Near miss today (runaway truck)

[simon43]

So there I was, slowly riding my motorcycle over the mountains between luang prabang and vang vieng. I was riding uphill behind a truck when a truck came fast down the hill (brakes failed). The truck in front of me ran partly off the road and fell over. I had no choice but to drive off the road and l and my bike slid down the incline. Luckily I was okay but my old motorcycle is probably not ok! It's in a repair shop in a mountain village (probably with a terminal diagnosis) and I'm stuck here also until the trucks are removed. Happy to be alive lol!

[retarius]

Good luck to you my intrepid friend. 

[NorthernRyland]

Close call! The trucks are even more insane in Laos than Thailand I'm presuming.

[steven100]

wow Simon,  just goes to show you have to always be careful because one just never knows what could happen.

very lucky for you ..

stay safe.

[NextG]

👀

[peter zwart]

Good luck mate

[jts-khorat]

48 minutes ago, simon43 said:

So there I was, slowly riding my motorcycle over the mountains between luang prabang and vang vieng. I was riding uphill behind a truck when a truck came fast down the hill (brakes failed). The truck in front of me ran partly off the road and fell over. I had no choice but to drive off the road and l and my bike slid down the incline. Luckily I was okay but my old motorcycle is probably not ok! It's in a repair shop in a mountain village (probably with a terminal diagnosis) and I'm stuck here also until the trucks are removed. Happy to be alive lol!

 

Close call! I am happy you are ok.

 

That's why it is important to always have a few extra kamma points squirreled away, from one moment to the next, you might need them.

Edited February 5 by jts-khorat

[Highlandman]

Looks like the old road between the two towns. Why on Earth didn't you take the new road? Large trucks aren't allowed to use it and its way safer.

[riclag]

Those  curves are extremely dangerous. Defensive driving  in Thailand and knowing the dangers of mountainous curves  and what they might unexpectedly bring  to drivers can’t be ignored!

Tip of my hat to you Simon, you escaped a accident and possibly death!

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

Close call! The trucks are even more insane in Laos than Thailand I'm presuming.

IME I found drivers in Laos a lot better than Thailand, I traveled on overnight buses and they changed down gears BEFORE a bend, Also with a Minibus, also the driver stopped a few times got out and cleaned his windscreen, from mud thrown up, not just using the washers. 👍🏻

[Lacessit]

A lucky escape, and from the photo you would not have been much better off in a car, maybe worse.

Looks like a dirt road, an added hazard.

[Prubangboy]

Keep living. Grab that pension.

[simon43]

10 hours ago, Highlandman said:

Looks like the old road between the two towns. Why on Earth didn't you take the new road? Large trucks aren't allowed to use it and its way safer.

This IS the new (upgraded) road! Trucks just ignore the sign saying 'not suitable for trucks' and use it anyway, hence the accident .. 

[sirineou]

12 hours ago, simon43 said:

Luckily I was okay

Good to hear it. Hope your bike is fixed essialy

Some of these older trucks are so dangerous. Actually it's not the trucks as it is the newby drivers. 

His brakes did not fail. He light  them up. A lot of the old 10 speeds , you can only change  to a particular gear at a predescribed RPM. 

When you get in a steep downhill. you need to be in a low gear otherwise the truck picks up speed, and the RPM increases and you cant get in that low gear , so you start riding the brakes. 

In big down hills at night you can see them glow read. 

Once you light up the brakes the brake pads become slippery and dont hold.

In the US they have exit rumps  filled with gravel that lead to nowhere. In case you lose your brakes , You take that exit and the gravel slows you down , a few yards later ithe gravel is deep enough that you bugg down in it. 

 

Edited February 6 by sirineou

[ignore it]

Wow

A close one.

You probably have PTSD now.

 

Can we start a gofundme?

[simon43]

3 hours ago, ignore it said:

Wow

A close one.

You probably have PTSD now.

 

Can we start a gofundme?

Excellent idea lol!  Please be generous 'cos my nerves are shattered....  Amazingly, the motorbike shop were able to get my bike running again and only charged 70,000 kip ($3.50), which was the same price as the doss-house that I stayed in last night.

 

Yesterday I managed to fall off 3 times because of the state of the road (I've been riding motorbikes for more than 40 years, and this was one of the worst roads that I've ridden on).  Happily today I only fell off once and now I'm in Kasi in the valley, just near Vang Vieng!

[Highlandman]

On 2/6/2024 at 7:00 AM, simon43 said:

This IS the new (upgraded) road! Trucks just ignore the sign saying 'not suitable for trucks' and use it anyway, hence the accident .. 

 

Not in my experience. Only small trucks use it, which is what I've noticed every time I go that way. Last time was late afternoon/evening back in December. There were no trucks using the road, other than one or two small 6 wheelers.

[simon43]

7 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

 

Not in my experience. Only small trucks use it, which is what I've noticed every time I go that way. Last time was late afternoon/evening back in December. There were no trucks using the road, other than one or two small 6 wheelers.

There were many (MANY) huge trucks on this road because the police checkpoints towards Kasi was letting the trucks through for a payment (I saw this myself). I have ridden on the old, longer road, so I know the difference. At the scene of the accident I counted more than 20 huge trucks waiting for a crane to clear the road. Perhaps the old road was closed for some reason. 

[mrwebb8825]

Lottery ticket with your bike plate numbers?