Unidentified foreign driver dies after motorbike crash in Rawai, Phuket

[webfact]

PHOTO: Phuket Raumjai Rescue Foundation

 

By Goong Nang(GN)

 

Rawai, Phuket – An unidentified male foreign driver has been pronounced dead after a motorbike crash in Rawai, Phuket early this morning (May 10th).

 

The Chalong Police was notified of the accident at 4:30 A.M. on Wiset Road in the Rawai sub-district. Police, emergency responders, and The Phuket Express arrived at the scene to find the body of a male foreign driver bleeding heavily near a power pole.

 

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No identification documents were found with him. The damaged motorbike was found on the road nearby. His body was taken to the Vachira Hospital in Phuket Town.

 

Full story: https://thephuketexpress.com/2022/05/10/unidentified-foreign-driver-dies-after-motorbike-crash-in-rawai-phuket/

 

-- © Copyright The Phuket Express 2022-05-10

 

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[ezzra]

Something in the picture doesn't make sense,  the motorcycle is strewn in the middle of the road with no visible power pole where they say the body was, or this picture is only for an illustration purposes?...

[metisdead]

27 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Something in the picture doesn't make sense,  the motorcycle is strewn in the middle of the road with no visible power pole where they say the body was, or this picture is only for an illustration purposes?...

 

It says this in the OP:

• The Phuket Express arrived at the scene to find the body of a male foreign driver bleeding heavily near a power pole.
• The damaged motorbike was found on the road nearby.

Take a look at the photo in the OP, in the background, near a power pole, you can see an ambulance on one side and another rescue vehicle on the other side and what appears to be a white object the other side of the power pole: 

 

[FritsSikkink]

46 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Something in the picture doesn't make sense,  the motorcycle is strewn in the middle of the road with no visible power pole where they say the body was, or this picture is only for an illustration purposes?...

Here the CCTV: (20+) Watch | Facebook

[JeffersLos]

9 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here the CCTV: (20+) Watch | Facebook

How does someone manage to do that without being steaming drunk? 

 

Also looks like a helmet would have likely saved his life - a relatively low speed forehead collision with a metal pole. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by JeffersLos

[sanuk711]

1 minute ago, JeffersLos said:

How does someone manage to do that without being steaming drunk? 

Or falls asleep-- I grew up in the UK until I was about 19 --most everyone rode a bike because, you could at 16---a car not until 17....(I dont know if its still the same) , but the conditions there were sometimes quite harsh and its one of those things---like riding a pushbike--you never forget how to .

 

Living in Pattaya late 90s....and many people were hiring big bikes who had never rode before.  I Knew some Thai bike rental, people--they would always warn them , about the Baht Buses--(Song Theaw) They seem to be going fast--but if they see a customer they will stamp on the brakes-- so many accidents, a lot of the guys never got out of the town.. ....ever

[Burma Bill]

1 hour ago, JeffersLos said:

How does someone manage to do that without being steaming drunk?

My thought as well.

4:30am and (from the video link) appears to have no helmet and then suddenly veers from driving on the left side of the road across to the center and crashing headlong into the electricity pole in the central reservation. 

[richard_smith237]

4:30am...  No helmet...   

 

Watching the video the obvious ‘guess’ is blind drunk. 

 

It really is a quite astonishing to see on a daily basis the total disregard people show for their own life and that of others.

 

 

 

[Aussieroaming]

RIP fella

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here the CCTV: (20+) Watch | Facebook

Pi$$ed or asleep.

 

[RichardColeman]

I suppose this way going out - fast and asleep  by the looks of it - will be better and easier than a lot of us will have

[madmitch]

It was as though he was aiming for it. He hit that pole perfectly!

[freedomnow]

Ooof, what a nightmare.

 

 

[Inala]

Crikey, that was a savage impact. Wearing a helmet or not would have made no difference here. His body was smashed into that immovable pole so hard it would have shattered every bone in his core.....ribs, pelvis, sternum and spine etc all shattered into pieces. His organs would have detached themselves from their arteries and because of that he likely bled out within minutes.

Reminds me years ago there was a picture on Thai visa of a farang and his passenger who wrapped themselves around a pole on that pedestrian crossing up the top of 2nd road near Big C. There was bits of brain matter all over the road, which the photographer took close ups of. Pictures back then were so graphic, it turned my stomach reading that article.  

[Moonlover]

It is possible to fall asleep whilst riding a motorcycle. Read about it here. In fact I may have done it myself during a long and boring ride back to my RAF base in Norfolk UK when I was young. I suddenly found myself lying in a field! No harm done fortunately.

 

Maybe I'm overthinking it but his head does seem to nod as he passes under the street light. It's either that or it was a deliberate act and we're never likely to know which.

[Inala]

5 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

It is possible to fall asleep whilst riding a motorcycle. Read about it here. In fact I may have done it myself during a long and boring ride back to my RAF base in Norfolk UK when I was young. I suddenly found myself lying in a field! No harm done fortunately.

