after he had lost it in the crash. Not one person had the idea of ringing it to locate it. I just kept quiet.

who would KNOW THE number?????!!!!!

2 hours ago, blackshadow said:

On 3/21/2022 at 4:18 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

Outside my house, a driver did that and drove up a verge and sailed through the top of a tree before landing inches from someone's door across the road from me, facing the opposite way from where he was driving. Thais can be quite inventive. And his insurance had expired the previous day. It was dark and several people were trying to find his mobile phone in the vicinity after he had lost it in the crash. Not one person had the idea of ringing it to locate it. I just kept quiet.

Expand  

who would KNOW THE number?????!!!!!

Bizarre question. The driver whose phone it was. Presumably he knew his own number.