Swiped Motorbike While Getting Out Of Taxi

[TheLaughingMan]

Now you are backpeddling, earlier any circumstanc of anyone opening a door is at fault and the illegal driving of the motorcycle is not. Now you are narrowing your definitions.

[yabaaaa]

The correct procedure to park a motor vehicle is to firstly switch on the left-indicator light for at least 30 metres to warn other motorists of your intended change of motivation, check your mirrors carefully to make sure that the new trajectory is clear of other traffic, then gradually move to the side of the road or to a vacant parking space if in a built-up area.

I just love your jokes and optimism

[SeanMoran]

Now you are backpeddling, earlier any circumstance of anyone opening a door is at fault and the illegal driving of the motorcycle is not. Now you are narrowing your definitions.

I reckon that must be the best pun of the day, so thanks for the humour, but the definition remains the same in that, if you're in a car in traffic, don't open the door without looking, and preferably just give it a click on the handle first, so that other vehicles can see your intention without having a bloody great piece of glass and metal flung in ther way.

The taxi in this example was not parked, the action of the tourist friend in opening the door in traffic without heed for oncoming vehicles was the cause of the collision, and the victims were travelling at an estimated 30km/h or possibly less, which is not far off normal running pace for athletic pedestrians; a non-idiotic speed.

Don't open a car door in traffic without looking first, and preferably giving warning by opening that door an inch or two and waiting a few seconds before alighting. This is fundamental stuff that school kids could probably understand. Opening a car door in traffic is a very dangerous thing to do if you're not watching what you're doing, a bit like throuwing your computer off the balcony without checking the street below for passers by.

[tonywebster]

Now you are backpeddling, earlier any circumstance of anyone opening a door is at fault and the illegal driving of the motorcycle is not. Now you are narrowing your definitions.

I reckon that must be the best pun of the day, so thanks for the humour, but the definition remains the same in that, if you're in a car in traffic, don't open the door without looking, and preferably just give it a click on the handle first, so that other vehicles can see your intention without having a bloody great piece of glass and metal flung in ther way.

The taxi in this example was not parked, the action of the tourist friend in opening the door in traffic without heed for oncoming vehicles was the cause of the collision, and the victims were travelling at an estimated 30km/h or possibly less, which is not far off normal running pace for athletic pedestrians; a non-idiotic speed.

Don't open a car door in traffic without looking first, and preferably giving warning by opening that door an inch or two and waiting a few seconds before alighting. This is fundamental stuff that school kids could probably understand. Opening a car door in traffic is a very dangerous thing to do if you're not watching what you're doing, a bit like throuwing your computer off the balcony without checking the street below for passers by.

you concede defeat, you are presented with facts, yet you still go on about this. I already pointed out the difference between throwing your laptop of a balcony and opening a car door, they are very different things. In one the potential victim is walking down the street innocently, and in the other the potential victim is performing a potentially dangerous illegal act. Also I already explained the reasonable man test in relation to recklessness. Would a reasonable man reasonably expect to cause harm with his innocent action? Would I expect to harm someone by opening my nearside door when stopped on the nearside? In any country where the law is adhered to then I wouldn't need to look, not only because people would know it was illegal for them to pass there, they would also have the common sense to know it is dam_n dangerous to pass there. However in Thailand those of us that know Thailand use common sense and check before opening doors, before turning left etc and we know how little common sense is displayed by bike riders here. or a tourist however it is a different matter.

On a personal note even when I am stopped and touching the kerb I would still check so i didn't open the door onto a pedestrian.

[SeanMoran]

Now you are backpeddling, earlier any circumstance of anyone opening a door is at fault and the illegal driving of the motorcycle is not. Now you are narrowing your definitions.

I reckon that must be the best pun of the day, so thanks for the humour, but the definition remains the same in that, if you're in a car in traffic, don't open the door without looking, and preferably just give it a click on the handle first, so that other vehicles can see your intention without having a bloody great piece of glass and metal flung in ther way.

The taxi in this example was not parked, the action of the tourist friend in opening the door in traffic without heed for oncoming vehicles was the cause of the collision, and the victims were travelling at an estimated 30km/h or possibly less, which is not far off normal running pace for athletic pedestrians; a non-idiotic speed.

