Just Witnessed Car Crash No One Stopping To Help

[sanook2me]

Just heard the horrible noise of metal on metal and looked out of condo window onto highway and saw this car coming to halt while sliding against the barriers.

Loads of smoke coming from it before i took the photo but not one car has stopped to help even those right behind the accident and no one has got out of the car for over 5 minutes.

I cannot help as its on the highway and no way to get there even though its opposite my condo and who do you call ie ambulance/police service?

But i am shocked that not one car has stopped to help...maybe because its 6.30am and raining so people dont want to be late or get wet for work! which is a poor choice/reason for not stopping to help what could be a seriously injured person.

The photo makes the car look okay but no one has got out of it for over 5 minutes which is a bit strange when involved in an accident.

[neverdie]

Maybe the highly trained and skilled driver is STILL on the phone or something like that. Perhaps the driver doesnt want to get out and see what they have done to their chariot becos its still raining?

Fairly standard stuff you are describing, does it really surprise you?

[coventry]

I got hit by a 4x4 in Bkk and the driver never even got out of his vehicle. I had to knock his window for him to wind it down. I said "I was okay but ........." and he pissed off before I'd finished.

[ukrules]

I got hit by a 4x4 in Bkk and the driver never even got out of his vehicle. I had to knock his window for him to wind it down. I said "I was okay but ........." and he pissed off before I'd finished.

It would have been an entirely different situation if you had hit him.

[geriatrickid]

Under the conditions (busy road, slick) best to stay in the car or else risk getting run down.

[Heng]

Why didn't you get in your car and drive over to help instead of taking photos like a member of the paparazzi?

[Neeranam]

These Siamese are a selfish lot - I witnessed an ambulance trying to get through traffic lights yesterday very near the hospital, no one got out the way - they had to wait just like all the other cars.

[Mosha]

I saw something which given the location pissed me off. The guilty person is a local Puy Yai. She was driving down this dead straight piece of country road, straddling the white line in the middle of the road driving slowly. An ambulance was behind her, lights, siren going. She just carries on her merry but snails pace way. She had actually almost forced me off the road going the other way.

Edited May 12, 2009 by Mosha

[JoeThePoster]

but no one has got out of it for over 5 minutes which is a bit strange

I guess the airconditioner is still working then.

[AleG]

I saw something which given the location pissed me off. The guilty person is a local Puy Yai. She was driving down this dead straight piece of country road, straddling the white line in the middle of the road driving slowly. An ambulance was behind her, lights, siren going. She just carries on her merry but snails pace way. She had actually almost forced me off the road going the other way.

There's nothing as dickish as a Thai with a sense of entitlement, isn't it?

On the other hand, last week I was coming back home (Bangkok, around Ratchada) when I hear sirens blasting down the soi, an ambulance was making it's way with two motorbike taxi drivers clearing the path ahead, the bikes even had flashers and sirens! so I guess they should do this often.

Sanook2me, if you want to call the police dial 191, but perhaps in this case it may be more appropriate to contact the fire department directly, 199. I haven't had the need to call those numbers yet (knock on wood), so I don't know if they can take calls in English.

[JoeThePoster]

These Siamese are a selfish lot - I witnessed an ambulance trying to get through traffic lights yesterday very near the hospital, no one got out the way - they had to wait just like all the other cars.

Maybe, the patient was a selfish farang who didnt want to let karma take its course.

[sanook2me]

Why didn't you get in your car and drive over to help instead of taking photos like a member of the paparazzi?

I wouldn't know how to get to that part of the highway and after the accident there was like a 2 mile queue as i can see the highway for about 3-4 miles..so even if i got in my car- i wouldn't have been able to get there for gods knows how long

paparazzi

A motorcylce cop turned up about 30 minutes and i saw a woman getting out and walking a bit slowly but otherwise seemed okay.

I guess other posters were correct. air con still working.. no injury..didn't want to get wet..safer in the car....

But it was just a little shocking to me as i heard it and saw the car sliding/boucing down the wall and coming to a stop that all the cars right behind which had stopped because of debris on the road just swerved right past and kept going! That is what got me....

