Unwelcome Triple-whammy For Chiang Rai

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Unwelcome triple-whammy for Chiang Rai

By Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

Published on January 1, 2010

The northern province of Chiang Rai achieved a notorious hat-trick in the New Year road toll on Wednesday, having the most accidents with 39, the most deaths, at four, and the most injuries, at 46, the Road Safety Centre said yesterday.

Chanthaburi and Chon Buri had the most accumulated deaths from road accidents, while Chiang Rai had the most accidents and injuries in the first two days of the seven dangerous New Year days, said Paijit Warachit, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry.

Accumulated accidents were reported as 1,115, killing 91 people and injuring 1,225 others, Paijit said.

On Wednesday alone, 667 road accidents occurred nationwide, down by 215 cases or 24.38 per cent from December 30, 2008, he said. There were 51 deaths, down by 36 cases or 41.4 per cent from the same date last year, and 729 injuries, down by 231 cases or 24.1 per cent.

Motorcycles were involved in the majority of Wednesday's accidents, at 84 per cent. About 37 per cent of the accidents resulted from drunk driving, followed by speeding at 20.4 per cent. Most incidents occurred on a road's straight stretch, at 61.2 per cent, and especially from 4pm to 8pm.

The 67,483 officials at 2,672 checkpoints nationwide managed to check on 646,781 vehicles and arrested 61,836 traffic law violators, mostly those failing to show driver's licences and those failing to wear helmets while riding motorcycles.

-- The Nation 2010/1/1

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[lannaman]

Not surprising after some of the appauling driving I've seen over the last few days, I saw two bad accidents during 31st.

While we sat enjoying moo katart near the General Hospital last evening at least four ambulance-rescue cars past by in two hours. I wonder just how many visitors from other parts of LOS where involved in the accidents.

[Limbo]

Not surprising after some of the appauling driving I've seen over the last few days, I saw two bad accidents during 31st.

While we sat enjoying moo katart near the General Hospital last evening at least four ambulance-rescue cars past by in two hours.

I wonder just how many visitors from other parts of LOS where involved in the accidents.

Dear Lannaman, you mention an interesting point here.

An acquaintance, among other things in the insurance business, once complained about the Chiang Rai

drivers as they get involved in so many accidents when driving outside Chiang Rai.

Insurance companies don't make any profit in Chiang Rai, sooner the contrary is true, according to her.

I don't know if it is still that way.

I became a typical Chiang Rai driver as well I noticed during my last trip to the eastern part of the country.

Elsewhere a more European style of driving seems to be adapted: faster and more bumper-sticky.

Cars with Bangkok number plates seem to be faster than those with Chiang Rai plates.

Driving in the same lane causes therefore trouble once in a while ...

Especially when a car stops in the middle of the 'superhighway' before deciding to move very

slowly to the side of the road.

Chiang Rai drivers: Be carefull south of Payao!

Bangkok and similar drivers: the same but then north of Payao!

Thanks for pointing it out! Theoretically you might have saved some lifes by mentioning a fact as a warning!

Limbo

[toybits]

Bangkok drivers have a heavier foot than Chiang Rai drivers. So I wonder what amount of the accidents were precipitated by out of town vehicles?

It is also unfair to say that Chiang Rai has the highest number of accidents. It is not the fault of Chiang Rai motorists that these accidents happened here. Do the statistics about accidents mention what proportion of these accidents involved out of town vehicles?

That would be interesting to know.

[sausage3]

Bangkok drivers have a heavier foot than Chiang Rai drivers. So I wonder what amount of the accidents were precipitated by out of town vehicles?

It is also unfair to say that Chiang Rai has the highest number of accidents. It is not the fault of Chiang Rai motorists that these accidents happened here. Do the statistics about accidents mention what proportion of these accidents involved out of town vehicles?

That would be interesting to know.

Good point. Many of the cars using the Super Highway through CR these past few days have reg plates from other areas, many from Bangkok or even further south. The drive from BKK is a long one and fatigue could have a lot to do with the cause of many of these accidents.

[SeanMoran]

Good point. Many of the cars using the Super Highway through CR these past few days have reg plates from other areas, many from Bangkok or even further south. The drive from BKK is a long one and fatigue could have a lot to do with the cause of many of these accidents.

With that in mind, about the out-of-town vehicles in Chiang Rai, and with the apparent national tally of 84% of accidents involving motorcycles, which one would assume to be 99% ridden locally, and 61% national accidents occurring on straight roads between 16:00-20:00 with a Full Moon indicating good visibility by the unfortunate motorcyclists on those straight stretches of road even after sunset, I can't help but think of a common hazard that I've noticed many times while riding on the rural or suburban highways both in this last month as well as back a few years ago:

It's almost every time I ride into the city (around 20km away), and I try to maintain somewhere between 100 and 120km/h so as to stay in time with the average normal-paced pickups; not quite tailgating, but trying to follow some car or truck's left tail light around 10m behind so as to create a barrier to speeding cars and pickups who might pass me at 150km/h with their left rearview-mirror only inches (sometimes inch - singular) from my right handlebar.

This is incredibly dangerous, because if that car's mirror should hit my handlebars at a relative 40 km/h, then the outcome is fairly easy to determine:

My front wheel gets twisted leftward and I high-side down the road with the bike flipping along from that 100km/h to a stop and I die., with no story to tell afterwards.

The murderer in the pickup probably doesn't even notice the havoc they've caused with their rear-view mirror in their rear view mirror as they sprint on down the highway, and the 'accident' report reads that a single motorcyclist lost control in the late afternoon on a dry road with good visibility for no apparent reason, assumedly must have been drunk before he died?

