Bad day for another motorcyclist

[connda]

We live on a 'highway' where the road narrows significantly as it enters the village.  We live out on the boundary.  The road make a reducing radius turn over a hill and then shoots into a 150 meter straightaway. It's a 'blind-corner."  The apex of that turn is about 75 meters before our house.  Come around that corner at speed, and you hit a wall that was built by the homeowners closest to the corner who have had two trucks misjudge the corner and slide into their property and bust up the old fence and gates.  It's now a significantly reinforces cement wall.  Some idiot on a M/C just hit it.

Today some unlucky young man in shorts, and t-shirt, and no helmet didn't make that corner.  I've been helping with traffic as the morons come up on the blind corner where their was an amulance parked in the oncoming lane.  Idiots keep coming without a care until they get past me and lock up their brakes because there are flashing lights and a blocked road.  My wife is yelling, "Be Careful," but she is the one directly in the line where an out of control car will smash into the ambulance and medics. 

The whole thing looked like something out of Monty Python.

Talk about insanity on steroids.  There is a huge yaba problem out here so I would not be surprise the that 20-something guy was on some drug.  Feeling great until you fubar yourself by misjudging your speed in a corner that doesn't forgive idiots.  I don't gawk.  I went up, took a look, start asking people to call the an ambulance or police, and then went to the blind side of the curve to slow idiotic Thai drivers down. Of which there are plenty on a Sunday afternoon.  But the kid, although conscious, was busted up bad and lying in too much blood. 

My wife, being my wife, is now in a foul mood direct at me.  It doesn't take much.  This hasn't been a good day. 

Hope the kid lives.  ????

Edited July 9, 2023 by connda

[Ralf001]

Obviously was never taught to counter steer !!

[Kwasaki]

Sounds like a policeman should of been standing where you was.

[connda]

Rough sketch of the road.  Thais?  They don't have a clue how to drive.

The highway where you can drive 90 kpm narrows, it's a rise to a blind corner on a reducing radius turn. 
They carry too much speed over the hill and into the corner and <BAM>.  They come off the road at the same place every single time.  Too many on this corner.  This has been at least 4 since we move to the village 8 years ago.  About 1 every two years at this rate. 

Another statistic.

Edited July 9, 2023 by connda

[connda]

Thais have no driving skills and I blame the government. 

In the US, we HAD to take driving courses in high school in order to get an endorsement to drive.  Well, that was 56 years ago, things have no doubt changed there too.  But here.  Watch a video, learn to wai someone when you almost get into an accident, and Somchai Is Your Uncle. 

There is a reason for for the horrendous vehicle injury and fatality stats. 

If this kid dies in the hospital? 
<The Thai Government>  "It wasn't a traffic fatality." 

It's all rotten from the top-down.  This never changes until these fools address the fact they have a major problem. Ah!  But that would be 'losing face.' 

So?  It never ends.  My wife is going to talk to the heads of the village and tambon.  She is assertive like no Thai I've ever met (which is why I like her, bad moods and all), but these leader will just give her a mealy-mouth load of BS, and eventually someone else will be killed.  If they come around that corner fast enough?  It might be me in my bed.  At least one car that failed to make that corner hit her cement wall, but before I knew her.  But I'm the one who paid to have that wall straighten back up and reinforced.  It's just a matter of time, in my opinion. 

[gomangosteen]

You may reach the 'resistance is futile' state of attitude.

Beyond looking after oneself and your family, little can be done to change the way it is.

Ten days ago, Friday 30th afternoon after school, a classmate of our daughter died in a motorcycle collision, overtaking a car on a bend, hit an oncoming vehicle head-on. She was 17, her younger brother, pillion,  12, died that evening in hospital.

Only made the local Facebook news, bike was unregistered, she wasn't old enough to have a licence, neither wearing helmets. 

Teachers attended the combined funeral - the same teachers who stand for their wai in the morning and at the gates in the afternoon as pupils arrive on motorbikes, no helmets, no licences etc. When i do school pickup I see the kids racing away, over/under-taking us down the hill from school, as fast as the little bikes will go often carrying three students.

Friday morning i was waiting at an intersection in town, policeman on traffic control waving through these same kids on their way to school.

Daughter watches The Mandalorian tv series, their catchphrase she likes to say to me is "This is the way" - I think that applies here too.

Edited July 9, 2023 by gomangosteen

[riclag]

So 

38 minutes ago, connda said:

Thais have no driving skills and I blame the government. 

In the US, we HAD to take driving courses in high school in order to get an endorsement to drive.  Well, that was 56 years ago, things have no doubt changed there too.  But here.  Watch a video, learn to wai someone when you almost get into an accident, and Somchai Is Your Uncle. 

There is a reason for for the horrendous vehicle injury and fatality stats. 

If this kid dies in the hospital? 
<The Thai Government>  "It wasn't a traffic fatality." 

It's all rotten from the top-down.  This never changes until these fools address the fact they have a major problem. Ah!  But that would be 'losing face.' 

So?  It never ends.  My wife is going to talk to the heads of the village and tambon.  She is assertive like no Thai I've ever met (which is why I like her, bad moods and all), but these leader will just give her a mealy-mouth load of BS, and eventually someone else will be killed.  If they come around that corner fast enough?  It might be me in my bed.  At least one car that failed to make that corner hit her cement wall, but before I knew her.  But I'm the one who paid to have that wall straighten back up and reinforced.  It's just a matter of time, in my opinion. 

 

No mention of signs in the op ! Are there warning signs?

If not its as you say it is, the local Governments fault!

If there are than its the individuals.

Cant fix stupid!

