Collision on Pattaya Road Kills One Woman and Seriously Injures Another, Driver Admits to Drinking

[webfact]

 

Pattaya — On the morning of Sunday, July 2nd, a Thai man driving a pickup truck collided with two women who were crossing the road on a motorbike. The collision tragically resulted in the immediate death of one woman, while the other sustained severe injuries. The Thai man confessed to having drunk alcohol prior to the accident.

The fatal collision took place at 05:00 AM today at the Thep Prasit Intersection within the Nongprue sub-district of Banglamung district, Chonburi province. Upon receiving the notification, Sawang Boriboon rescuers and Pattaya police rushed to the scene to rescue the injured victims.

 

At the scene of the incident, authorities discovered a bronze Isuzu D-Max pickup truck with significant damage to its front end. Wedged beneath the truck was a black Zoomer-X motorcycle, owned by two unidentified females. One of the females was found severely injured, while the other tragically lost her life as a result of the collision. Police also said the victims’ motorbike had been dragged for over 100 meters.

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

 

#news

Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2023/07/02/collision-on-pattaya-road-kills-one-woman-and-seriously-injures-another-driver-admits-to-drinking/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2023-07-03

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

[jacko45k]

This lack of policing on the roads is resulting in a lot of danger,.... reckless driving is all over the area now.

[peter zwart]

As long as no action is taken, these kinds of accidents will continue to happen. We are dealing with very bad drivers who think that the public road is a circuit, a pick-up is an F1 car, drunk and with a phone in hand they can show how tough they are. Of course accidents happen.

[Moonlover]

Obviously I do not condone drunk driving. It is totally irresponsible. But this accident occurred in the right hand lane and involved 'two women who were crossing the road on a motorbike'. It seems clear the rider was not being very vigilant.

 

Keeping a good lookout is paramount when riding a motorcycle not just here, but in any country. It's your survival that's on the line.

[RichardColeman]

Problem here is not only bad driving of the pick-up but potentially bad driving of the motorbike. That said i'd have to question why the driver was drinking in the night

[hotchilli]

30 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Problem here is not only bad driving of the pick-up but potentially bad driving of the motorbike. That said i'd have to question why the driver was drinking in the night

The accident happened at 05:00, my guess he is one of the many Thais who drink all evening and well into the wee small hours, then attempt to drive home.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Problem here is not only bad driving of the pick-up but potentially bad driving of the motorbike. That said i'd have to question why the driver was drinking in the night

 

36 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

The accident happened at 05:00, my guess he is one of the many Thais who drink all evening and well into the wee small hours, then attempt to drive home.

As I've already said I do not condone drunk driving any more than you two, but in article: 'The driver admitted to consuming “a small amount of alcohol” prior to the incident'.

 

Nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that he was actually drunk. So I'm withholding judgement in that regard, although I do acknowledge that even a small amount of alcohol can affect ones judgement.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Moonlover said:

Nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that he was actually drunk. So I'm withholding judgement in that regard.

But it does say the scooter was dragged 100m, indicating the guy was so out of his head he didn't notice the collision.

[Moonlover]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But it does say the scooter was dragged 100m, indicating the guy was so out of his head he didn't notice the collision.

No it doesn't, it indicates he was going fast. That should be no surprise, it's standard behaviour for pick up drivers as we all know.

 

A stopping distance of 100m would not be unusual for a heavy vehicle travelling in access of 100kph

[Foek]

45 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But it does say the scooter was dragged 100m, indicating the guy was so out of his head he didn't notice the collision.

Maybe he was trying to make a runner but couldn't get rid of the motorbike so he finally stopped.

[KannikaP]

51 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

it's standard behaviour for pick up drivers as we all know.

I drive a pick-up. Does your comment apply to me as well?

[KannikaP]

53 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

A stopping distance of 100m would not be unusual for a heavy vehicle travelling in access of 100kph

But this was NOT a heavy vehicle, it was a pick-up. Still going pretty fast to drag a m/c 100m.

[Moonlover]

7 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I drive a pick-up. Does your comment apply to me as well?

