Experts flag doubts over road-safety masterplan as Thailand braces for ‘Seven Dangerous Days’

[dallen52]

There's only one masterplan here.

 

 

[Moti24]

13 hours ago, stupidfarang said:

Same news/story as every year, I personally think it comes down to a combination of the following to improve road safety and lower road deaths.

1) Police to do their jobs and enforce the traffic laws, Thailand has around 210,000 thousand police officers.

2) Heavy fines for all people not wearing a helmet on a bike including paasengers, take bikes away until fine paid.

3) Increase speeding fines, not 500 baht but 5,000 baht for speeding, take cars and vans away until paid.

4) Ensure there is correct training on how to drive a car before they get a license.

5) Ensure the police stop any car, van, truck that drives badley on the roads (crossing yellow lines etc)

 

The other thought I had the other day is the amount of money the goverment would collect if the police did their job and enforced the lawm the only way people learn is by hitting them in the pocket .

 

Am sure this is just a dream, not much chance it will happen.

6)  Heavy fines and car crushing for any drivers without a licence or insurance; the roads will be half empty.

[AhFarangJa]

19 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Sorry to hear that about your son’’s friend, pretty horrendous. As a father, doesn’t bear thinking about. 

Thanks Dave, My Son has a pick up and a bike. He uses the bike around town only, but I do fear for his safety. As I keep telling him, watch out for the idiots on the road.....every single person riding or driving is an idiot. I cannot begin to imagine the torment of a Parent losing a Child, but I also cannot get my head around the blasé respect for life here.

[Nicholas Paul KNIGHT]

GREat talk about stupid, all ideas stated are pointless, when you have LACK OF ENFORCEMENT, achieved only by boots on the ground . Basically POLICE operating roving patrols stopping vehicles being visible ( not hiding in tents looking at phones ) Over 22 years here , hardly ever see a POLICE CAR DRIVING AROUND  acting as a deterrent, rarely seen Buses and Lrries stopped, , was stopped once by an officer who said nothing and just shoved a breathalyser into my face and said blow . I asked for it to be cleaned he laughed.

 

There is no fear anongst drivers of any mechanically powered vehicle as they all know the Police are only after cash from fines and even allow the offender to finish their trip after being fined  even for serious offences. 

 

Example ...MAN DRIVING < No licence, no excise sticker and NO insurance . fined whatever it is and then allowed to continue. Who is at fault now the MaN OR THE POLICE for allowing that vehicle driven by an unlicensed person  ??

[stupidfarang]

13 hours ago, stoner said:

 

6) rewire the thai brain and change societal structure systems and values. 

 

i did get a good giggle at point 5. i have talked to my wife about this before. a police officer from back home would have an aneurism in 5 minutes from trying to control that kind of thing here. there aren't enough ticket books in circulation to even cover 1 hour of fines and penalties of bkk rush hour traffic. 

They love to take shortcuts

[PETERTHEEATER]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

An estimated 17,000 people will die in road accidents over the coming ‘seven dangerous days

 

43 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Too many zeros there surely. 

Not if they're going for an all-time World Record.

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand has an appalling road accident record, for many reasons that could if the will from above was stronger it could change.

 

God?

[Tony M]

A possible solution would be to take traffic enforcement away from the police, and put it out to private enterprise. There are massive sums of money to be made by a private business taking this on.  A percentage of the "income" from traffic offenders could go to local governement, as they will need to handle the legalities of charging and sentencing, if required.  If the poice are too lazy to enforce traffic laws themselves, even when there is massive potential revenue, then let the private sector do it. 

[ChrisY1]

14 hours ago, stupidfarang said:

Same news/story as every year, I personally think it comes down to a combination of the following to improve road safety and lower road deaths.

1) Police to do their jobs and enforce the traffic laws, Thailand has around 210,000 thousand police officers.

2) Heavy fines for all people not wearing a helmet on a bike including paasengers, take bikes away until fine paid.

3) Increase speeding fines, not 500 baht but 5,000 baht for speeding, take cars and vans away until paid.

4) Ensure there is correct training on how to drive a car before they get a license.

5) Ensure the police stop any car, van, truck that drives badley on the roads (crossing yellow lines etc)

 

The other thought I had the other day is the amount of money the goverment would collect if the police did their job and enforced the lawm the only way people learn is by hitting them in the pocket .

 

Am sure this is just a dream, not much chance it will happen.

The entire "road safety" strategies released each year continually show to achieve nothing.

