Bam!

[Pudgimelon]

So I'm backing out of my driveway Saturday, and I stop for a brief moment to shift into Drive and fiddle with the radio. Suddenly,

WHAM!

I get broadsided by a pick-up truck driven by my neighbor who was backing down the soi. Both doors, the entire side panel and the rear bumper all crumpled up bad. I mean this guy hit me HARD.

Now, understand, I live near the end of a dead-end soi, and when I backed out, there was nothing moving on it. When I stopped to adjust things in the car, there was STILL nothing moving on the soi. What happened was that in the few seconds that I paused on the soi, my neighbor decided to jump into his truck and race backwards out of the soi WITHOUT LOOKING.

Plus, his pick-up truck had black netting over the cage on the back, which meant that: 1) His vision out of the back window was obscured at best, and 2) He couldn't see out of his rearview mirrors at all because the netting billowed out, making it impossible for him to see anything behind him. (Yet he still gets the idea in his head that he can race down our soi backwards).

Anyway, so the insurance guy gets there and his verdict?

My fault.

Now before you get the idea in your head that this is some sort of "Farang takes all the blame" thing. My wife told the insurance guy that she was driving and my neighbor SAID he didn't look when he backed up, but for some reason the insurance agent said that because I had backed onto the soi, and my neighbor's truck was already in the soi (even though he doesn't have a driveway and essentially uses our dead-end soi as his driveway), that I was at fault because he had the "right of way".

So this has nothing to do with me being a farang (I wasn't even there when he came by), it's just the determination that the insurance agent made based on his on brand of wacky logic.

Apparently, driving blindly BACKWARDS down a soi at high speed had nothing to do with the accident. It was all due to my reckless parking of my car in the street on a dead-end soi with no traffic.

Fortunately, my neighbor refused to let the insurance company pay for the damage to his truck. He knew it was his fault and didn't feel right about taking money from our insurance company to fix damage that he caused. Good for him (though I still think he's a goofball for driving like that).

[peter991]

Thanks for the posting. It's nice to hear a story about a Thai who is honest and prepared to take the blame.

So many stories about traffic accidents in Thailand contain the line: 'And the driver was last seen fleeing from the accident."

Peter

[toddy]

18 months ago I bought a Toyota Tiger 4WD - a great motor and something I have always wanted - it maybe a cheaper vehicle to some of you older guys but to me it's the first brand new vehicle I have ever bought and it's my pride and joy.

First accident was a bus hitting a motorbike on a 90 degree bend before a railway crossing (then I think the driver looked around and forgot to look ahead). He smashed through the control box on the crossing and then ploughed into the back of me (I was stopped in the road and indicating just after the crossing waiting to turn right). The driver tried to drive away from the scene at which point all the Thai started jumping out the back doors and the Thais in the street, who could plainly see I was a farang, piled in front of the bus to stop him. Turns out the driver was pissed and the owner was not insured because the bus was too old and in too bad a shape! Police let me use their personal mobiles to call insurance company and the guy was there in a flash. He then sent the heavies round to assess if the owner of the bus company could afford the repairs and found he could. THE POLICE INSTRUCTED THE OWNER TO HAVE THE BUS TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL I THE FARANG WAS COMPLETELY SATISFIED MY VEHICLE WAS RESTORED BACK TO ITS PREVIOUS CONDITION. I HAD TO NOTIFY THE POLICE WHEN I WAS HAPPY AND THEN THEY WOULD ALLOW THE BUS BACK INTO SERVICE!!!!! That is amazing - I never had an accident in Thailand before that and was surprised with how the police dealt with it. Buriram see ... pure quality!

PS I'm not married to anybody of any standing and have no connections anybody would know about in Buriram.

[Heng]

Fortunately, my neighbor refused to let the insurance company pay for the damage to his truck.  He knew it was his fault and didn't feel right about taking money from our insurance company to fix damage that he caused.  Good for him (though I still think he's a goofball for driving like that).

Cool. And he's going to pay for the damage on your truck himself?

[maerim]

So I'm backing out of my driveway Saturday,

Give this a coat of thought if you will.

If you had backed into your drive you could have driven out and seen him coming.

The highway code in the UK says if you have to reverse, reverse in then you can drive out makes a lot of sense to me.

[chingy_]

don't get me wrong, im not picking you or anything like that, maybe we should also listen to the other side party too, before making judgement.

[meemiathai]

Isn't it the job of the police to determine who's right or wrong instead of the insurance agent?

[Thetyim]

Sorry, you are not going to like my post either.

If this had happened in UK then you would be at fault.

You were crossing a line of traffic.

[bkkmadness]

So his car was sitting in a line of traffic stationary? And when the insurance agent came to assess the case he lied to them about the facts of what happened? Aren't the police meant to be involved here?