Don't open a car door in traffic without looking first, and preferably giving warning by opening that door an inch or two and waiting a few seconds before alighting. This is fundamental stuff that school kids could probably understand. Opening a car door in traffic is a very dangerous thing to do if you're not watching what you're doing, a bit like throuwing your computer off the balcony without checking the street below for passers by.

you concede defeat, you are presented with facts, yet you still go on about this. I already pointed out the difference between throwing your laptop of a balcony and opening a car door, they are very different things. In one the potential victim is walking down the street innocently, and in the other the potential victim is performing a potentially dangerous illegal act. Also I already explained the reasonable man test in relation to recklessness. Would a reasonable man reasonably expect to cause harm with his innocent action? Would I expect to harm someone by opening my nearside door when stopped on the nearside? In any country where the law is adhered to then I wouldn't need to look, not only because people would know it was illegal for them to pass there, they would also have the common sense to know it is dam_n dangerous to pass there. However in Thailand those of us that know Thailand use common sense and check before opening doors, before turning left etc and we know how little common sense is displayed by bike riders here. or a tourist however it is a different matter.

On a personal note even when I am stopped and touching the kerb I would still check so i didn't open the door onto a pedestrian.

If the taxi had of been 'legally parked' at the kerbside, then there would have been no physical room for a motorbike to pass. Comprehende?

[jdinasia]

Sean -- again you are missing the most important points of basic law. It IS illegal to lass between the curb and a stopped car. It is NOT illegal to exit a stopped car. If you wish to make a point on behavior then stopping the illegal act is what makes sense. "It is fairly normal to ...." is not a defense that is admissible in court when knowingly breaking the law. For example It is fairly normal to smoke pot in Denver if you are between the ages of 15 and 30. It doesn't make it legal. Regarding "it doesn't take much figuring out to see the hazard...", apparently it does! The hazard is not the opening of a car door on the curb-side of a car that is stopped. The hazard is the illegal passing on the inside by the motorcycle.

Legal action ---- opening car door when stopped at a curb

Illegal action ----- passing between the curb and a car stopped at the curb.

My friend, if the driver of a car pulls up to the kerb - let's say six inches or 15cm or less from the kerb - as opposed to just stopping behind the next vehicle in front in stationary traffic, then there is no motorcycle ever manufactured that can pass between that parked vehicle and the kerb in that six inches. Pulling up at a red light in the middle of the lane, with a metre or more room on the left, in stopped traffic is not the way to stop at the kerb so as to allow passengers to disembark.

It is a physical impossibility for motorcycles to pass a car legally parked at the kerbside.

---o0o---

today i was with 2 tourist friends, we were waiting in traffic and decided we wanted to get out and walk the rest of the way, we told the driver, paid and my friend proceed to open the door a crack when a motorbike was clipped just as he opened the door sending the driver and his passenger tumbling to ground, they were going around 30 km/hr, nobody was seriously injured,

PS: See how in this example, the taxi was not parked, but waiting in traffic. The correct procedure to park a motor vehicle is to firstly switch on the left-indicator light for at least 30 metres to warn other motorists of your intended change of motivation, check your mirrors carefully to make sure that the new trajectory is clear of other traffic, then gradually move to the side of the road or to a vacant parking space if in a built-up area.

Waiting at a red light in traffic is not parked. Do not open doors in these circumstances unless you look carefully to check for oncoming traffic. The fact that your vehicle has had to stop for lack of road ahead, is relative to your vehicle and nobody elses', Einstein.

Sorry Sean ---

Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

[TheLaughingMan]

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

Edited February 12, 2010 by TheLaughingMan

[way2muchcoffee]

No matter what it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

I disagree. As outlined before it really doesn't matter what unenforced laws are on the books. What matters are the laws that are enforces and the typical practice. I don't speak for anywhere outside of BKK, but in BKK every motorcycle I have ever seen or been on does not hesitate to drive between a car and the curb. The police never ticket this activity. Therefore it is not illegal - for all intensive purposes. And so any driver who has been in Thailand for more than a couple of weeks would know not to open the door to get out without first checking for motorcycles.

[SeanMoran]

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

My, that's a first!

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

1. Fair enough, because the same applies that motorbikes can't ride through a gap of 18", but anyone who can't park within 6" of the kerb shoulod not be driving a taxi. The taxi driver in this example was NOT parked.

