Tractors Driving At Night Without Lights!

[xerostar]

I nearly had a big crash on the way home on Tuesday night.

It was dark at about 7.30pm.

We had been to Nakhon Sawan and I was cruising along at about 90 Kmh with lights on high beam on a

road that is barely wide enough for two cars, maybe three at a pinch.

I saw the lights of another car coming in the opposite direction so I switched to low beam.

Suddenly my wife yelled "look out!"

There was a tractor-trailer with half a dozen people trundling along in the dark - no lights whatsoever!

I nearly ran in to the back of them! I braked heavily but had to swerve at the last second by which time the

approaching car had reached the same spot.

I managed somehow to scrape through between them with inches to spare!

A hundred metres further along there was yet another tractor-trailer full of people with no lights at all!

I was so angry - I said to my wife - "What is it about Thai people? Why don't they look after their own safety?

They may be poor but a couple of reflectors would not cost that much!"

Can you even buy reflectors here?

I've seen some vehicles using old CD discs as reflectors but are they effective?

A similar incident happened to me a few months ago.

Except in this case the tractor was travelling in the opposite direction - on a long curve.

A driver in a car travelling towards me saw the tractor at the last second and to avoid hitting them,

he nearly ran me off the road! He was travelling pretty fast too.

In future I will be driving a lot slower at night, or try to avoid driving at night altogether!

The possible results of such a crash would be multiple loss of life and/or many terrible injuries.

Having the handle bars of the tractor come through the windscreen would be fatal I'm sure.

No doubt other readers have experienced this dangerous practice of Thai people driving without lights.

[Absingjul]

In general it is best not to over drive headlights. You should leave enough distance to stop if a stationary object such as broken vehicle or buffalo is obstructing the road.

[harrry]

90km is almost certainly too fast to be driving at night on a thai road.

Edited May 28, 2009 by harrry

[ballbreaker]

I had a few close call in the past which is why I try to avoid driving at night. Mine were with people dressed in dark cloths on rural roads.

[ThaiLife]

When I first came to Thailand many years ago, I met a long time expat and in our conversation he said the best thing he had learned to help put things into perspective when dealing with Thai's was , just remember you are dealing with children , and children don't see danger.

[Dave the Dude]

T.I.T.

People have no fear of dying as they are all going to paradise . Thats why there is carnage on the roads perticularly mocyc riders.

Meaning no disrespect to poster, mens eyesight for nightdriving deteriates with age and couple that with speed, then you are asking for trouble.

Sorry about your bad experiences xerostar.

Dave

[TVmonitor]

If you dont expect this sort of thing at night, you really shouldn't be driving.

why this kind of behaviour is carried out is interesting to speculate about, but it doesn't actually make the fact go away.

[katabeachbum]

If you dont expect this sort of thing at night, you really shouldn't be driving.

why this kind of behaviour is carried out is interesting to speculate about, but it doesn't actually make the fact go away.

yepp

and this tractor was actually going in the same direction as you were. 5% of the vehicles come towards you on the wrong side of the road at night, with no lights. Xenon/HID lights helps, no tint-film on windscreen, and avoiding anything else than highway at night. Exciting though, never boring

[dave_boo]

Are you sure it wasn't a tak-tak? I've never seen a 'tractor' proper on the road after dark in Nakhon Sawan. Tak-taks, those little home made things with ~30 hp diesel Kubota engines, are on the road at all times.

And I agree with you. They SHOULD have reflectors on the trailer. I don't understand how they can do those tour buses up so gaudy but not their tak-taks. I mean, if you're driving along and you can't see a normal tour bus that's some 4 metres tall, than there's a good chance you won't see it lit up also. However, those little tak-taks end up invisible, and should be required to have reflectors.

And as someone else mentioned, it's a bit daft to drive that speed at night on a Thai road.....obviously especially so in Nakhon Sawan. You don't want to end up like the poor guy who killed the Thai on the motorcycle and the family tried to get 14,5 million THB out of him!

[H2oDunc]

We had been to Nakhon Sawan and I was cruising along at about 90 Kmh with lights on high beam on a

road that is barely wide enough for two cars, maybe three at a pinch.

And you blame the poor famer for you nearly killing yourselves. It had nothing to do with driving far to fast for the road conditions nor the fact that this is Thailand not the M1 or route 66. If you do not realise that here in Thailand that there are many Thais who will drive around at night without lights you need to stop driving at night!

