I Don't Get It

[stuandchris]

Another fortuner story

Coming round the bend from freedom onto Wiset Rd I am following a water tanker doing about 40kph in my fortuner. I am about ten yards behind and not overtaking as there is no clear line of site, there is an old thai truck on the inside doing maybe 5kph less so no undertaking.

A farang on a honda wave comes up behind the the thai on the inside lane and swerves in front of me literally 3ft off my front bumber, didn't look, no indicating nothing. There is a vigo tailgating me. I have four options.

1. Brake and get hit from behind.

2. Swerve left and sideswipe the thai truck

3. Run over the biker.

4. Swerve onto oncoming traffic not knowing what is coming.

I took option 4 thank god the road was clear.

I gave the bike driver a toot [small one to let him know there was a three ton truck there] and he just let loose with a lot of gestures and mouthing.

The question is if Karenbravo and the fortuner bashers came along a minute later if had turned out badly what would the conclusion be that they would jump to?

They would have seen either a thai truck bashed into a ditch, a dead farang on a Honda wave or a head on with oncoming traffic with the fortuner in the wrong lane.

No prizes for their conclusion and comments on here. Facts don't matter, only a black fortuner in an accident.

<deleted> drivers come in all shapes and sizes, you don't have to be in an accident to cause one guys.

[KarenBravo]

Well.....obviously, if a Fortuner was involved, it would be the Fortuner's fault (especially if it's black).

[Valentine]

Another fortuner story

Coming round the bend from freedom onto Wiset Rd I am following a water tanker doing about 40kph in my fortuner. I am about ten yards behind and not overtaking as there is no clear line of site, there is an old thai truck on the inside doing maybe 5kph less so no undertaking.

A farang on a honda wave comes up behind the the thai on the inside lane and swerves in front of me literally 3ft off my front bumber, didn't look, no indicating nothing. There is a vigo tailgating me. I have four options.

1. Brake and get hit from behind.

2. Swerve left and sideswipe the thai truck

3. Run over the biker.

4. Swerve onto oncoming traffic not knowing what is coming.

I took option 4 thank god the road was clear.

I gave the bike driver a toot [small one to let him know there was a three ton truck there] and he just let loose with a lot of gestures and mouthing.

The question is if Karenbravo and the fortuner bashers came along a minute later if had turned out badly what would the conclusion be that they would jump to?

They would have seen either a thai truck bashed into a ditch, a dead farang on a Honda wave or a head on with oncoming traffic with the fortuner in the wrong lane.

No prizes for their conclusion and comments on here. Facts don't matter, only a black fortuner in an accident.

<deleted> drivers come in all shapes and sizes, you don't have to be in an accident to cause one guys.

Most likely in all cases the police would have concluded you were in the wrong as I seriously doubt you would find anyone willing to testify about the real situation at the time.

[Valentine]

There appears to have been a major accident outside Tesco Lotus last night. One source has reported it but not so far nothing from PG or it would be in our news & events. People at the scene said they heard an explosion from the Honda Accord, which did not burst into flames immediately. It was followed by a second blast, and then the fire. A badly burnt man was rescued & taken to Bangkok Hospital. A friend of mine was late for a meeting because of this incident & he seemed to think there was more than one car involved.

I wonder what the official report will be as the blast scenario is not good.

[pagallim]

There appears to have been a major accident outside Tesco Lotus last night. One source has reported it but not so far nothing from PG or it would be in our news & events. People at the scene said they heard an explosion from the Honda Accord, which did not burst into flames immediately. It was followed by a second blast, and then the fire. A badly burnt man was rescued & taken to Bangkok Hospital. A friend of mine was late for a meeting because of this incident & he seemed to think there was more than one car involved.

I wonder what the official report will be as the blast scenario is not good.

Oh, oh. We have both a Black Fortuner, and a Honda Accord (are Accord's the new Black Fortuner I wonder?)!

In all seriousness, 2 weeks ago my wife picked up the G/F of a buddy of mine who had been involved in a serious motorcycle accident the night before (his fault) to take her (and his passport) back to Bangkok Hospital where he was in ICU. We had visited the hospital the night of the accident, and also this particular morning. They live at the end of Cape Panwa, so the wife dropped me and our dogs at our favourite beach whilst she did the hospital run (in the Fortuner). 30 minutes later, she phoned me to say she'd been involved in an accident (this was very early afternoon).

She was travelling along a straight section of road, and saw a motorcycle come around a bend about 100 metres ahead. For some unexplained reason, the M/C crossed to the other side of the road, didn't attempt to brake, and hit our Fortuner bang in the middle of the front at quite some considerable speed. At the time of impact, my wife had already braked and was stationary (on the correct side of the road). There was a couple travelling on a M/C behind our car at the time, who stopped, phoned for an ambulance and police, and waited until the police arrived.

The M/C was a complete write off, and our Fortuner sustained a surprising amount of front damage (in spite of having a padded bull bar at the front, impact was such to rupture the radiator). Because the M/C rider doesn't have insurance (only the Government basic) our insurance is covering the repair to the Fortuner.