2. It has also said to be illegal to pass on the right-hand side of a car which is occupying the left lane, but if the car is stationary, then there is no law against riding past it.

Don't open car doors in traffic without looking first or you might murder some innocent motorist. Sorry if this is too much for some people to understand. It might explain a little bit about the high road toll of motorcyclists in Thailand.

Edited February 12, 2010 by SeanMoran

[TheLaughingMan]

There you go again calling it murder, and the reason there is such a high deathtoll in Thailand isnt because Falangs are opening their doors to exit their taxi, it's because simple safety laws are not enforced that should be. Surely this is all just a big wind up.

[dttk0009]

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

My, that's a first!

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

1. Fair enough, because the same applies that motorbikes can't ride through a gap of 18", but anyone who can't park within 6" of the kerb shoulod not be driving a taxi. The taxi driver in this example was NOT parked.

2. It has also said to be illegal to pass on the right-hand side of a car which is occupying the left lane, but if the car is stationary, then there is no law against riding past it.

Don't open car doors in traffic without looking first or you might murder some innocent motorist. Sorry if this is too much for some people to understand. It might explain a little bit about the high road toll of motorcyclists in Thailand.

Yes, dam_n all those reckless cars and pedestrians murdering the innocent, law abiding and careful motorcycle drivers.

[SeanMoran]

There you go again calling it murder, and the reason there is such a high deathtoll in Thailand isnt because Falangs are opening their doors to exit their taxi, it's because simple safety laws are not enforced that should be. Surely this is all just a big wind up.

You don't count anymore after that most creative insult on my name IMHO.

Discuss your murderous plans with someone else, but I'm a Moron, according to you, so it is a waste of my time to write any further to people like you.

[Brigante7]

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

My, that's a first!

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

1. Fair enough, because the same applies that motorbikes can't ride through a gap of 18", but anyone who can't park within 6" of the kerb shoulod not be driving a taxi. The taxi driver in this example was NOT parked.

2. It has also said to be illegal to pass on the right-hand side of a car which is occupying the left lane, but if the car is stationary, then there is no law against riding past it.

Don't open car doors in traffic without looking first or you might murder some innocent motorist. Sorry if this is too much for some people to understand. It might explain a little bit about the high road toll of motorcyclists in Thailand.

If there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is filled with stationery traffic then each lane is occupied, if a motorcyclists wishes to risk his life with a stupid manouvere like weaving in and out of each occupied lane then he has nobody to blame but himself if he comes a cropper. Just because something is done by many people doesn't make it right.

Brigante7.

[SeanMoran]

If there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is filled with stationery traffic then each lane is occupied, if a motorcyclists wishes to risk his life with a stupid manouvere like weaving in and out of each occupied lane then he has nobody to blame but himself if he comes a cropper. Just because something is done by many people doesn't make it right.

Brigante7.

If that was the case, then there would be no way to get out of the door after you opened it because you wouldn't fit through the gap.

---o0o---

There are two different laws in Thailand for motor vehicles: 1 for cars and trucks and buses, and another for motorbikes and buffaloes. Motorcyclists accept that we have to park in separate parking lots and are not allowed on freeways like you big'n'rich car-driving road hogs, jujst as you must accept that you can't get to the front of the traffic lights because you chose to drive in a big fat car, while we took the quicker yet more hazardous option.

It's dangerous enough as it is without idiot tourists opening taxi doors on us when we just want to all get to the same place, by that I don't mean the afterlife. The perpetrator of the collision in this thread almost killed two innocent motorists by some ignorant behaviour with a lethal weapon.

Guilty. Case closed.

---oo0oo---

By the same token, this thread is an excellent textual conduit for the improvement of motorcycle safety and vitality in Thailand.

Edited February 12, 2010 by SeanMoran

[jdinasia]

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

My, that's a first!

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

1. Fair enough, because the same applies that motorbikes can't ride through a gap of 18", but anyone who can't park within 6" of the kerb shoulod not be driving a taxi. The taxi driver in this example was NOT parked.

2. It has also said to be illegal to pass on the right-hand side of a car which is occupying the left lane, but if the car is stationary, then there is no law against riding past it.

Don't open car doors in traffic without looking first or you might murder some innocent motorist. Sorry if this is too much for some people to understand. It might explain a little bit about the high road toll of motorcyclists in Thailand.

gads ... I give up. No wait ... I don't.

