Just another day crossing the road...

[motdaeng]

13 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

And that is why I don't stop at zebra crossings in Thailand if there are cars arriving behind me. You encourage people to cross and this happens.

Slow down, be prepared to brake but do not stop.

 

it depends on the situation. if there’s only one lane in my direction, i do stop, but at least 10 meters before the zebra crossing, and i give a hand signal for them to cross (my car windows don’t have any tint or film protection.)  i try to do the same when a motorcycle stands in a dangerous position in the middle of the road to make a right turn ... 

 

i am aware that this can sometimes lead to dangerous situations, but pedestrians trying to squeeze through moving traffic is not a better solution either. fortunately, in my 20 years in thailand, i’ve never been involved in an accident ...

 

[rattlesnake]

57 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

 

it depends on the situation. if there’s only one lane in my direction, i do stop, but at least 10 meters before the zebra crossing, and i give a hand signal for them to cross (my car windows don’t have any tint or film protection.)  i try to do the same when a motorcycle stands in a dangerous position in the middle of the road to make a right turn ... 

 

i am aware that this can sometimes lead to dangerous situations, but pedestrians trying to squeeze through moving traffic is not a better solution either. fortunately, in my 20 years in thailand, i’ve never been involved in an accident ...

 

 

IMO, your approach is valid if the road is clear behind you. If not, you are the most dangerous user on that road, as unfair and excessive as that may sound, as your stopping could cause an accident.

 

99% of Thais arriving behind you will not stop, or do an emergency brake at the last split second.

 

I think the least dangerous approach is to slow down, ready to stop if needed, but without giving way. The pedestrians then stay put and wait for the road to be clear to cross, which is the safest way to do it in a ruleless environment.

[motdaeng]

45 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

... you are the most dangerous user on that road, as unfair and excessive as that may sound, as your stopping could cause an accident.

 

so in your opinion everyone who stops on a road is the most dangerous user? 

 

before i stop, i also check the back mirror, i do of course not an emergency stop ... and i think we are talking about city traffic ...

i think, over 20 years on thai roads without any accidents show's that my driving style seems to be ok ... to be honest, in a few situations i was also lucky nothing happen ...

Edited 8 hours ago by motdaeng
add text

[rattlesnake]

3 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

so in your opinion everyone who stops on a road is the most dangerous user? 

 

before i stop, i also check the back mirror, i do of course not an emergency stop ... and i think we are talking about city traffic ...

i think, over 20 years on thai roads without any accidents show's that my driving style seems to be ok ... to be honest, in a few situations i was also lucky nothing happen ...

 

so in your opinion everyone who stops on a road is the most dangerous user? 

 

In Thailand, often yes… I've clocked quite a lot of miles here too over the past 15 years. No accidents either.

 

I am not criticising your driving which I am sure is fine, just taking the opportunity to point out this fundamental aspect of driving in Thailand.

If I were to describe how one should drive here to minimise risks, I would say ultra-defensive at all times while never breaking the momentum, i.e. minimise stops/speed reduction… It's a subtle balance.

 

Stay safe!

 

Edited 4 hours ago by rattlesnake
Typo.

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

 

so in your opinion everyone who stops on a road is the most dangerous user? 

 

In Thailand, often yes… I've clocked quite a lot of miles here too over the past 15 years. No accidents either.

 

I am not criticising your driving which I am sure is fine, just taking the opportunity to point out this fundamental aspect of driving in Thailand.

If I were to describe how one should drive here to minimise risks, I would say ultra-defensive at all times while never breaking the momentum, i.e. minimise stops/speed reduction… It's a subtle balance.

 

Stay safe!

 

I'm kind of split on your opinon on this......  

 

If I'm first to arrive at a padestrian crossing in my car, and there are pedestians wating or about to cross, or if they have 'started' crossing, I stop....     If someone goes into the back of me, thats another issue and it would be the other cars fault - that has never happened and its only the same as stopping when a traffic light changes to red.

 

On my motorcycle I'm far more cautous, I don't want to be the one stopping first, at traffice lights or a pedestiran crossing as I fear someone 'rear ending me'... so I'll either drive through, if no one is on the crossing already, or try and stop to the side, if people have started using the crossing already. 

 

 

As far as stopping, and giving a 'false sense of securiuty' to those using the crossing, ergo potentially being the one who effectively 'caused' an accident as they cross and another car blows through the junction - I get your point and its a common comment... but again, in years of driving here and stopping at crossings, this has not happened... 

 

But, in the example we see in this article, this is exactly what happened - drivers stopped, a person crossed thinking they were safe and dropped their guard.... But that is not the fault of the traffic that did stop, its the failt of the idiot motorcyclist for blowing through a pedestrian crossing when eveyrone else had stopped, also also partially the person crossing for dropping their guard and not paying attention. 

 

 

[rattlesnake]

32 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I'm kind of split on your opinon on this......  

 

If I'm first to arrive at a padestrian crossing in my car, and there are pedestians wating or about to cross, or if they have 'started' crossing, I stop....     If someone goes into the back of me, thats another issue and it would be the other cars fault - that has never happened and its only the same as stopping when a traffic light changes to red.

 

On my motorcycle I'm far more cautous, I don't want to be the one stopping first, at traffice lights or a pedestiran crossing as I fear someone 'rear ending me'... so I'll either drive through, if no one is on the crossing already, or try and stop to the side, if people have started using the crossing already. 

 

 

As far as stopping, and giving a 'false sense of securiuty' to those using the crossing, ergo potentially being the one who effectively 'caused' an accident as they cross and another car blows through the junction - I get your point and its a common comment... but again, in years of driving here and stopping at crossings, this has not happened... 

 

But, in the example we see in this article, this is exactly what happened - drivers stopped, a person crossed thinking they were safe and dropped their guard.... But that is not the fault of the traffic that did stop, its the failt of the idiot motorcyclist for blowing through a pedestrian crossing when eveyrone else had stopped, also also partially the person crossing for dropping their guard and not paying attention. 

 

 

 

It's a tricky issue and there is no failproof approach to it.

 

If the pedestrians have already started crossing, I will stop too of course, and I agree that anything else that should occur is a different issue and legally won't even be my fault.

 

If they have not started crossing, I will slow down and will typically be doing 5 km/h, i.e. if needed I can stop immediately, but what I will not do is stop and signal them to go. In my view, there are more chances of something going wrong by doing that.

 

"its only the same as stopping when a traffic light changes to red."

 

Not really IMO, Thais generally stop at red lights, or at least are aware that you are supposed to, but they literally don't know what a zebra crossing is, they are just lines on the road to a lot of them and in any case they expect the pedestrians to not cross their path. So they don't even slow down when approaching one.


 

Edited 1 hour ago by rattlesnake