Hope i never have an accident here....i too have noticed ambulances or pick up trucks don't get any sympathy from other drivers..

very strange behaviour indeed from a buddhist country...none so strange than folk

[AleG]

Why didn't you get in your car and drive over to help instead of taking photos like a member of the paparazzi?

But it was just a little shocking to me as i heard it and saw the car sliding/boucing down the wall...

When I'm in a taxi on an expressway I often spent the time looking at the concrete barriers on the sides, I think on average you can see the marks of a vehicle slaming against them every 50 meters or less. It's kind of amusing to try to reconstruct how the crash went, just a scrap, head on, ride up over the side, what paint colour on the car, etc, etc... The best spots to find this is at any bend on the expressway, seems that many sleepy, clueless or downright intoxicated drivers just keep going in a straight line. The scars in the concrete are rather chilling.

[hughden]

These Siamese are a selfish lot.

Not all of them. I had a substantial car crash (of which I have no memory) on the road from BKK to Pattaya. Woke up in hospital in Pattaya with a broken back and a ripped scalp. A policeman had taken my wallet and mobile phone and kept them safe for collection by my wife. A taxi driver had stopped and taken me the one hour trip into Pattaya whilst I bled copiously all over his taxi on the journey. He dropped me off at the hospital and never asked for a satang. Luckily I was able to track him down, but even then he was reluctant to accept anything.

[sanook2me]

These Siamese are a selfish lot.

Not all of them. I had a substantial car crash (of which I have no memory) on the road from BKK to Pattaya. Woke up in hospital in Pattaya with a broken back and a ripped scalp. A policeman had taken my wallet and mobile phone and kept them safe for collection by my wife. A taxi driver had stopped and taken me the one hour trip into Pattaya whilst I bled copiously all over his taxi on the journey. He dropped me off at the hospital and never asked for a satang. Luckily I was able to track him down, but even then he was reluctant to accept anything.

God thats a bad but happy ending story sounds like you nearly died but there were good samaritans to help you.

I,m happy you survived because looking at your avatar has made my day! god she is gorgeous!

[Mosha]

I witnessed about 20 Thais working their guts out trying to get a Brit out of a badly mangled car. He was trapped behind the wheel, and his knee was twisted. I'm sure he would not agree with the selfish statement of these people.

[Avante]

Do you know WHY most Thais would't bother to stop and help regardless of any accidents sometimes? They ARE afraid that things will get turned around and they are the one who will get the blame who caused the accident. Things are not the same as in western countries.

Other reasons is they dun want to waste their personal time to be called to the police station to lodge a witness report. Sometime the person you are witnessing against to his/her disavantage is somebody well connected or rich. Sooner or later the 'thai style' threats will fall upon you to change your witness report. Bah bah bah bah..its just plain headache.

Another reason is they are afraid that INSTEAD of helping..they are causing the person to die even faster. So same as point no.1. Getting the blame again for being the causer.

But things aside..Thais do help out when something happens. Just depend on your luck who crossing your path on that day.

[Heng]

Nah, it's just a waste of personal time. These folks likely have a network of family members already on the way.

I would and have stopped to help some women and children in distress though.

[bonobo]

I was talking with a Thai woman yesterday, and while trying to make a point, I used helping victims of a car accident as an example.  I was interupted and told, quite frankly, that she would never help out an accident victim as she would be too scared, and she would be afraid the vctims would die. The most she would do is try to call a doctor, from her car, if she could get up enough nerve.

I don't really know if this is specific to her or it is cultural.  She seems like a very nice woman, and certainly cares for many of the world's ills and does contribute to charities.  She just would not stop to help an accident victim.

[JohnGotti]

"Do you know WHY most Thais wouldn't bother to stop and help regardless of any accidents sometimes? They ARE afraid that things will get turned around and they are the one who will get the blame who caused the accident."

This is the stupidest thing I have ever read on Thai Visa.

[JohnGotti]

It hardly looks life threatening. I am not stopping.

If there was blood and glass everywhere, then you could be sure there would be plenty of spectators.