Why would you not park 6" from a "kerb", will in my Honda Jazz you couldn't open the door on the 'kerb' side at all in most places.

Now .... Parking vs Stopping. .. no wait, you'll never understand that one!

Now .... illegal vs. legal .... no, you have proven you don't get that either.

ah yes ... at least I can give a word of advice for all people on the forum!

Don't post after drinking alcohol!

[tingtongfarang]

One time while passing between a bus and the curb i sent a passenger into a spin who was jumping of the bus, Yes i was on my motocycle and in the left lane but the problem was the bus stopped in the middle lane to let the passengers on and off or rather he did,nt stop but slowed down to running pace expecting the passengers to jump on and off while in the action of running through the traffic.

Edited February 12, 2010 by tingtongfarang

[SeanMoran]

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

gads ... I give up. No wait ... I don't.

Why would you not park 6" from a "kerb", will in my Honda Jazz you couldn't open the door on the 'kerb' side at all in most places.

Now .... Parking vs Stopping. .. no wait, you'll never understand that one!

Now .... illegal vs. legal .... no, you have proven you don't get that either.

ah yes ... at least I can give a word of advice for all people on the forum!

Don't post after drinking alcohol!

Relax JD, for you'll be sober in the morning, and this thread will still be ugly.

See you tomorrow my entertaining conversationalist of a friend, and remember to knock back an half a litre of water before bed to mask the dehydration.

Take care and sweet dreams, mate. Norn laab faan dee, as the girls all say.

One time while passing between a bus and the curb i sent a passenger into a spin who was jumping of the bus, Yes i was on my motocycle and in the left lane but the problem was the bus stopped in the middle lane to let the passengers on and off or rather he did,nt stop but slowed down to running pace expecting the passengers to jump on of of while in the action of running through the traffic.

What we don't see CAN hurt us.

Edited February 12, 2010 by SeanMoran

[TheLaughingMan]

Sean your opinion is so utterly outrageous its unthinkable that you are completely serious, and yet you are. There is no point in you repeating the same crazy arguments in counter to clear and factual points about the law and common sense. If they followed the law they wouldnt have such a high deathtoll. Are you aware of the insanely high death toll? Like really aware? It's stupidly high, do you really think others are to blame for all the motorcycle drivers dying? You dont at all think they are themselves responsible for their own deaths most of the time? Just come out and say it clearly and I wont ask you anything else or even post on this thread. Do you truly believe that the huge amount of motorcyclists that die each year in Thailand are simply victims of other peoples mistakes and bad driving?

Sorry for mispelling your name.

[jdinasia]

I NEVER post after drinking I am finished giving attention to someone that is trolling as well.

[SeanMoran]

Sean your opinion is so utterly outrageous its unthinkable that you are completely serious, and yet you are. There is no point in you repeating the same crazy arguments in counter to clear and factual points about the law and common sense. If they followed the law they wouldnt have such a high deathtoll. Are you aware of the insanely high death toll? Like really aware? It's stupidly high, do you really think others are to blame for all the motorcycle drivers dying? You dont at all think they are themselves responsible for their own deaths most of the time? Just come out and say it clearly and I wont ask you anything else or even post on this thread. Do you truly believe that the huge amount of motorcyclists that die each year in Thailand are simply victims of other peoples mistakes and bad driving?

Sorry for mispelling your name.

Okay forgiven and I would hope that you and I can continue a decent and gentlemanly argument without resorting to schoolboy ridicule.

I truly believe that many of, perhaps the most, or maybe just a large minority, of the motorcycle injuries and deaths in Thailand are due to cars, but dead men tell no tales. After having luckily survived two accidents caused by cars in Thailand, whilst on a bike, this is the most important mission that what is left of my body and mind to fulfil. Enough of this Mercedes Sakdina policy for I am just one man, but there are many more, mostly either dead by now or lying up in some ICU somewhere.

A large majority of motorcycle deaths are caused by cars here in Thailand. Now you want to give tourist passengers in taxis license to kill innocent motorcyclists when the taxi is stuck in four-wheeled traffic problems.

I will never stop calling for the recognition of and respect fot good motorcyclists in Thailand, from four-wheeled tyrants, because I'm sitting here now much less of a man than I was before I survived that first hit, and I believe that if we can help the minority of car drivers to understand that the human being on the motorbike is no different to themselves, but just riding a motorbike, then we might eventually see a reduction in Thailand's road toll.

