Should Kids Be Allowed On Motorbikes?

[Neeranam]

I have lived here fo a while and generally accept certain strange(for me)Thai ways of living. However there is one which has always baffled me, and was brought to mind today when I witnessed a motorbike in Khon Kaen being blown over with a Father and two boys aged about 4 and 6 on it without helmets. The boys were very shocked and hurt, screaming in fact. I could only pull over and watch for a minute before deciding to get away as the crowd got bigger.

The ironic thing is that there are policemen stopping passengers/riders without helmets in the same stretch of road, quite rightly so, I think. Yet they let two adults with a 6 month old baby and a toddler and a Pratom student go by .It is very dangerous here when on bikes epecially at night with all the drunks on the road. Still, there seems to be lots of families on bikes.

I think it is up to adults if they want to risk their lives but to risk the lives of their kids, well!

Ok they can't afford cars, but there is public transport.

Over to you.

[guran]

Well , if birthcontrol failed what else can you do ?

[Neeranam]

Well , if birthcontrol failed what else can you do ?

It ain't a joke, man.

It is very serious, but my wife tries to get my kid on her bike sometimes saying it is ok.

Strange how everyone thinks that just because all are doing it , it is ok. My mother went crazy when she heard that my kid was in thec ar without a back seat belt. We as kids travelled thousand of miles without back seatbelts.

When the law is changed, then people start to think differently.

[English Noodles]

This is one of the thing's that i still find quite unacceptable at times. Here in Bangkok i see many bikes weaving through the traffic jams loaded with 4 peole, maybe the guy the girl a 2 yearond toddler and a six month old baby. I find this totaly unacceptable but however i have no power to do anything and i gues you just have to bight your lip and hope they dont come to any harm. However if a father or mother has a child riding pillion maybe 6+ years of age and they are wearing a decent safety helmet i dont see anything wrong.

[sbk]

I voted no but then realized you meant should they be allowed ON bikes whereas I was thinking that you meant whether they should be allowed to DRIVE motorbikes!

Actually, I don't think it is feasible to ban children riding with their parents on the bikes as most Thais cannot afford the over half a million baht for a truck. Or over a million for a car. I think they should make and require child size helmets tho. And I definitely think any parent who lets their kids drive (I esp hate the ones who let their 5 year old steer ) should be fined a big fine!

[minbari73]

Having *pushbike* helmet laws here in Perth Aus and having actually been pulled over once by a D of all people, for no foam helmet, i was totally stunned on my first trip to Thailand to see toddlers riding helmetless, sometimes up to 5 on the same bike! Those riders I did see wearing something, didn't seem to mind it was simply a piece of tupperware plonked on their heads! Time after time I saw huge groups of bikes stopped at lights (Pattaya) about 80% of them not wearing helmets and the lone helmetless farang is the one pulled over by the copper

Hey I was in another country, who am I to think like that !

I also like the riders with no helmet but wearing smoke masks

[madmitch]

I think the most dangerous I have seen was a twelve year old (guess) girl with two younger passengers driving the wrong way on a busy main road near Chachoengsao, none of them with helmets and the driver on a mobile phone!

Also an allegedly true story from Hua Hin where people are now regularly pulled for licence checks. As the ten year-old drove past on a motorbike, the Thai speaking farang asked why he wasn't stopped. "No need. He is too young to have a licence" was the reply!

[RDN]

... but then realized you meant should they be allowed ON bikes whereas I was thinking that you meant whether they should be allowed to DRIVE motorbikes!  ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Me too (But I voted 'yes').

But I remember reading a statement by a policeman (fairly high-up, maybe a 'major') who had a quite pragmatic answer to this: "A lot of Thai people are poor, they can't afford cars, they must travel to work or to the market, everyone does it, we let them."

Wish I could find the article, but I can't. But I know his response was very sensible.

I always give bikes a wide berth when I drive. I think back to when I drove a bike, and how I hated to be squeezed off the road by a car or truck.

But I wish they would learn how to turn right:

1. do not pull to the left and wait for a gap in the traffic before making a dash for the other side

2. it's OK to put your foot down on the road before turning right (instead of going slower and slower, and wobbling more and more before completely missing your turning and then having to do a U-turn instead of a right turn.)

[Doctor John]

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[Doctor John]

I have lived here fo a while and generally accept certain strange(for me)Thai ways of living.

Jolly decent of you old chap, I am sure the Thai people will be overjoyed.

[somtaamgaiyang]

The motorcycle companies should be given tax breaks to at the very least distribute FREE helmets with every bike, and car seats should be given free with cars and pick ups instead of throwing in free sun film as goodies.

As for kids on bikes themselves, it shouldn't be allowed, but what realistic option is there. The motorcycle is the workhorse of the country. Free school buses would go some way to solving it at least during trips to and from school.

Probably all a little bit utopian, but would go someway to making sure at least a larger proportion of the country's kids had some chance of surviving a road smash

[astral]

A rather confusing question.

Do you mean as passengers?