Fill us in Pudgie.

[Ajarn]

I guess I'd say the guy coming out of his driveway is the guy responsible, but maybe the blame should be closer to equal, since the other driver admitted he wasn't paying attention.....either

[bkkmadness]

Why did you tell them your wife was driving Pudgie?

[stumonster]

From some previous posts about accidents here in thailand it seems that the vehicle with the damage closest to the front is always to blame..... and your neighbours was at the back of the vehicle?

[Ajarn]

From some previous posts about accidents here in thailand it seems that the vehicle with the damage closest to the front is always to blame..... and your neighbours was at the back of the vehicle?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No such thing as 'always' here, sir

[dog]

So I'm backing out of my driveway Saturday,

Give this a coat of thought if you will.

If you had backed into your drive you could have driven out and seen him coming.

The highway code in the UK says if you have to reverse, reverse in then you can drive out makes a lot of sense to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In the UK you can not reverse on to a public highway,

if it's a dead end or not.

But also a parked car is never at fault ,when an accident happens'.

The insurance agent has just miss-red the fact's,parked car:not moving,pick up owner driving with out due care and aattention.

Not difficult in my eyes'.

[bkkmadness]

It was only a parked for a few seconds while the OP fiddled with the radio and shifted into drive, not really parked at all really, just stationary for a few seconds.

[Pudgimelon]

Sorry,  you are not going to like my post either.

If this had happened in UK then you would be at fault.

You were crossing a line of traffic.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Crossing a line of traffic" might be applicable if this was a regular soi, but this is just a little dead-end spur off the main soi, it's barely long enough for the 6 or 7 houses on it and only the three at the front of the soi have driveways. Everyone in the back of the soi just parks in the street, so for them, the soi is essentially a long drive way (probably less than 50m).

Also, I had stopped at an angle out of my driveway, and was shifting into Drive at the time I was hit, so I was no longer "backing out onto the soi". If I had come out of my other neighbor's driveway (across the street from me), I would have been in EXACTLY the same position.

It's a short soi and not very wide, so which direction I entered it really doesn't make a difference. My car was CLEARLY obstructing the soi and my neighbor admitted to driving BLIND--at high-speed--BACKWARDS.

I understand that traffic laws generally favor the person who has the right-of-way on the road rather than traffic entering the road.

However, I don't believe this guy had the right-of-way. His truck was PARKED when I entered the soi, and I was not moving and BLOCKING the enter soi when he hit me.

So I think that I had right-of-way, since I was in the road before he even started his truck. I don't think any traffic law, anywhere, would say that it's perfectly fine for someone to jump into a parked car and race blindly down the street, barrelling into entering-traffic, and then not being at fault because they "had right-of-way".

A parked car, with it's engine turned off, doesn't have right-of-way. So just because he happened to park his car in the soi and I park mine in a driveway doesn't give him defacto right-of-way.

He knew this, and admitted it was his fault. What suprised me was how the insurance agent came up with such a bizarre interpretation of the facts. I was in the soi, and someone jumped into a parked car and rammed it into me (while driving blindly backwards), clearly I'm not a fault.

It doesn't matter what position or direction my car was travelling, he would have hit me no matter what.

[bkkmadness]

So why did you wife and yourself decide to be dishonest when reporting the incident if all so clearly the other drivers fault? Filing a false insurance claim isn't it?

[Jockstar]

So why did you wife and yourself decide to be dishonest when reporting the incident if all so clearly the other drivers fault?  Filing a false insurance claim isn't it?

It does sound a bit strange. But maybe it was beacuse he was a farang. He thought that they would blame him. Doesnt make it right to lie about though.

[Simbo]

So why did you wife and yourself decide to be dishonest when reporting the incident if all so clearly the other drivers fault?  Filing a false insurance claim isn't it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's obvious, he thought quite naturally, the odds would be stacked against a farang driving as averse to his Thai wife. I would have done the same, not having faith in the Thai system of fairness.

[bkkmadness]

Just curious really as Pudgie always seems to promote himself and his wife as upstanding members of the community yet at the first opportunity lie when explaining the facts to the insurance agent.

Wonder if this post is entirely true?

Wonder if Pudgie has crashed with another farang driving a car whether his wife would have also jumped in and lied to gain thesupposed upperhand in the situation?

It just seems a shame that the neighbour displayed such honesty to help out a pair of cheats, I feel like they should pop down the road and apologise to the neighbour for their b.shit and try to follow his honest way of thinking and sense of responsibilty in the future.

I'm assuming your Thai Drivers license is in full order Pudgie?

Edited May 2, 2005 by bkkmadness

[gburns57au]

You are a farang, you were there...it is your fault irrespective of who was driving.

If you had stayed in your own country, married a girl from your country then this accident would have happened in your own country not in Thailand.