Unfortunately, I was told that I will soon be running out of funding for this cause on Wednesday, so it might as well go back to the status quo again. Each man for himself.

[TheLaughingMan]

Surely you could concede that if both motorcyclists and car drivers simply adhered to the rules and laws of the road, the real actual written laws, then there would be a dramatic drop in road deaths? Of course this is just fantasy, this is Thailand, no real law and order, but my fantasy question still stands.

[yabaaaa]

Why would you not park 6" from a "kerb", will in my Honda Jazz you couldn't open the door on the 'kerb' side at all in most places.

Have u ever tried getting out of a car with only a 6" gap, the freaking kerb is a foot high. Sean your talking drivel the motorcycles are cretins the more that get mushed the better!! PS 30 years riding bikes from 250 cc to 1100cc 30 years not one accident on a bike in the UK.

Tell us that bikes here pulling onto main roads form side roads stop and look first???

Edited February 12, 2010 by yabaaaa

[Brigante7]

If there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is filled with stationery traffic then each lane is occupied, if a motorcyclists wishes to risk his life with a stupid manouvere like weaving in and out of each occupied lane then he has nobody to blame but himself if he comes a cropper. Just because something is done by many people doesn't make it right.

Brigante7.

If that was the case, then there would be no way to get out of the door after you opened it because you wouldn't fit through the gap.

---o0o---

There are two different laws in Thailand for motor vehicles: 1 for cars and trucks and buses, and another for motorbikes and buffaloes. Motorcyclists accept that we have to park in separate parking lots and are not allowed on freeways like you big'n'rich car-driving road hogs, jujst as you must accept that you can't get to the front of the traffic lights because you chose to drive in a big fat car, while we took the quicker yet more hazardous option.

It's dangerous enough as it is without idiot tourists opening taxi doors on us when we just want to all get to the same place, by that I don't mean the afterlife. The perpetrator of the collision in this thread almost killed two innocent motorists by some ignorant behaviour with a lethal weapon.

Guilty. Case closed.

---oo0oo---

By the same token, this thread is an excellent textual conduit for the improvement of motorcycle safety and vitality in Thailand.

I have no problem with waiting in traffic while I'm in my "big fat car" If it bothered me then I wouldn't drive my "Big fat car" like the Big 'n' rich road hog that I am or I wouldn't ride my motorbike either. As for your statement that "Idiot tourists almost killed two innocent mototcyclists by ignorant behaviour with a lethal weapon" was a classic, please keep us entertained with your sense of humour. The fact is if motorcyclist want to endanger their lives by weaving in and out of stationery or moving traffic then they should expect the unexpected.

The problem with motorcyclists, and cyclist for that matter, is that they expect everybody else to make allowances for their stupidity and risk taking.

Brigante7.

[phetaroi]

Surely it depends on what side of the car you are getting out on? Is it not illegal to pass a car on the left side, especially if they are in the left most lane?

I was near paragon the other day and a taxi was pulled over to the left next to a railing, and a motorbike taxi tried to gun it full speed between the 50cm of space inbetween the taxi and the railing...the passenger opened the door and the motorbike slammed into it. Whole thing was a big mess with the door jammed into the railing etc.. etc..

Driver was not seriously injured...

But <deleted> are you thinking, driving your motorbike into a situation like that...ok the passenger didn't look but as a foreign tourist would you really expect a motorbike to be passing you full speed on the left in a 50cm gap between the taxi and the curb...

On the other hand if you are opening your door on the right that's 100% your own fault.

I'm glad you mentioned this and said it the way you did.

For all those are saying what the law is in Thailand...well, I doubt most of you know what the law in Thailand is.

But what about brains of motorcycle drivers? I know that there are some who are intelligent, follow the law, and are courteous. But to be honest -- and this is my biggest peeve here in Thailand -- I assume that motorcycle taxi drivers are the scum of the earth. They are rude, usually dirty, speed through traffic at unholy speeds just so they can get to the corner and sit for hours, have no consideration for the safety of their passengers (let alone pedestrians), drive on the wrong side of the street, weave through traffic, beat the stoplights before and after red, and just to make the picture complete drive fast on the sidewalks to the extent that pedestrians need to jump out of the way or be injured.