Drivers?

What age are we talking about?

My attitude is not driving until you are 18, I don't want hassles with police and no insurance.

As a passenger, why not, wearing a helmet, of course.

[Dr. Burrito]

Their country, their laws, their children. Mine, he goes nowhere near one, but I can't see me telling my neighbors what too do with theirs. I will, sadly, go to the funeral if asked to though.

[Khutan]

The motorcycle companies should be given tax breaks to at the very least distribute FREE helmets with every bike

When I bought my bike, I got 2 free helmets and a jacket.

Sadly it is a fact of life. I live up-country and the behaviour of people on motorbikes here drives me bananas. Every week or so I hear of a child between the age of 12 and 16 killed in a bike accident. Often people just dismiss it with the "Oh he had bad luck"

Problem it is a fact of life, the family owns a motor bike and that is the only transport they have. They have no other option than to take the risk and hope for good luck. Yes some of them convert the bikes into those very annoying 3-wheelers or build a side-car from an old noodle cart.

Motor accidents really aren't newsworthy. If you look at Australian and also UK TV, if more than 3 people are killed in a motor accident, it makes it on to TV, doesn't seem to get the same focus as here. Just culture I guess.

I heard on a motoring show the road toll for Koh Samui in ine year was higher than all of Australia.

[somtaamgaiyang]

The motorcycle companies should be given tax breaks to at the very least distribute FREE helmets with every bike

When I bought my bike, I got 2 free helmets and a jacket.

Sadly it is a fact of life. I live up-country and the behaviour of people on motorbikes here drives me bananas. Every week or so I hear of a child between the age of 12 and 16 killed in a bike accident. Often people just dismiss it with the "Oh he had bad luck"

Problem it is a fact of life, the family owns a motor bike and that is the only transport they have. They have no other option than to take the risk and hope for good luck. Yes some of them convert the bikes into those very annoying 3-wheelers or build a side-car from an old noodle cart.

Motor accidents really aren't newsworthy. If you look at Australian and also UK TV, if more than 3 people are killed in a motor accident, it makes it on to TV, doesn't seem to get the same focus as here. Just culture I guess.

I heard on a motoring show the road toll for Koh Samui in ine year was higher than all of Australia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't know that they gave them away for free already.

[somtaamgaiyang]

The motorcycle companies should be given tax breaks to at the very least distribute FREE helmets with every bike

When I bought my bike, I got 2 free helmets and a jacket.

Sadly it is a fact of life. I live up-country and the behaviour of people on motorbikes here drives me bananas. Every week or so I hear of a child between the age of 12 and 16 killed in a bike accident. Often people just dismiss it with the "Oh he had bad luck"

Problem it is a fact of life, the family owns a motor bike and that is the only transport they have. They have no other option than to take the risk and hope for good luck. Yes some of them convert the bikes into those very annoying 3-wheelers or build a side-car from an old noodle cart.

Motor accidents really aren't newsworthy. If you look at Australian and also UK TV, if more than 3 people are killed in a motor accident, it makes it on to TV, doesn't seem to get the same focus as here. Just culture I guess.

I heard on a motoring show the road toll for Koh Samui in ine year was higher than all of Australia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't know that they gave them away for free already.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I once read that the Songkran death toll is more than all Australian casualties in the 2nd World War. Not sure if it is true, but might be.

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, when I got my new Honda, they gave us one or two free helmets and a jacket. But the helmets are so cheap they'd hardly do you any good, though something's always better than nothing.

I hated to go to the funeral of my best student, who was brain-damaged and died. The helmet was in the front basket, unused.

[withnail]

It's their country and their kids true but I think they should at least put helmets on them. Having said this I don't even really notice it anymore.

On the other hand what really does pxxx me off is seeing the farang fathers driving their kids around on bikes without helmets. I used to see this a lot on Samui. They know better and could probably buy a car if they wanted (definately a helmet) but just want to look like they fit in.

I once saw a farang riding a bike on Samui one hand holding his kid infront of him and one hand driving the bike. I got really angry when I saw that.

[Richard W]

But I wish they would learn how to turn right:

1. do not pull to the left and wait for a gap in the traffic before making a dash for the other side

2. it's OK to put your foot down on the road before turning right (instead of going slower and slower, and wobbling more and more before completely missing your turning and then having to do a U-turn instead of a right turn.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it safe in Thailand for a motorbike to wait in the middle of the road? Gripe 1 is actually the recommended procedure for pushbikes in the UK.

[RDN]

Is it safe in Thailand for a motorbike to wait in the middle of the road?  Gripe 1 is actually the recommended procedure for pushbikes in the UK.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I didn't know that (about pushbikes)! Down here in Phuket, the roads are quite narrow and most drivers know when a bike wants to turn right and will slow down for them. I certainly know - I can see them looking in their mirror or turning their head to see what's coming. They usually do this, then move over to the middle and then - maybe - put their indicator on.