Imop

Edited July 9, 2023 by riclag

[The Fugitive]

17 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

You may reach the 'resistance is futile' state of attitude.

Beyond looking after oneself and your family, little can be done to change the way it is.

Ten days ago, Friday 30th afternnon after school, a classmate of our daughter died in a motorcycle collision, overtaking a car on a bend, hit oncoming vehicle head-on. She was 17, her younger brother 12 died that evening in hospital.

Only made the local Facebook news, bike was unregistered, she wasn't old enough to have a licence, neither wearing helmets. 

Teachers attended the combined funeral - the same teachers who stand for their wai in the morning and at the gates in the afternoon as pupils arrive on motorbikes, no helmets, no licences etc. When i do school pickup I see the kids racing away, over/under-taking us down the hill from school, as fast as the little bikes will go often carrying three students.

Friday morning i was waiting at an intersection in town, policeman on traffic control waving through these same kids on their way to school.

Daughter watches The Mandalorian tv series, their catchphrase she likes to say to me is "This is the way" - I think that applies here too.

Last year, around our corner, two teenage girls on a moto died at the scene after colliding with the rear of a six-wheeler. They were friends of my nephew and customers of my wife's shop. Our First Responders took photographs of the scene and uploaded them to Facebook. A motorcycling friend in UK asked me to stop sharing such images.   

[connda]

1 hour ago, riclag said:

So 

 

No mention of signs in the op ! Are there warning signs?

If not its as you say it is, the local Governments fault!

If there are than its the individuals.

Cant fix stupid!

Imop

Yes - there are warning signs, rumble strips, flashing lights - and it makes no difference.  And yet?  There have been three accidents in the same place in the last two years.

When I say it's the government's fault, I mean the government's inability to licensed trained drivers or even having a set of rule that aren't complete hog-wash.  There is no mandatory training or a level of expertise that is required to get a license that addresses the constant roadside genocide that occurs here.  They play lip service, but they don't address the root cause of the problem.  When I see cops driving doing the same idiocy as an average Thai driver? They have no Highway Patrol and other cops in patrol cars issuing citations to people openly breaking what minimal driving laws they have.  Nope - those Highway Patrol are for escorting VIP and pretty much nothing else. 

There is no hope.  These people fain to care.  And the carnage will continue unabated in-infinitum. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by connda

[Ralf001]

2 hours ago, connda said:

This has been at least 4 since we move to the village 8 years ago.  About 1 every two years at this rate. 



 

Thats not bad at all.

 

I see atleast crashes on the motorway every week !!

[poppysdad]

Last week my wife’s 25 year old daughter came to stay with us, the main purpose was to get her car driving licence. To the best of my knowledge I doubt if the daughter has had more than 10 hours car driving experience. On the Monday off to the transport office to book a test but found fully booked for the next 2 months, we have 2 driving schools in town so off to the nearest, fully booked for the next month. Off to the other one and got booked in for lessons on the following Thursday and Saturday. Thursday morning she leaves the house at 8 but come home at 11, goes back at 1 and comes back at 4. I didn’t dare ask what sort of training she had had. Saturday is a repeat of Thursday but this time she has a document to take to the transport office to get her licence which off she went on the Monday to get and came out 20 minutes later with her 2 year car driving licence.
Small wonder we read such regular tales as this posting. 

[connda]

3 hours ago, poppysdad said:

Last week my wife’s 25 year old daughter came to stay with us, the main purpose was to get her car driving licence. To the best of my knowledge I doubt if the daughter has had more than 10 hours car driving experience. On the Monday off to the transport office to book a test but found fully booked for the next 2 months, we have 2 driving schools in town so off to the nearest, fully booked for the next month. Off to the other one and got booked in for lessons on the following Thursday and Saturday. Thursday morning she leaves the house at 8 but come home at 11, goes back at 1 and comes back at 4. I didn’t dare ask what sort of training she had had. Saturday is a repeat of Thursday but this time she has a document to take to the transport office to get her licence which off she went on the Monday to get and came out 20 minutes later with her 2 year car driving licence.
Small wonder we read such regular tales as this posting. 

My guess at what they are taught.

Entering a highway to make a turn at a U-Turn 1km up the road.
Pull onto the acceleration lane and stop with you car at a 90 degree angle to fully block the lane. 
Sit and wait until the air temperature is correct.
Pull out very slowly and cross at a right-angle across all lanes and turn onto the far outside right lane.
Don't worry about all the cars that nearly ran into you.
Accelerate at walking speed until the car is going 40 kph in the high-speed outside passing land and continue at that speed until you come the the U-Turn.
Don't use the deceleration lane but instead make a turn slowly from the high-speed outside lane as cars whiz by flashing lights and blowing horn.
Left the tail end of your car in the high-speed outside lane and block the view of the car attempting to properly make a U-turn.
When the air temperature and wind direction seem right, pull out in front of oncoming traffic without a care.
Accelerate at walking speed while driving with two wheels on the shoulder and two wheels on the highway until a car attempts to pass you and then pull out in front of them.
Keep accelerating until you're going 120kpm.

They all do it.  No one knows how to properly merge onto a highway nor how to safely cross at U-Turns.  So I assume the 'driving schools are naught but the blind teaching the blind.

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, connda said:

Thais have no driving skills and I blame the government. 

I've put this on this site two or three times, and now Stickman has published it. It is beyond government help. Far too late.
https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/readers-submissions/2023/07/thai-driving-makes-life-a-lottery/

[Bassosa]

Something you have to live with if you drive or ride in Thailand. You may get killed.

Lots of cars being made in Thailand. It would be a shame if you could't sell them. You need lots of "licensed" drivers to shift many, many vehicles.