I'm basing my judgement on observation. Most vehicles that pass me when I'm riding or driving at the posted speed limit are pick ups.

 

How would I know whether it applies to you?

 

Regarding weight,  1550 Kg is not exactly light is it.

[KannikaP]

59 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

That should be no surprise, it's standard behaviour for pick up drivers as we all know.

No it is NOT standard behaviour, many more sedans than pick-ups pass me on the highway, and I must be not one of ALL as I did not know the information you give from YOUR observation.

[Pink Mist]

An overly negative comment has been reported and removed.

 

14. You will not post slurs, degrading or overly negative comments directed towards Thailand, Thai people, Thai culture, Thai institutions such as the military, judicial or law enforcement system or specific locations within Thailand.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

'The driver admitted to consuming “a small amount of alcohol” prior to the incident'.

At 5am?

[blackshadow]

25 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I drive a pick-up. Does your comment apply to me as well?

mee too

[brianthainess]

Well maybe he was going to fast, but these motorbike riders who just cut across carriageways without a care in the world, they even make their own bridges across the drainage ditches, or tracks down and up straight onto the fast lane, and for all we know they may have been drunk.

driving here is a game of chance for all of us. luckily most of 'Us' have good driving training. 5am he could have just finished work.

[LennyW]

Were the other 3 lanes jammed with traffic....i guess if the pick up had stayed left this could have been avoided.

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Obviously I do not condone drunk driving. It is totally irresponsible. But this accident occurred in the right hand lane and involved 'two women who were crossing the road on a motorbike'. It seems clear the rider was not being very vigilant.

 

Keeping a good lookout is paramount when riding a motorcycle not just here, but in any country. It's your survival that's on the line.

Looking at the photo these were exactly my thoughts. 

 

Yes, the driver was over the limit...  but is that the 'blame' for the incident ???? (no condoning of DUI whatsoever here btw), perhaps he may have seen them earlier and had better reactions to stop to slow sufficiently that the impact was not fatal. 

 

That handles the DUI side of this, but the primary facet would appear to be two women riding across the road, or pulling out across the road directly into the path on an oncoming vehicle. 

 

I see this occurrence almost daily...  a vehicle driving down the outside lane, usually at the speed-limit (often beyond it) and a slow motorcycle rider thinks its ok to just 'ride' (drift) across lanes without and apparent concern for what my be approaching. 

 

A combination for no training, but also an utterly absent sense of self-preservation. 

 

[richard_smith237]

18 minutes ago, LennyW said:

Were the other 3 lanes jammed with traffic....i guess if the pick up had stayed left this could have been avoided.

Or, with slightly different timing the pickup would have collected the motorcyclist who wasn't looking when pulling across the lanes. 

 

Ergo: I guess if the motorcyclist hadn't ridden across three lanes without looking, this would have been avoided. 

[richard_smith237]

20 minutes ago, LennyW said:

Were the other 3 lanes jammed with traffic....i guess if the pick up had stayed left this could have been avoided.

Also...  driving / riding in the left most lane is most fraught with most risk of motorcyclists and cars pulling from side-soi's, restaurants etc into that first lane without looking...    hence no one want to drive / ride in that inside (left most) lane. 

[brianthainess]

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yes, the driver was over the limit... 

And you know that how?

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

But this was NOT a heavy vehicle, it was a pick-up. Still going pretty fast to drag a m/c 100m.

The 'stopping distance' in these examples may not be a viable indicator... 

When involved in an impact the reaction of some people is not to brake as hard as possible. 

In some of the 'impact videos' we see online we see no attempt to brake even after the impact - people behave differently when 'shocked'... they may even continue to depress the accelerator. 

 

That said, the most significant factor to dismiss this 100m distance is the accuracy of 'witness comments'.... many people can hardly tell the difference between 30m and 100m... and when asked a distance they simply quote a number, reporters may very well simply be 'regurgitating' the number thrown out by a random person at the scene and we then read it in these (inaccurate) news reports and take them as fact - they are not fact, they remain just an observers opinion, we should keep that in mind. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, brianthainess said:

9 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yes, the driver was over the limit... 

And you know that how?

Valid point... 