But the other problem with stopping on the left is that it blocks the bike lane. So every other bike has to move out into the car lane, causing the cars to slow down or move over to the other - oncoming - car lane. It's no problem for me as I'm rarely in a hurry so don't mind pottering along at 20 or 30 kph. But if you get to a busy right hand junction, you can see some bikes in the middle of the road, others stationary in the bike lane and others overtaking them. There's bugger all room for any car or truck!

Having said all that, I haven't hit anybody yet!

[English Noodles]

It's their country and their kids true but I think they should at least put helmets on them. Having said this I don't even really notice it anymore.

On the other hand what really does pxxx me off is seeing the farang fathers driving their kids around on bikes without helmets. I used to see this a lot on Samui. They know better and could probably buy a car if they wanted (definately a helmet) but just want to look like they fit in.

I once saw a farang riding a bike on Samui one hand holding his kid infront of him and one hand driving the bike. I got really angry when I saw that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I find that a rather strange attitude to have, to say that it is ok for Thai peole to risk there kids lives but not for a farang is just rediculous. and to use the old "farang should know better" line is quite insulting to the Thai people indeed.

[brianbrain]

It's their country and their kids true but I think they should at least put helmets on them. Having said this I don't even really notice it anymore.

On the other hand what really does pxxx me off is seeing the farang fathers driving their kids around on bikes without helmets. I used to see this a lot on Samui. They know better and could probably buy a car if they wanted (definately a helmet) but just want to look like they fit in.

I once saw a farang riding a bike on Samui one hand holding his kid infront of him and one hand driving the bike. I got really angry when I saw that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I find that a rather strange attitude to have, to say that it is ok for Thai peole to risk there kids lives but not for a farang is just rediculous. and to use the old "farang should know better" line is quite insulting to the Thai people indeed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I was a kid we thought nothing of being in a car wearing no seat belt. We were poorly educated about the risks and with it being the "norm" we didn't give it any thought. Just the same as Thais and the wearing of crash helmets. So, I think it's perfectly fair to say that farangs should know better. Thais will know better too, one day.

[brianbrain]

I guess we have to face realities and the needs of everyday Thai people and say yes, kids should be allowed (as passengers) on motorbikes. A new programme of education and enforcement of helmet laws for drivers AND passengers should be brought in and strictly enforced. Unfortunately I have no solution for the parents wishing to carry their baby on the bike - I've never seen helmets that small

As an aside, I was in Hua Hin about three years ago looking for a motorbike to hire. Before taking the bike I requested to check the helmet (I'm of the opinion that I am hiring a bike AND a helmet) and was shown the most shabby collection possible. I rejected one helmet on account of the broken strap - no problem he said, as he got out his paper stapler...

[withnail]

I didn't mean to insult anyone and I most definately didn't say it was okay for them to risk their kids lives, I just meant to say that it's their choice but they should put helmets on.

Also farangs do know better and don't need to do it. I never met anyone back home whose only way of transporting their family was by sharing a moped.

Finally as brianbrain points out it's a matter of education not intelligence, so what's insulting? I remember telling my girlfriend that if a child is behind someone in a car and not strapped in that the force of them flying fowards is enough to kill the passenger infront. I remember being told that at school, she didn't.

[markt]

I rejected one helmet on account of the broken strap - no problem he said, as he got out his paper stapler...

Showed he cared, i suppose.....

[frequentatore]

One of my neighbors in bkk couln't stop his boy using his father's motocycle. He started at 9 years old... A big boy with average height... he was driving around the moo bahn and other small sois like any experienced driver. The mother was saying it was impossible to stop him "he loves it too much"!

[Neeranam]

Also farangs do know better and don't need to do it. I never met anyone back home whose only way of transporting their family was by sharing a moped.

Not all farangs know better. Some have not been in their own countries for decades.

Last year I had an argument with a taxi driver in the UK who wouldn't take 6 of us in his cab, until I realised that there he would have been hammered if caught. There are some stupid rules in the UK.

One of my neighbors in bkk couln't stop his boy using his father's motocycle. He started at 9 years old... A big boy with average height... he was driving around the moo bahn and other small sois like any experienced driver. The mother was saying it was impossible to stop him "he loves it too much"!

Fine the parents - this would soon stop it.

[Coffee Dude]

Sorry I misread the question. I thought you meant drive motorbikes.

So I change my vote to yes.

Coffee!!!

[Felt 35]

most Thais cannot afford the over half a million baht for a truck. Or over a million for a car.

But the leader of the country have a "Dumbo jet" parked at Don Muang!

[p1p]

Used to collect my older kids from kindergarden on the back of my ST1100 in the UK. Backbox & load net kept them secure, even when asleep! (British law allows it, but they must wear a helmet and you can carry only one at a time.)

My little ones here, almost 5 and almost 6, have had their own helmets for two years. Again, the loadnet & back box keeps them in place.

My (almost) six year old now rides his own motorcycle around our Moo Bahn. Always chaperoned, max speed 35 Kmph & he has all the safety gear. He could already teach many Thais about road safety.