Introducing huge fines, license withdrawal and etc doesn't work here....the people won't or can't pay...take their license...they still drive...taking their vehicles from them would simply create havoc.

It all has to start in school, road sense, driving and motorcycle riding should start when the kids are 13 or so....but the authorities don't give a fig!

[hotchilli]

42 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

God?

I think he used all the left-over spare parts when he created Thailand.

[Bday Prang]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Last year, the seven days from December 29 to January 4 produced 2,440 accidents, killing 317 people

but then an "expert" says......

“An estimated 17,000 people will die in road accidents over the coming ‘seven dangerous days’, a toll that matches the previous year.     

 

expert in what exactly?

 

[Bday Prang]

40 minutes ago, Tony M said:

A possible solution would be to take traffic enforcement away from the police, and put it out to private enterprise. There are massive sums of money to be made by a private business taking this on.  A percentage of the "income" from traffic offenders could go to local governement, as they will need to handle the legalities of charging and sentencing, if required.  If the poice are too lazy to enforce traffic laws themselves, even when there is massive potential revenue, then let the private sector do it. 

You haven't really thought that through have you?   

[mikebell]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

They also point to lax law enforcement and punishment, including relatively small fines for most traffic offenses.

That's the real cause there; if police did their job the rest of the year there would be no need to award them an overtime bonanza for looking at their phones all day whilst ignoring traffic offences ten yards away.

[Tony M]

9 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

You haven't really thought that through have you?   

Probably not, but thinking about it is better than doing nothing, as the police do now.   It probably needs "thinkers" like you to make it workable. 

[brianthainess]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

However, experts say these efforts are being hampered by rules that allow vehicles to speed at 120 kilometers per hour on motorways,

Say what 75mph on a motorway, nothing wrong with that, on straight sections it's the ones that drive at 170klh that are the problem ducking and weaving through traffic flat out, not that many accidents on motorways compared to highways, and no M/C. Just who are these "EXPERTS"?

[peterpaintpot]

57 minutes ago, Tony M said:

A possible solution would be to take traffic enforcement away from the police, and put it out to private enterprise. There are massive sums of money to be made by a private business taking this on.  A percentage of the "income" from traffic offenders could go to local governement, as they will need to handle the legalities of charging and sentencing, if required.  If the poice are too lazy to enforce traffic laws themselves, even when there is massive potential revenue, then let the private sector do it. 

Surely they are a private enterprise, that is the problem. In the UK the police are overseen by the Home Secretary and uphold the law

If you don't believe watch Motorway Police on You Tube you will see actions by the officers that cannot be imagined by Thais.

[brianthainess]

25 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

I think he used all the left-over spare parts when he created Thailand.

Considering he created everything in the dark before he created light, you could be right, and all those tiny islands around the world must have been crumbs he dropped. Maybe he was thinking of that virgin he wanted to get preggers.

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, ChrisY1 said:

and motorcycle riding should start when the kids are 13 or so....but the authorities

They start earlier than that already with granny sitting sidesaddle. 

[The Old Bull]

The biggest problem is nobody wants to go with the flow. They all want to go at their own speed anywhere from 30 kmh to 130 kmh.  So you are always having to pass somebody or have someone on your tail waiting for a chance to pass you. So driving here is not a relaxing experience you are always breaking or accelerating watching all three mirrors all the time.

[brianthainess]

5 minutes ago, peterpaintpot said:

Surely they are a private enterprise, that is the problem. In the UK the police are overseen by the Home Secretary and uphold the law

If you don't believe watch Motorway Police on You Tube you will see actions by the officers that cannot be imagined by Thais.

And they actually have trained officers siting in front of the CCTV monitors, watching 24/7, and license plate recognition cameras, & helicopters. 👍🏻

[brianthainess]

10 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

The biggest problem is nobody wants to go with the flow. They all want to go at their own speed anywhere from 30 kmh to 130 kmh.  So you are always having to pass somebody or have someone on your tail waiting for a chance to pass you. So driving here is not a relaxing experience you are always breaking or accelerating watching all three mirrors all the time.

And No indicators, driving the wrong side, M/C coming out onto the fast lane, from a homemade ditch crossing, ...Pulling along side you blocking your view at U turns & junctions, not turning on their lights in poor light,  Did we miss anything?

I was driving at 90kmh then a car came from inside lane cutting in really close,  blocked my safe distance then suddenly braked hard, the safest thing for me to do at the time was floor it and undertake him DOH! the reason he braked hard was a speed camera, I got a 500b fine for speeding. 