What about common courtesy? No, they're too stupid. And you're wrong if you say they don't know any better. Walk down the sidewalk and don't jump out of their way. Look right at them. Do you know what they do almost 100% of the time? They look down and to the side. Do you know what that is? It's automatic body language saying, "I'm embarrassed because I'm wrong."

The other day I was walking down a street (not a main street like Sukhumvit or Phetburi), but a not a little soi, either. More like Asok. I needed to cross the street, and up ahead there was a mid-block crosswalk. I got to the crosswalk and look up and down the street. A total lull in traffic. It's a miracle! I get half way across the 4 lanes and a motorcycle taxi driver whizzes full speed out of a driveway heading right for me. There's still no traffic in our vicinity, so he has tons of space. But no, he heads right for me...on the crosswalk. I was quite sure he wouldn't ultimately hit me, so I just stopped and stared at him. As he swerved to miss me he yelled something in Thai, pretty obviously a curse word. He's wrong, stupid, rude, and dirty. Period.

[tingtongfarang]

I drive car and ride a bike here in thailand and always assumed the only 3 advantages of a bike here were less fuel consumption, ease of parking and not having to sit in traffic jams, When driving the car i always try to make allowances for bikes and drive accordingly even to the point of leaving a reasonable gap between my car and the car infront when in a jam to assist bikes weaving through...not something i had to think about or learn it just came natural after riding bikes in europe most of my life, But for me passing between cars and the curb is a nono, Regardless of if i,m useing the car or the bike i feel taxis and buss drivers are the worst and manage to put the most people in danger.

Edited February 13, 2010 by tingtongfarang

[tingtongfarang]

Surely it depends on what side of the car you are getting out on? Is it not illegal to pass a car on the left side, especially if they are in the left most lane?

I was near paragon the other day and a taxi was pulled over to the left next to a railing, and a motorbike taxi tried to gun it full speed between the 50cm of space inbetween the taxi and the railing...the passenger opened the door and the motorbike slammed into it. Whole thing was a big mess with the door jammed into the railing etc.. etc..

Driver was not seriously injured...

But <deleted> are you thinking, driving your motorbike into a situation like that...ok the passenger didn't look but as a foreign tourist would you really expect a motorbike to be passing you full speed on the left in a 50cm gap between the taxi and the curb...

On the other hand if you are opening your door on the right that's 100% your own fault.

I'm glad you mentioned this and said it the way you did.

For all those are saying what the law is in Thailand...well, I doubt most of you know what the law in Thailand is.

But what about brains of motorcycle drivers? I know that there are some who are intelligent, follow the law, and are courteous. But to be honest -- and this is my biggest peeve here in Thailand -- I assume that motorcycle taxi drivers are the scum of the earth. They are rude, usually dirty, speed through traffic at unholy speeds just so they can get to the corner and sit for hours, have no consideration for the safety of their passengers (let alone pedestrians), drive on the wrong side of the street, weave through traffic, beat the stoplights before and after red, and just to make the picture complete drive fast on the sidewalks to the extent that pedestrians need to jump out of the way or be injured.

What about common courtesy? No, they're too stupid. And you're wrong if you say they don't know any better. Walk down the sidewalk and don't jump out of their way. Look right at them. Do you know what they do almost 100% of the time? They look down and to the side. Do you know what that is? It's automatic body language saying, "I'm embarrassed because I'm wrong."

The other day I was walking down a street (not a main street like Sukhumvit or Phetburi), but a not a little soi, either. More like Asok. I needed to cross the street, and up ahead there was a mid-block crosswalk. I got to the crosswalk and look up and down the street. A total lull in traffic. It's a miracle! I get half way across the 4 lanes and a motorcycle taxi driver whizzes full speed out of a driveway heading right for me. There's still no traffic in our vicinity, so he has tons of space. But no, he heads right for me...on the crosswalk. I was quite sure he wouldn't ultimately hit me, so I just stopped and stared at him. As he swerved to miss me he yelled something in Thai, pretty obviously a curse word. He's wrong, stupid, rude, and dirty. Period.

I think you will find also the police here also dont know the traffic laws and as many of the laws ar,nt logical its almost impossible for the average road user to know them off by heart.

Edited February 13, 2010 by tingtongfarang