It is this behaviour of cars and pickup drivers that might be the cause of most of the motorcycle fatalities, because they pass by so close with the left side of their vehicles, (at the wheel on the right so it's the far side that they're trying to judge the distance from motorcyclist), and it is so often a matter of inches, singular.

One second I see them approaching at high speed in the right lane in my mirrors, and I'm in the left lane because there's usually something blocking the siding (parked cars, trucks, food-stands, motorcycles coming in the other direction, bicycles, songtaews, whatever) and the next second when I'm looking forward down the road again, they rush past me almost smacking me off the road, and a knock like that will totally mess up the gyroscopics of a two wheeled bike, and kill the rider most likely.

I don't think that all of these car and pickup drivers who cause the motorbike accidents with their lazze-faire attitude for other human lives are necessarily all drunk off their faces. They just don't give a dam_n about the motorcyclist because they know that there will be no living witnesses to any deaths that they might 'accidentally' cause.

It's not good karma.

---o0o---

PS: There's no easy way to police this problem, but maybe it's more of a driver awareness sort of thing, to make a rule of allowing 750-1000mm either side whenever you're passing another vehicle, whether it has two wheels or four, or 18?

Edited January 1, 2010 by SeanMoran

[sceadugenga]

I doubt the "out of towners" contribute to more accidents.

I'd say the "around town drinkers" would hold sway over outsiders.

Most of them would be motorcyclists unless the place has change dramatically in the week I've been away.

[mumbojumbo]

I doubt the "out of towners" contribute to more accidents.

I'd say the "around town drinkers" would hold sway over outsiders.

Most of them would be motorcyclists unless the place has change dramatically in the week I've been away.

Start looking at license plates, about one out of three are from BKK, and look at the a-holes plates that are swerving in and out of traffic, going to fast to race to the next red light. When they get out of Bkk, and come up here, they go bananas, cuz of the snail movement they have there. I would guess, they contribute a hel_l of alot to the accident numbers.

[sceadugenga]

You'll have to go out with your clip board and stop watch to convince me mumbo. The only time I notice the BKK plates is when the Mrs points out that they always seem to be lost.

One in three seems a fairly high percentage estimate to me.

I stand by my hypothesis that motorcyclists would lead the stats and I doubt that many of those would tootle up from the city of the angels.

[mcgriffith]

There is little or no enforcement of the helmet law in Chiang Mai, where I live.

Most of the deaths involve motorcyclists, between 4 PM and 8 PM according to an article I read today.

In the same article, it mentioned that at major road stops, out of ~650K people stopped (on this one day, nationwide), about 8% were cited for one infraction or another. Topping the list was no registration for the vehicle (I'm assuming mostly motorsai). Second was not wearing helmet on motorsai. Third was driving drunk. Etc., etc.

Look, we all understand the realities of life here. Poor families rely on a Wave or a Dream as a primary mode of transport; to get to work, to pick up the kids at school, to shop. I understand this, I live here with no car, and use 2 motorcycles for all my transportation needs.

What I don't understand are parents allowing their kids to ride unlicensed at a very young age, with no helmet. There is simply no excuse for this, IMHO.

Sad to lose even one young life. I have a 25 year old son living in the US. Every one of these young kids who die needlessly, because of basic lack of info, and proper law enforcement....very sad.

[AjarnP]

I tend to agree that a large number of accidents in Chiang Rai and maybe all points north of the Watford Gap (oops I meant P'lok) involving Bangkok registered vehicles. Why though?

In Bangkok motorcyclists and tin box pilots very rarely get to see each other in a close encounter. The regulations, yes there are some and they are (fairly) seriously enforced, actually the regs are set in place to keep the two apart. And, regardless of the ultimate destination of the fine , breaking said regulations is a fairly costly business and is therefore avoided apart from a few japanese crotch rocket jockies who are faster than the BiB anyway and thus get away with it or taking the short route to the next life.

I have been driving in the Kingdom for over thirty years and have never, prior to moving to CR, seen such poor driving skills and such disregard for the Law of the Land as displayed every day on Chiang Rai's roads. In my honest opinion traffic laws do work but only if they are enforced. Try riding a motorcycle in Phuket for example without a helmet, you won't get a hunderd yards without the BiB coming down on you.

So yes, Bangkok drivers are probably at fault for not understanding that the driving here is abyssmal, that driving the wrong way up a dual carriage way to avoid half a klik in the wrong direction to get to the next designated U turn is completely acceptable. Not stopping at Red Traffic signal until somone with a green light actually starts to move forward is completely acceptable. Carrying three or more wenches aboard a motorcycle designed to carry two, without helmets, decent footwear whilst chatting on the cell phone with one hand and holding up an umbrella to avoid the sun with the other and driving with the other hand. (errrrr.... it's a deliberate mistake, just checking that you're still reading).

Until the BiB get their act together and start enforcing the perfectly good (well maybe) traffic regulations that serve the land. and until ALL drivers of ALL vehicles start to obey those regulations, we're all better doing what we know to be the right thing to do over the silly season. Get some Beer in the fridge, get a bottle of scotch and one each of Gin, Vodka and Bourbon get 'er indoors to fill up the ice tray in the freezer. and Stay Home. Wait till all the daft buggers go back whence they came and I'll see ya in Rico's on Friday. If I can get there without getting knocked off my bike that is

Tara, HAPPY NEW YEAR