Schoolbus Collision Kills Two

[webfact]

Schoolbus collision kills two

By The Nation, UTTARADIT

Published on February 3, 2010

UTTARADIT: -- Two school buses collided yesterday morning in Tron district, killing the two drivers instantly and injuring 24 passengers, mostly students from Trontrisin School.

Lek Huabnuam, 53, driving one van, reportedly speeded up and entered the opposite lane to pass other cars at about 8am on Nam Ang-Ban Kaeng road when he crashed into the oncoming van operated by Boonrod Khamrae, 50.

The injured were rushed to Tron Hospital. Two who were seriously injured - Phunai Jaiya, 16, a student, and Phupa Anu-in, 3, a driver's nephew - and seven others with broken limbs were transferred to Uttaradit Hospital.

The remaining 15 slightly injured kids were later discharged from the hospital.

-- The Nation 2010-02-03

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[tonywebster]

We send our daughter to school in a minibus, luckily this is in bangkok on crowded streets where he can not build up any great speed during the rush hours on the route to school, but I have seen the morons driving fast in the school minibuses. Once again stupidity, selfishness and lack of any driving skills kills an innocent and injures others.

[mccw]

The school vans are always driving crazy. Doesnt suprise me at all. Pity for those kids injured

[Bagwan]

The school vans are always driving crazy. Doesnt suprise me at all. Pity for those kids injured

Seconded. The drivers seem to me to be amongst the very worst of road offenders.

[RKASA]

Mai Pen Rei. The driver purhaps had many amolets around the neck. Fear (i.e. common sense) is a sign that one lacks faith. The driver may have been teaching the kids to not fear anything.

[ManilaLover]

90% of busdrivers don't know their responsibilities and play with peoples lives.

But only one is really responsible for this and that is the government.

[Mosha]

My only surprise is that we aren't reading about more of these accidents every week. The sawng taew drivers let the school kids ride on top. The parents don't bat an eyelid when the bus pulls up with their child on top. If it was my kid doing that I'd kick his arse into next week

[Sisaketmike]

The school vans are always driving crazy. Doesnt suprise me at all. Pity for those kids injured

The vans don't drive crazy. People are doing that.

[Deez]

Whats amazing is there is no outrage from the government. If it happens enough there will be a "crackdown"

[Scott]

My condolences to the friends and family of those killed. I hope those injured make a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately, bus drivers are sometimes under additional stress to get students to school on time. The schools in the area where I live have to make two runs in the morning. The second one is when they encounter heavy morning rush-hour traffic. They then do some very unsafe things. This isn't an excuse for them, but an explanation. I've seen them catching right-royal hel_l from the school administration for being late.

God forbid they should miss standing smartly for the National Anthem.

[way2muchcoffee]

My condolences to the friends and family of those killed. I hope those injured make a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately, bus drivers are sometimes under additional stress to get students to school on time. The schools in the area where I live have to make two runs in the morning. The second one is when they encounter heavy morning rush-hour traffic. They then do some very unsafe things. This isn't an excuse for them, but an explanation. I've seen them catching right-royal hel_l from the school administration for being late.

God forbid they should miss standing smartly for the National Anthem.

Condolences also to the families and the injured.

Scott - I don't see any validity to your defense given that the vans could start 30 minutes earlier and there would be no problem whatsoever with getting the kids in on time.

[Scott]

I am not defending the buses or the bus drivers. As I said it is not an 'excuse'. As it is the first run of the school buses begins before 5:00 a.m. and the return is after 5:00 p.m. (this is in Bangkok). That already makes for a very long day for many students.

It also doesn't make sense to me that the drivers get punished when they are late--especially for the 2nd run because they cannot control the traffic; they can't control rain etc.. This is especially true since the students aren't missing classes. They are missing the morning assembly only.

[animatic]

ALL school busses should have prominent phone numbers

to call if anyone sees them operated badly.

Lose of face for drives should NOT be a consideration

for companies transporting students, but making sure

drives know they can and WILL be sacked if they

get a certain number of bad reports, a ratio of verifiable

and maybe a few anonymous ones allowed too.

Certainly a few drivers will have enemies willing to anonymously call

to screw with them, but that will be a minority and safety for students

should far outweigh a few drives problems.

[TAWP]

Blatant disregard for safety again. Any driver should be considered fully responsible for their passengers during travel, only way to get rid of some of the drivers and perhaps teach accountability.

And anyone that hires a driver with instructions that cannot be adhered to without being forced to do unsafe or illegal maneuvers are equally guilty.

[tonywebster]

I am not defending the buses or the bus drivers. As I said it is not an 'excuse'. As it is the first run of the school buses begins before 5:00 a.m. and the return is after 5:00 p.m. (this is in Bangkok). That already makes for a very long day for many students.

It also doesn't make sense to me that the drivers get punished when they are late--especially for the 2nd run because they cannot control the traffic; they can't control rain etc.. This is especially true since the students aren't missing classes. They are missing the morning assembly only.

