Picture: Thai Rath

 

The authorities in Thailand are continuing to press for Thai drivers to stop at Zebra crossings.

 

The issue came to a head in February when a policeman drove his Ducati into a doctor crossing the road killing her.

 

"Mor Kratai" - doctor Kratai - became a rallying call for change.

 

Yesterday the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and many other agencies including backing from the Interior Ministry met to promote the proper use of Zebra crossings to help protect children and young people.

 

The backdrop to the meeting said:

"Stop the damage - Stop your vehicle - Let people Cross".

 

Drivers ignoring the law are a common feature in Thailand, especially at Zebra crossings. 

 

Yet the police do very little to enforce the law.

 

Many activities and events are being planned to get motorists to stop, reported Thai Rath. 

 

Many crossings have been upgraded and the Thai media has banged the drum for months over the issue. 

 

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I thought they used them for taking aim at pedestrians.

Do the right thing?

 

They seem to forget that to the average Thai driver "doing the right thing" just means to do what suits them at that particular time. 

 

The only reason we have  traffic laws here is to line the pockets of our friendly neighborhood boys in brown.

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by Dmaxdan

At my daughter's school they actually park on the zebra crossing sometimes two deep on a three laned road while upto three police are there helping kids cross the road, not a word said.

Are they referring the animal?

 

For security ; This advice should be given to pedestrians, drivers won’t stop.. Believe me.

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by Tarteso

To me this is only going to make progress if the officials really follow what i call the “E&E” process …

 

First you educate … get people really aware of the issue and what does law say.. you give people a fair chance to voluntarily change their behavior … after all, that’s the true solution..  but after a fair crack and educate, now comes….

 

Second, enforce.. and to me that’s things like *mandatory* fines of X and if resulting in any injury, *mandatory* vehicle seizure for a period of time (with accumulated storage fees and penalties) and if found to be a repeat offender/conviction, mandatory vehicle forfeiture to the State.  You make it mandatory so that at each step in the legal process, you reduce the chances for parties to exert unjust influence.. be that police lowering fines, judges waiving jail time etc 

 

Again, i think in the long run, you want people to comply “on their own” so to speak- not just when a police officer is present… because you can’t really “enforce” your way into true compliance … but i do think that over time, a majority will do comply .. but …. for the minority who choose to continue to be non-compliant, now I think it’s fair play for the government to use more drastic powers of the state such as the imposition of fines, incarceration and asset seizures to insure compliance and/or to remove the possibility of continued non-compliance. 

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by new2here

I've seen two accidents when people have stopped, therefore I don't stop. When you stop, the pedestrian has a false sense of safety and they get hit by someone driving around your stopped car. 

Just one more symptom, of the chronic disease in Thailand of

Selfish entitlement.

Maybe it will change, in a 100 or 200 years time. i'm optimistic. 

 

 

The only thing that will fix this are automated guardrails that lower for pedestrians, while tire spikes emerge simultaneously from the road.

Alternate slogans.

 

Be nice. Do not mow down your countrymen. 

 

Just because you are behind the wheel, it does not mean you have to become a maniac. 

 

Taking a life is never a good thing. 

 

Don't maim. Look while you drive.

 

Be nice to pedestrians. They could be your kids. 

Where does the crossing end?

 

The only sure way to make them stop ,when someone wants

to cross the road , is have a lollipop man with a machine gun

at every crossing ,dont stop you get blasted .????

 

regards Worgeordie

5 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

The only sure way to make them stop ,when someone wants

to cross the road , is have a lollipop man with a machine gun

at every crossing ,dont stop you get blasted .????

 

regards Worgeordie

I like it,

Can also get the Soi dogs as they pass.

Win Win.

Not only Zebra crossings,  but red lights also. 
Things will never change unless a major enforcement crack down takes place 

Driving across a zebra crossing while pedestrians are ON it, Baht 10,000 on the spot fine, problem sorted. 

 

Will find all policemen extremely eager to do "crossing" duty 24 hours a day!

10 minutes ago, CanadaSam said:

Driving across a zebra crossing while pedestrians are ON it, Baht 10,000 on the spot fine, problem sorted. 