See it is your fault....Thai logic......unbeatable.

[toddy]

You are a farang, you were there...it is your fault irrespective of who was driving.

If you had stayed in your own country, married a girl from your country then this accident would have happened in your own country not in Thailand.

See it is your fault....Thai logic......unbeatable.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

TOTALLY DISAGREE. NEVER BEEN IN THE WRONG IN AN ACCIDENT IN THAILAND AND I HAVE HAD ONE CRASH WITH A BUS, ONE WITH A COCA COLA TRUCK AND ANOTHER FEW MINOR SCRAPES. I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE IN THAT IT WAS OBVIOUS WHO WAS RIGHT AND WHO WAS WRONG BUT THE THAI WITNESSES AND POLICE HAVE ALWAYS DECLARED THE OTHER PARTY TO BE IN THE WRONG.

TO SAY THAT IF YOU HAD STAYED IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY, THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HERE, THEN THE ACCIDENT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IS NOT THAI LOGIC MATE - IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 10 YEARS AGO BUT NOT NOW.

[Jockstar]

You are a farang, you were there...it is your fault irrespective of who was driving.

If you had stayed in your own country, married a girl from your country then this accident would have happened in your own country not in Thailand.

See it is your fault....Thai logic......unbeatable.

 

TOTALLY DISAGREE. NEVER BEEN IN THE WRONG IN AN ACCIDENT IN THAILAND AND I HAVE HAD ONE CRASH WITH A BUS, ONE WITH A COCA COLA TRUCK AND ANOTHER FEW MINOR SCRAPES. I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE IN THAT IT WAS OBVIOUS WHO WAS RIGHT AND WHO WAS WRONG BUT THE THAI WITNESSES AND POLICE HAVE ALWAYS DECLARED THE OTHER PARTY TO BE IN THE WRONG.

TO SAY THAT IF YOU HAD STAYED IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY, THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HERE, THEN THE ACCIDENT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IS NOT THAI LOGIC MATE - IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 10 YEARS AGO BUT NOT NOW.

Dont use capitals. Its like shouting mate. Very rude. IMHO.

[Pudgimelon]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bkkmadness =

'nuff said.

[maerim]

clearly I'm not a fault.

Perhaps not perhaps you are but what is quite plain is that you are a liar.

Does it make it OK for you to lie and complain when Thai's do?

[bkkmadness]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bkkmadness =

'nuff said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

'nuff not said at all, answer the questions if your man enough.

Just wondered why your wife chose to lie and decieve someone concerning a road accident? Surely that's illegal?

If someone had been killed would she have chosen the same approach?

Does she often lie to try and bend the rules to your favour even when not neccesary as your neighbour showed honesty that your wife and yourself clearly do not have?

Is your license in order?

Seems strange you will not answer these questions yet we are supposed to believe your account of the accident.

I particulary like the bit when you lean down for a few seconds to adjust the radio and in that few seconds your neighbour manages to come out of his house, get into his vechile, start it up and reverse into you.

A few seconds or minutes? Radio too loud to notice traffic around you?

Bit guilty, so called the wife in too lie and try to persuade the insurance agent in your favour?

Driving illegally so got your wife to cover it up and make sure the neighbour gets stuck with the bill?

Edited May 2, 2005 by bkkmadness

[bkkmadness]

clearly I'm not a fault.

Perhaps not perhaps you are but what is quite plain is that you are a liar.

Does it make it OK for you to lie and complain when Thai's do?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thing is, not all Thais did lie in this scenario, his neighbour was deceived and though the goodness of his heart took the bill on even though through Pudgies lack of response I'm guessing he crashed into someone not legally entitled to drive a car in Thailand. Poor guy, scammed by a farang and his wife.

Only Thai liar here was Pudgie's wife which is perfectly ok it seems .

[Patex]

bkkmadness,

He was lying because of the bad influence from TV.com .

I'm also wondering how he can tell us what happened while he was playing with the radio...

Patex

[bkkmadness]

Just seemed a few unanswered questions that popped into my head on first reading of Pudgies possibly false report here.

Few answers to the questions would be nice Pudgie.

Edited May 2, 2005 by bkkmadness

[samran]

Not denying that there are instances of 'blame the farang', but in my experience when with other farangs, being a westerner does help.

There have been one or two times that I have been an intermediary where the police were very, very keen to do things by the book and above board to ensure that they didn't even have the appearance of being biased or corrupt.

At other times, authority actually gives the benefit of the doubt to the farang. Eg. "the farang didn't know....can't be too tough on him...let him off with a warning" or "he is a farang, he has been taught to always follow the rules in his own country, so therefore he can't have done anything wrong"

Of course this is just my experience, and I am sure some of you may disagree.

Edited May 2, 2005 by samran