 

The driver confessed to having drunk alcohol prior to the accident - he may not have been over the legal limit....  i.e. he may have had one small can of beer etc and not been impaired at all. 

 

That said, the confession to having drink alcohol prior to the accident lends to the assumption that he was drunk which as you point out, may not have been the fact. 
 

Quote

The Thai man confessed to having drunk alcohol prior to the accident.

 

 

[mikebell]

Another triumph for the invisible Pattaya police force.  The chaos on Railway road intersections is ignored because the police don't work weekends.  The redlight running and speeding is ignored 'cos they don't work the rest of the week either.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

That should be no surprise, it's standard behaviour for pick up drivers as we all know.

No it is NOT standard behaviour, many more sedans than pick-ups pass me on the highway, and I must be not one of ALL as I did not know the information you give from YOUR observation.

Standard behavior for the drivers of many different types of vehicles on 3 lane roads...

Delivery pickups, pickups, Camrys, Fortuners, Vios, Jazz... etc etc...   lets face it, the only thing that lends to one type of vehicle being driven more recklessly than others is our confirmation bias when we see 'yet another' of that type....

 

It also depends where we are... IF 'up country' there are likely to be more pick-ups and thus, it will be that vehicle type which passing a slower driver more commonly, conversely in major cities there are more 'sedan' type vehicles.... so naturally, we will see more of those passing us beyond the speed-limits...    

 

I don't think this incident is indicative of any 'specific vehicle type' being driven more recklessly than another...   the Damage to the front of the truck does not indicate massive speeding.

 

As others, this just looks like a motorcyclist pulling out across traffic without looking and the pickup driver failed to anticipate such a manoeuvre with the obvious consequences.... 

 

I've seen numerous vidoes of such incidents in Thailand in the last few weeks - it seems the 'drivers' reaction is often 'only hit the brakes' as a very last resort. 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

No it doesn't, it indicates he was going fast. That should be no surprise, it's standard behaviour for pick up drivers as we all know.

 

A stopping distance of 100m would not be unusual for a heavy vehicle travelling in access of 100kph

On the 'stopping distance'....  100m was the reported figure... how as that measured ?

 

It doesn't appear to be from any 'measurement' taken by the police, rather it seems to be a passing comment from the policeman who may have a terrible judgment of distance.

 

Stopping distances at: 

112 kmh / Thinking distance: 21m / Braking Distance: 75m [Total: 96m]

80 kmh / Thinking distance: 15m / Braking Distance: 53m [Total: 96m]

 

Is the police officer who passed off the comment of 100m actually capable of making an accurate judgement on distance ???... I know so many people who have no idea of the visual difference between 50m and 100m...  Just speaking with Taxi drivers and giving them distance directions (i.e. in Thai, turn left in 50m / 100m / 150m etc... and they are at a loss).

 

Thus: I wouldn't put too much credence in the 100m figure and calculated stopping distance, ergo interpreted speed based on that....  the driver simply could have been doing the speed limit 80km and took 50m to stop.

 

 

[worgeordie]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai man confessed to having drunk alcohol prior to the accident.

Admitting his fault ,Wow! that's a revelation ,usually it's always someone else,wet road,

brake failure ,  Yes offcser I been drinking ,but it was only a little one .....tiny.  lock him up

 

regards worgeordie

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The accident happened at 05:00, my guess he is one of the many Thais who drink all evening and well into the wee small hours, then attempt to drive home.

The comment 'The driver confessed to having drunk alcohol prior to the accident' along with the open attitudes towards 'excessive drinking and driving' here in Thailand would easily lend to this assumption. 

 

I certainly hope the Police will test the driver for Alcohol consumption - Disappointingly we (readers of AN) will never see any follow up to this story and are simply 'stuck' with our speculation. 

 

There will probably be 'dash-cam' footage and some CCTV footage floating around somewhere by now - again, its unlikely we'll see this as the 'heat' of the story will have died down and ultimately the 'internet' decides this incident did not involve 'important' enough people to continue to the discussion.... i.e. the driver or rider was high enough up the chain of social strata for netizens to fully identify with the 'tragedy' such is society's whim.