[Monkeypants]

I find it hard to believe that the Government can hand out blankets and other aid at certain times of the year, but cannot see that a couple of 10 baht reflectors would go along way in helping to prevent accidents.

[Farma]

I’ve had a few close calls not only with tractors but pickups laden with grass covering the tail lights and motorbikes with no tail light. Never a dull moment at times. Reduced speed at night is a definite advantage.

I have to agree with the comments on no tinting on the windscreen. I peeled the windscreen tinting off one car so I could see properly at night.

Those Xenon lights should be banned. They might help the driver of that one car but all the other road users are blinded by them. Having driven cars fitted with them I can see some benefits like a wider spread of lighting on the side of the road but for distance in front the standard lights project more light.

[Lancelot]

No doubt other readers have experienced this dangerous practice of Thai people driving without lights.

Yes, they do that here, it "save batt er ree" Really best to not drive and night, but if you do, go slow and expect the unexpected...

[phaethon]

No doubt other readers have experienced this dangerous practice of Thai people driving without lights.

This nearly happened to my Boss and I (he was driving) a few years ago when we encountered a hay wagon on a narrow road, only it was in Germany.

Not a solely Thai phenomenon.

[Steve2UK]

I can sympathise with the OP (as can/should any of us who have been here a while and driven on country roads at night) - and it's good that he's learned the speed lesson. I have cause to be grateful for the valuable lesson drummed into me years ago: "drive within your lights" - meaning keep your speed down to where you'll have time to stop (same applies to when your view is obstructed by bends or hills - also in daylight).

I actually found country driving in the UK safer at night than in the day - only because you could generally depend on anything with wheels also having lights. Plainly, not so here.

Most of us over 50 (years not speed) have less-than-great night vision - also not helped by the screen tint. When I bought my second-hand Ford Escape, it came with the same tint on the windscreen as the side windows - I had it removed and replaced with something sensible. I'm tempted to have even this removed completely, but I don't do that much country driving at night - so I just watch my speed and take extra care.

BTW, I have also encountered the opposite problem in Chiang Rai province. Driving on a relatively straight 2-lane road, I was completely blinded by a blaze of light ahead; it turned out to be a rice-farmer's tractor with the halogen working light left on at the back...... impossible to see past this floodlighting and we crawled along for some 5 minutes behind him, flashing headlights and honking the horn before he finally pulled over and switched it off.

[kamalabob2]

Driving at night presents special challenges in rural Thailand. Broken down large Rice Harvesting Machine on a flat bed truck with any possible reflector lights covered in mud on a moonless night, not even tree branch warnings!! Komatsu large tractor on a stalled low trailer, again with no visible reflectors, no running lights on!! Sure we have all experienced a PTT long trailer gasoline truck driving against traffic, maybe a Double A truck loaded with Eucalyptus trees once again against traffic, but at least the gasoline truck and Double A semi truck had some running lights. The worst is a HOUSE being moved on a 4 lane unlighted highway in Satuk and just left in the "slow lane" overnight. With some real warning cones on a straightaway it would be understandable, but nothing but tree branches as you come around a curve was a rude shock. Elephants working the streets with a Rickey Martin cd as a safety device I understand, but no reflection as they transport an elephant by walking at night between towns is indicative of a lack of funds for a reflector or lack of concern for safety. Plus "crazy man" or "drunk man" walking in dark clothes at night in a village presents cause for concern.

My wife thought that NOT running lights "could save gasoline" and "save battery".

[Dave the Dude]

My wife thought that NOT running lights "could save gasoline" and "save battery".

As I said previously, the last thing Thai's think of saving is.......

LIFE

Dave

[TVmonitor]

Good point above somewhere about tinted windows - especially windscreen - it could make all thedifference between seeing and not seeing that motorcycle and side car or buffalo.

[Digitalbanana]

I nearly had a big crash .. It was dark ... I was cruising along at about 90 Kmh with lights on high beam on a

road that is barely wide enough for two cars ..Suddenly my wife yelled "look out!" ..tractor-trailer with half a dozen people trundling along in the dark - no lights whatsoever! I nearly ran in to the back of them! I was so angry -

Your post is astonishing. I am surprised you haven't killed anyone yet. I suggest you check into a driving school as soon as possible and get some Thai defensive driving lessons and acclimatize yourself with local driving conditions before getting behind a wheel again.