Yesterday, having been discharged from hospital, there was the compulsory meeting between the two parties at the main Phuket police station. The M/C rider was totally apologetic, and he was left in no doubt by our insurance company (also attended) that they will claim at least partial damages from him, taking him to court if necessary. There was no question of either our insurance, or ourselves contributing to any of his losses. His excuse for the accident was that he had just finished a long shift at a 7/11 where he worked, and was tired.

Because of Songkran, the Fortuner will end up being off the road for circa 3 weeks. Not a big issue apart from the dogs not getting to go to the beach (they're not allowed in the Accord, which is perhaps lucky as it might explode).

[pagallim]

At about 3:30 pm today I saw a white Fortuner get rammed just north of Hayek Chalong on the Chao Fah West road, between the roundabout and the U-Turn.

He started off in the left lane, then shot over to the right lane because it was less busy, then decided to get back in the left lane as his lane was stationary due to a car doing a U-turn.

But he couldn't get back in the left lane (the car in front of me had closed the gap) so he hit the brakes - a little too quick for the "sam lor" that was following him and that had no brakes. The old lady in the sam lor's metal basket "sidecar" shot forward and banged the Fortuner's rear end with her head and the metal basket skewered the Fortuner's bodywork, as the basket had bits protruding forwards - looked like it was made from "rebar" (reinforcement bars for concrete).

Looked like 5 - 10,000 baht damage which I'm sure the old guy driving the sam lor doesn't have.

the old man didnt need to pay damage if you witnessed for him. switching lanes like this is illegal, and fortuner driver is responsible to pay samlors damages, medical treatment and loss of income. even if this fortuner is white

There is nothing illegal about changing lanes, as long as the correct indication signals are given. Driving anywhere in Phuket usually necessitates changing lanes quite frequently. It is also the norm (as in the US) to overtake on the inside lane (very bad practice on European roads). Any collision from the rear can only happen if the vehicle behind is travelling too close, particularly if they are aware of the deficiencies of their brakes.

[katabeachbum]

There is nothing illegal about changing lanes, as long as the correct indication signals are given. Driving anywhere in Phuket usually necessitates changing lanes quite frequently. It is also the norm (as in the US) to overtake on the inside lane (very bad practice on European roads). Any collision from the rear can only happen if the vehicle behind is travelling too close, particularly if they are aware of the deficiencies of their brakes.

shot over to the right lane and HIT THE BRAKES. who is to blame, indicator or not (probably not)?

[WOOHOO]

There is nothing illegal about changing lanes, as long as the correct indication signals are given. Driving anywhere in Phuket usually necessitates changing lanes quite frequently. It is also the norm (as in the US) to overtake on the inside lane (very bad practice on European roads). Any collision from the rear can only happen if the vehicle behind is travelling too close, particularly if they are aware of the deficiencies of their brakes.

Changing lanes is highly illegal if you're doing it dangerously and recklessly and putting peoples lives in danger.

The old 'the car behind is always to blame for not keeping his distance' law, although more often than not, true in a court of law, in practice is nonsense. The amount of cars on the roads in most places in the world, means it is physically impossible for every car to keep that safe distance.

[Valentine]

Now PG has a small article on the burning car outside Lotus. It says they will have more info in the hard copy edition out tomorrow.

[pagallim]

There is nothing illegal about changing lanes, as long as the correct indication signals are given. Driving anywhere in Phuket usually necessitates changing lanes quite frequently. It is also the norm (as in the US) to overtake on the inside lane (very bad practice on European roads). Any collision from the rear can only happen if the vehicle behind is travelling too close, particularly if they are aware of the deficiencies of their brakes.

Changing lanes is highly illegal if you're doing it dangerously and recklessly and putting peoples lives in danger.

The old 'the car behind is always to blame for not keeping his distance' law, although more often than not, true in a court of law, in practice is nonsense. The amount of cars on the roads in most places in the world, means it is physically impossible for every car to keep that safe distance.

My comments were based surmising a certain level of competency and safety consciousness (sadly lacking here of course). Driving dangerously and recklessly is highly illegal, changing lanes under safe conditions is not.

From my own experience, my most 'heart stopping' moments whilst driving here are inevitably motor cycles turning into traffic from the left without their checking existing traffic flow.

[katabeachbum]

From my own experience, my most 'heart stopping' moments whilst driving here are inevitably motor cycles turning into traffic from the left without their checking existing traffic flow.

that happens 20 times a day.

driving countryside 80kmh or faster after midnight, meeting pickups and motorbikes with side car on the wrong side ("my" side), not using any lights. Thats exciting . and my main reason for avoiding longdistance at night

Edited April 23, 2010 by katabeachbum

[pagallim]

From my own experience, my most 'heart stopping' moments whilst driving here are inevitably motor cycles turning into traffic from the left without their checking existing traffic flow.

that happens 20 times a day.

driving countryside 80kmh or faster after midnight, meeting pickups and motorbikes with side car on the wrong side ("my" side), not using any lights. Thats exciting . and my main reason for avoiding longdistance at night

Agreed. The frequency each (or most) of us experience abject driving circumstances are too often. There's a 'first across the post' mentality that exists here for any kind of vehicle, so defensive driving becomes the norm. I also think that because there is a high number of people from the Provinces (who perhaps are not used to the high density driving of Phuket), there are a much higher number of accidents. Just an observation.