[Absingjul]

"Do you know WHY most Thais wouldn't bother to stop and help regardless of any accidents sometimes? They ARE afraid that things will get turned around and they are the one who will get the blame who caused the accident."

This is the stupidest thing I have ever read on Thai Visa.

I've been told the same thing by Thais I work with: "do not stop or you will be expected to pay".

[JohnGotti]

And Thais that work for me told me not to eat chocolate cause it will turn my skin black.

[bonobo]

And Thais that work for me told me not to eat chocolate cause it will turn my skin black.

I realize this is your attempt at humor, but there is no correlation between the two statements.

If Thais believe they will have to pay if they stop, then that will affect their proclivity to stop and help.  It has nothing to do with they would actually have to pay, but merely the perception that they would have to pay which would affect their actions.

Telling you not to eat chocolate is completely different as their perception does not affect you at all, and you can eat all the chocolate you want. Since you do not believe that chocolate will make yoru skin dark (I am assuming that you don't believe it), or if you do not care about dark skin if you did believe it, then their perceptions will have no affect on whether you eat it or not.

[dabhand]

I worked for a time in Kelantan, Malaysia near to the Thai border.

Even there we were advised by our company that, wherever possible, if we were involved in an accident to try and make our way to the nearest police station. Not necessarily just to report the accident but to avoid any possible nasty repercussions from the local villagers.

Similarly, stopping for an accident in which you were not involved was to be avoided. There had been cases where drivers, who had stopped upon seeing the immediate aftermath of an accident, had been mistakenly thought to be involved by people turning up subsequently and lynched on the spot.

First reaction is always to try and assist, but it can have it's dangers.

[bonobo]

I worked for a time in Kelantan, Malaysia near to the Thai border.

Even there we were advised by our company that, wherever possible, if we were involved in an accident to try and make our way to the nearest police station. Not necessarily just to report the accident but to avoid any possible nasty repercussions from the local villagers.

Similarly, stopping for an accident in which you were not involved was to be avoided. There had been cases where drivers, who had stopped upon seeing the immediate aftermath of an accident, had been mistakenly thought to be involved by people turning up subsequently and lynched on the spot.

First reaction is always to try and assist, but it can have it's dangers.

I have no idea if it is true or not, but I have heard the same stories.

I was a volunteer EMT for several years, and it is in my naturue to stop and help, so I think Istill would.  But I am sorry to say I would be congizant of the stories I have heard about this type of situation.

[Birdman]

In the EU refusing to help is a punishable offence. Here that could be the opposite.

[Sabum]

"Do you know WHY most Thais wouldn't bother to stop and help regardless of any accidents sometimes? They ARE afraid that things will get turned around and they are the one who will get the blame who caused the accident."

This is the stupidest thing I have ever read on Thai Visa.

John, you don't know what you are talking about and are completely wrong, sorry to inform you.

[sanook2me]

It hardly looks life threatening. I am not stopping.

If there was blood and glass everywhere, then you could be sure there would be plenty of spectators.

Yeah the photo looks like nothing but believe me i saw the car skidding,sliding against the barrier and it was giving off loads of smoke/steam and this photo is taken on full telephoto plus the digital part so the picture quality aint so brill as i was some distance away.

There were bits and bobs off the car about 200 yds behind big enough to stop 2 lanes of traffic so they were filtering around it.

From the photo you don';t know if they were wearing seatbelts loose things in the cabin flying around etc.

but yes the photo doesn't look to bad and fortunately it wasnt because i saw the driver appear much later on..

PS. The Tony S is now coming out to play again hey big jon?

[JohnGotti]

If Thais believe they will have to pay if they stop, then that will affect their proclivity to stop and help. It has nothing to do with they would actually have to pay, but merely the perception that they would have to pay which would affect their actions.

It seemed clear that the person who presented this theory believes that it is not just their perception but an actual risk. As though the cop will show up at the scene of the accident and immediately arrest the person who is not hurt, whose car is not damaged, and call it a day, as if there is no science to determining the cause of an accident.