By coincidence I have been driving around Nakorn Sawan a lot of late and notice daily accidents from what is clearly due to poor training if any of drivers as almost all looked avoidable.

[JUDAS]

This is why that for the last six months or so I refuse to drive at night here. Not only do some people refuse to put lights on, but then you have to contend with headlights coming towards you at high speed on the wrong side of the road, as the driver can't be bothered to use U turn areas because it adds a few hundred metres to his journey...

[coconutmonkey]

I nearly had a big crash .. It was dark ... I was cruising along at about 90 Kmh with lights on high beam on a

road that is barely wide enough for two cars ..Suddenly my wife yelled "look out!" ..tractor-trailer with half a dozen people trundling along in the dark - no lights whatsoever! I nearly ran in to the back of them! I was so angry -

Your post is astonishing. I am surprised you haven't killed anyone yet. I suggest you check into a driving school as soon as possible and get some Thai defensive driving lessons and acclimatize yourself with local driving conditions before getting behind a wheel again.

By coincidence I have been driving around Nakorn Sawan a lot of late and notice daily accidents from what is clearly due to poor training if any of drivers as almost all looked avoidable.

WHOOAAH GUYSS!!!

There's a problem here.....

On another thread, and many more before it, so many expats post how they 'cruise along at 160km/hr or faster! I didn't see you guys lecturing them!! Those speeds in Thailand are INSANE. You kill my family in a car at that speed, and I will hunt you down and tear out your entrails.

Though the point of too fast is still valid for his speed on that road

I was cruising in the right hand lane on the EXPRESSWAY, and two trucks decided to stop right in the middle of the Expressway, midday, to take things off (plants, small trees) one truck and put onto the other.... I shit you not. They were stopped in the middle of the expressway, broad daylight, changing cargo. I can't get over it.

Anyway, initially, I thought they must have been moving; as if they would be stopped!?! So I slowed down a little, and then I saw there were plants dropped from one truck all over the road up ahead, not able to drive over... and I saw they were completely still, not moving.

I nearly hit one truck, and one guy leaning on the back of it while he was having a cigarette

Surely, he could have been signalling traffic, or something!

Roads here are a DEATHTRAP. And that's it. Don't drive at night if you don't need to, NEVER go over 110km/hr even on an expressway, and NEVER drive during Songkran.

[Digitalbanana]

What's to WHOOAAH?? That was another thread and I agree the guy was an idiot for breaking the law driving so at 160kph to see if the engine was ok. Any comment would have been superfluous!

Agree with your observations that there are a lot uncertainties on Thai roads. Defensive driving is the only way. Its a standard driver training program in any new country and it doesn't mean one must never drive again.

[robbo1]

Yes defensive driving I think 90 km is defensive driving you can just about guarentee getting passed by every pickup and car on the road .

But agree tractors at night time very dangerous same thing happened to me driving from Udon Thani to Loei just on dusk passing one vehicle tractor coming the other way nearly head on say to the wife !@$%#^%%$&^ idiot her comment was just blow horn to say you angry so I did not now to late she says

But yes driving night timer can be hazadous same as seeing some of these old pickups driving towards you on your side of the road because they are to lazy to drive an extra 5 km to the next uturn has anyone ever seen this as well.

[katabeachbum]

Safe driving

I have to admit, I do very often drive 160 km/h on LOS highways in daylight. At least twice a month, at least 3-5 hours each time. Sometimes I take it up to 200. Im alert. I have an excellent car. Been doing so on MUCH worse roads and traffic conditions for 25+years, and havent had an accident at this speed for 25 years. Its safe for me and others around me.

Driving at night I have to reduce speed to remain safe. Depending on lights (Xenon low beam reaches 80 meters/Xenon high 300m/4 Xenon high 700m), I have to reduce speed to be able to stop within visible area. Thats 90-140 kmh.

Driving 90 kmh on a narrow road with lowbeam, and not expect other vehicles/buffaloes/fallen trees/pedestrians is highly unsafe. Low beam reaches 50 meters, shorter if they are not new or its raining. 50 meters visibility, speed should not exceed stoppingdistance. Brakingdistance for a car (not pickup) with ABS or skilled driver at 90 kmh is 50 meters. Stoppingdistance is more than double. Speed under these conditions should not exceed 60 kmh. A pickup/SUV with ABS needs 70 meters to brake from 90kmh, Thats 150-200 meters stoppingdistance, so speed should be even lower. Driving 90 can be very unsafe.

Have a safe ride