 

Maybe I'm overthinking it but his head does seem to nod as he passes under the street light. It's either that or it was a deliberate act and we're never likely to know which.

I saw that head nodding action also. He's definitely under the influence of something and falling asleep. Unbelievable really.

[chickenslegs]

28 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Maybe I'm overthinking it but his head does seem to nod as he passes under the street light. It's either that or it was a deliberate act and we're never likely to know which.

Or was he looking down at his phone?

[it is what it is]

5 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Or was he looking down at his phone?

 possibly, it looks like he was riding one handed...?

[thurien]

5 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here the CCTV: (20+) Watch | Facebook

absolutely fascinating ... almost suicidal head-on bang into the lamp post

[KhunBENQ]

Let's hope he doesn't leave wife/family behind.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

looks like a helmet would have likely saved his life - a relatively low speed forehead collision with a metal pole. 

Helmets don't protect against broken necks which frequently occur in these types of incidents.

[JeffersLos]

28 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Helmets don't protect against broken necks which frequently occur in these types of incidents.

You either didn't watch the video or have no idea what you are talking about. ????

 

Quote

In frontal collisions, the use of helmets significantly reduces the severity of cervical spine injury, whereas in rear-end, side impact, and skidded accidents, the use of helmets increases the probability of a severe cervical spine injury.

 

[Inala]

12 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

You either didn't watch the video or have no idea what you are talking about. ????

 

 

I did watch the video several times. Yeah sure, the helmet may have kept his head from more severe injury, but in this case his body was smashed into the pole so hard his internal organs would have been sheared from arteries and he would have bled out within seconds. Most of his mid & upper torso bones would most likely have been shattered as well. There's no surviving a direct hit like this into an immovable object at 50-60km/hr. It's not like a collision with another car where the force of impact is absorbed by equal and opposite reactions between the cars and by crumple zones built into the vehicles. Or even a pedestrian being run over where some impact forces are absorbed by him/her bouncing off. This was an immovable object, so all forces were transmitted directly into his body. He would have died instantly or within minutes.  

[Liverpool Lou]

14 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

15 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Helmets don't protect against broken necks which frequently occur in these types of incidents.

You either didn't watch the video or have no idea what you are talking about.

I did watch the video, I do know what I'm talking about and what I posted is not inaccurate.  Your "quote" does not state that helmets do not protect against broken necks.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Liverpool Lou

[In Full Agreement]

19 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Pi$$ed or asleep.

 

 

Asleep or passed out?

[JeffersLos]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

 

Quote

"Helmets don't protect against broken necks which frequently occur in these types of incidents."

 

I did watch the video, I do know what I'm talking about

Evidently not. 

 

You're wrong.

 

In these types of incidents - frontal collisions.....

 

Quote

"In frontal collisions, the use of helmets significantly reduces the severity of cervical spine injury, whereas in rear-end, side impact, and skidded accidents, the use of helmets increases the probability of a severe cervical spine injury."

Search for the numerous sources of the studies that came to this fact. 

 

You're welcome. 

 

[richard_smith237]

16 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Search for the numerous sources of the studies that came to this fact. 

 

You're welcome. 

 

Apologies for jumping in on this one...  

 

Helmets will definitely save lives and reduce injury in many impacts - that is a proven and unarguable fact. 

 

That said, helmets do not mean lives will automatically be saved, as many other incidents show (where helmets were worn).

 

The deceased hit a stationary object at speed (50-60kmh) - not wearing a helmet made little difference in the outcome. Not wearing a helmet simply highlights the riders attitude towards safety and his apparent ‘it won’t happen to me’ mentality.

As others have pointed out, the impact injuries to the body would have resulted massive trauma and been fatal, quite quickly. 

 

Had the motorcyclist not hit a stationary object, wearing a helmet quite likely would have made a significant difference to extent of injuries. Not wearing a helmet and smashing his head on the ground would have likely resulted in fatality. 

 

 

On the specific discussion of helmets vs additional risk: 

 

Helmets do add weight to the head. This is detrimental in ‘some’ impacts as it adds additional strain to the neck - this is why HANS devises are worn by motorists and Neck collars / neck protectors are worn by plenty of competing motorcyclists. 

 

The protection offered by a decent helmet by far out weights the potential risks of a ‘freak’ incident where the ‘perfect storm’ exists and an impact results in a fatality due to the added weight of a helmet straining the neck and not wearing a helmet would have resulted in no head injury - that would be extremely rare, so rare in fact the point itself is rather moot. 

It the same flawed and moot argument as ’seatbelts’ can cause more injury.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by richard_smith237

[KannikaP]

22 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

My thought as well.

4:30am and (from the video link) appears to have no helmet and then suddenly veers from driving on the left side of the road across to the center and crashing headlong into the electricity pole in the central reservation. 

It does look as if he looked behind just as he was changing lanes.  Possible suicide?

[Burma Bill]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

Possible suicide?

Yes indeed, quite possible looking at the video again. He did not have any identification on him.