 

Will find all policemen extremely eager to do "crossing" duty 24 hours a day!

A policeman works the crossing in the morning in the photo I attached and he's totally out of his depth. He actually stands on the crossing in-between 2 traffic cones and stops traffic if someone wants to cross.

A big problem is, however, many of these crossings are installed in the wrong place; typically on a highway with high speeds where only traffic lights would work. Stop for a pedestrian at one of these and guaranteed you will cause an accident! 

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Alternate slogans.

 

Be nice. Do not mow down your countrymen. 

 

Just because you are behind the wheel, it does not mean you have to become a maniac. 

 

Taking a life is never a good thing. 

 

Don't maim. Look while you drive.

 

Be nice to pedestrians. They could be your kids. 

Maybe add a few:

 

Don’t drink and drive.

 

Don’t text (or use your phone in any way) and drive.

 

Pay attention to the road in front of you when you drive.

 

For stick shift cars: the brake pedal is the middle one.

 

For automatic cars: the brake pedal is the one on the left.

 

Most importantly: you are not infinitely more important than everyone else on the road.

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by rudi49jr

A post with derogatory and profane comments has been removed, a reply was removed as well. 

Here in Sai Mai most, not all of the drivers stop at zebra crossings when the light is red and they can see someone trying to cross.

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

The only thing that will fix this are automated guardrails that lower for pedestrians, while tire spikes emerge simultaneously from the road.

Super hi tech. Better have a tire shop nearby! 

I take my son and my neighbours daughter to school in the mornings around 6:45 am here in rural Kamphaeng Phet. We pass 4 schools on the way and I ALWAYS slow down and put my 4 way flashers on.

 

This morning yet another numpty in his shiny white new pickup truck went roaring past on the wrong side of the road doing around 80kph or more in a 50kph limit, completely ignoring the solid yellow line, completely ignoring the rumble strips and the crossing painted on the road surface.

 

Fortunately there were no children around at the time.

 

I get to my sons school which is on a 4 lane highway but there are cones to force people into the left lane and into the chicane before the crossing to slow them down.

 

Me, headlights on, 4 ways on in the left lane, when another pickup pulls out from the side, he did indicate and then he tried to go down the wrong side of the road. A school minibus going in the opposite direction simply blocked him and forced him back to the correct side of the road.

 

He then followed me and tried to overtake me while I am going slow in the right lane to the end of the cones to do a U turn back up to the school. I block him and he had to go via the left lane cutting in front of the car behind him.

 

I dropped the teenagers off and watched as 3 people did a U turn using the school crossing instead of driving 15 metres up the road to U turn.

 

This happens most days on the school run.

 

Of course, as usual, there is not a single cop to be seen anywhere.

they make it all sound so simple. do the right thing eh ? for whom ? 

 

this is a serious conundrum. don't stop and you may hit a pedestrian. stop and you may be rammed from behind. which may also smash everyone into the pedestrian you stopped for. 

 

when i am on my scooter in bkk and stopping at these things i look behind me a million times and my heart goes to heart attack levels. sabai sabai. 

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

Of course, as usual, there is not a single cop to be seen anywhere.

Even if there were, they wouldn’t do anything, because Thai cops don’t give a rat’s @ss about traffic safety, they only see traffic as a source of income.

54 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Even if there were, they wouldn’t do anything, because Thai cops don’t give a rat’s @ss about traffic safety, they only see traffic as a source of income.

Not only that they drive in the same manner as the people they are supposed to police. Hypocrites.

56 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

 they only see traffic as a source of income.

It is if you pay tea money. Grow some balls and ask for the ticket. People that pay bribes makes life harder for genuine people.

My Bolt driver drove through one with a red light on Saturday in Pattaya and narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian who stepped out thinking it was safe to cross. 

4 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Not only that they drive in the same manner as the people they are supposed to police. Hypocrites.

They are not really Police though,

4 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

It is if you pay tea money. Grow some balls and ask for the ticket. People that pay bribes makes life harder for genuine people.

Who said I pay tea money? But plenty of people do. And it’s so nice to see someone identify themselves as ‘genuine people’, whatever that may mean.