My daughter gets picked up at 6am to get to school, in Bangkok. With no traffic we are around 20 minutes from the school, but she gets picked up at 6 just to get there on time for 7.30. The guy that drives her bus is a soldier, I guess he is making a few extra baht for himself and we have asked our daughter how he drives, he seems to be a decent guy and have the kids health in mind, but that said it is possible the other van in this accident was also being driven by a guy with the students interests at heart but still got ploughed into by a retard with a driving licence

[Briggsy]

Here's a translation of the first 2 paragraphs from a story about road safety from Monday's Daily News

Last year, 2009, traffic accidents in Thailand continued to cause enormous damage to both lives and property. Over 10,000 people lost their lives in traffic accidents. However many related government departments and divisions are pushing forward various measures to keep reducing the incidence of traffic accidents but the number of deaths and injuries still remains high. An important reason is probably not unrelated to the activity of driving whilst intoxicated. Various government studies have shown that 50% of accidents are caused by drivers that have drunk alcohol.

The Ministry of Communication has designated this year The Year of Safety. The Land Transport Department as the department responsible for controlling transportation has therefore introduced stricter measures for drivers of public passenger vehicles. The drivers of such vehicles must register a nil reading in an alcohol breath test. This is a stricter standard in that police will now immediately arrest the driver. According to The Land Transport Act 1979, the arrest of intoxicated drivers occurs when a reading of over 50 milligramme percent (what does that mean? - editor's note) is recorded. The penalty is a maximum prison term of one year or a fine of 5,000 - 20,000 Baht or both and the suspension or annulment of the offender's driving licence for a period of not less than 6 months.

Me again, some background for you there. The article goes on but the crux is contained in the first 2 paragraphs here.

[dom samui]

The vans don't drive crazy. People are doing that.

ah ah ah , this is a very but very very intelligent answer..... nothing to do today ? bored?

[ManilaLover]

It would be insane to copy/paste all this text here, but it gives a nice impression of the requirements to become a schoolbus driver overseas.

here

But the only office here where you can read about 'requirements' is the immigration office !

[Preacher]

I teach at trontrisin and right now my school is becoming very quiet as the students get the news the one of my lovely students has just died as a result of the accident. May she rest in peace.

[tonywebster]

I teach at trontrisin and right now my school is becoming very quiet as the students get the news the one of my lovely students has just died as a result of the accident. May she rest in peace.

poor child

[ScubaBuddha]

More senseless death and injury due to the "Mai pen rai" attitude taken towards the driving habits on the roadways here. These deaths will be met with the same response by officials as all the others, none at all.

When will Thailand get serious about enforcing the rules on those who continue the standard practice of driving like a maniac in this country. Never, I reckon.

[Netfan]

I teach at trontrisin and right now my school is becoming very quiet as the students get the news the one of my lovely students has just died as a result of the accident. May she rest in peace.

Sorry to hear that. Very sad. especially since this should never have happened. The driver was overtaking? While driving a school bus? <deleted>? Its too bad, but this will continue to happen until the government grows some and puts together a driver safety program that works. Its too bad the driver died instead of being critically injured, maybe paralyzed for life instead of being let off by departing this earth.

[MiG16]

condolences to the families and friends, and their teachers. I know there are a few on here who have personal interest and affiliations with those affected.

please bear this in mind when making your comments.

my best wishes

[Scott]

How sad that we need to extend further condolences in the same thread.

[bangon04]

I am not defending the buses or the bus drivers. As I said it is not an 'excuse'. As it is the first run of the school buses begins before 5:00 a.m. and the return is after 5:00 p.m. (this is in Bangkok). That already makes for a very long day for many students.

It also doesn't make sense to me that the drivers get punished when they are late--especially for the 2nd run because they cannot control the traffic; they can't control rain etc.. This is especially true since the students aren't missing classes. They are missing the morning assembly only.

I have often seen (Thai) parents bringing their kids through the school gates with no attempt to get there in time for the flag ceremony, and the staff do not seem to challenge them, even repeat offenders.

[bangon04]

Sorry to hear that. Very sad. especially since this should never have happened. The driver was overtaking? While driving a school bus? <deleted>? Its too bad the driver died instead of being critically injured, maybe paralyzed for life instead of being let off by departing this earth.

And this would improve things how?

[Netfan]

Sorry to hear that. Very sad. especially since this should never have happened. The driver was overtaking? While driving a school bus? <deleted>? Its too bad the driver died instead of being critically injured, maybe paralyzed for life instead of being let off by departing this earth.

And this would improve things how?

Did his dying improve things? It means he would have to face what he caused everyday. Maybe if there was more of a sense of personal responsibility and accountability here this wouldn't be such a common occurrence.

[MiG16]

I think it is tragic enough as it is

can we please leave out any unpleasant suggestions?

Regardless of how we feel about reckless or drunk driving, I don't believe wishing suffering to the drivers is the way to address the issue