[Bday Prang]

13 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Say what 75mph on a motorway, nothing wrong with that, on straight sections it's the ones that drive at 170klh that are the problem ducking and weaving through traffic flat out, not that many accidents on motorways compared to highways, and no M/C. Just who are these "EXPERTS"?

 These are "Thai experts "   an oxymoron if ever there was one,   this time the "genius" claiming "expertise" is....."Dr Wittaya Chartbanchachai, a specialist on a World Health Organization panel on injury prevention"   although he lost any credibility the moment he opened his mouth 

The fact of the matter is that nobody cares, except for a few concerned expats on here !  I can't ever remember any Thai I have spoken to  ever mentioning  this subject or show any wish to discuss it   that includes quite a few police and people who have lost friends and family to traffic related deaths. It is just something they appear to accept, maybe something to do with Buddhism 

               Twice a year, they have this virtue signalling festival, and nothing changes, in truth during the two annual periods of seven deadly days there  is no significant increase in the death rate, some might say that in view of the increased traffic that this is evidence that these warnings are at least having some sort of positive effect.  Personally I think its more to do with the fact that due to the volume of traffic on the roads a lot of this traffic is  reduced to a snail's  pace  well that and the fact that some of them  are just too drunk to to even attempt to drive

 

 

[brianthainess]

So we now have a new years worth of new drivers on the road that took a test at max speed of 20kmh in a car park, no idea of how to drive at speed, round bends, down or up hills. until the test improves the drivers will and can not. Drunk or Sober they are hopeless drivers. 

[Bday Prang]

2 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

So we now have a new years worth of new drivers on the road that took a test at max speed of 20kmh in a car park, no idea of how to drive at speed, round bends, down or up hills. until the test improves the drivers will and can not. Drunk or Sober they are hopeless drivers. 

You forgot to mention roundabouts, Its hilarious watching them negotiate those.    A few on here are very concerned about those who drive without licences,  in view of the nature of driving test that you have highlighted above, the lack of a licence is of absolutely no consequence whatsoever.

[Sydebolle]

Thailand - the mother-of-all-whatever-plans. Here in Northeastern Thailand bets are taken of how many hundert Thais will get injured and how many will not make it at all - I rest my case ........ 

[SportRider]

120km for motorways is perfectly fine and very common.

[Derek B]

16 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

confiscate the vehicle until they are totally sober again

Where would you put all the vehicles & passengers until sober?

 

 

[KannikaP]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

An estimated 17,000 people will die in road accidents over the coming ‘seven dangerous days’,

317 last year. 17000 this year?

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Tony M said:

Probably not, but thinking about it is better than doing nothing, as the police do now.   It probably needs "thinkers" like you to make it workable. 

I don't waste my time thinking about it, it is what it is, I accept it and drive accordingly , or refrain from driving, as I see fit,   a tactic that has served me well !

Edited December 29, 2023 by Bday Prang

[huangnon]

33 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

 These are "Thai experts "   an oxymoron if ever there was one,   this time the "genius" claiming "expertise" is....."Dr Wittaya Chartbanchachai, a specialist on a World Health Organization panel on injury prevention"   although he lost any credibility the moment he opened his mouth 

The fact of the matter is that nobody cares, except for a few concerned expats on here !  I can't ever remember any Thai I have spoken to  ever mentioning  this subject or show any wish to discuss it   that includes quite a few police and people who have lost friends and family to traffic related deaths. It is just something they appear to accept, maybe something to do with Buddhism 

               Twice a year, they have this virtue signalling festival, and nothing changes, in truth during the two annual periods of seven deadly days there  is no significant increase in the death rate, some might say that in view of the increased traffic that this is evidence that these warnings are at least having some sort of positive effect.  Personally I think its more to do with the fact that due to the volume of traffic on the roads a lot of this traffic is  reduced to a snail's  pace  well that and the fact that some of them  are just too drunk to to even attempt to drive

 

 

 

Agree. Queue the usual hand-wringing anytime some Globalist org points out Thailand's appalling road-accident stats, usually before New Year or Songkran holidays, then back to the usual business of not giving a toss or enforcing existing road rules.

The 'pre-ordained' mindset of the people here, leaving their fate up to whoever and not taking responsibility plus easy credit to buy cars and bikes means that Thailand's yearly loss of lives on the roads is just basically an unemployment solution.