Riding Motorcycles With No Helmets Main Cause Of Death In Thailand

[apetley]

Welcome to Thailand!

With an expression like that on the girl at the front must be worth at least an extra 2-3 bhp.

Like the way she's squatting down off the front of the seat too for superior streamlining.

[robblok]

I drive a bike and would not dream of not wearing a helmet. To be honest i should wear some other safetygear too but its so darn hot here.. . This goes double when there is a traffic jam and cars are purpously making sure you cant pass them by moving as close to the other lane as possible just to make it harder for bikers to pass. (idiot car drivers should just clip all those nice mirrors and drive on)

[MarcoH]

Hi Guys

Helmet law for BOTH rider and Pillion has been inforced (but not followed by BiB) 17yrs already

Have a look on this Worth to look

This will hopefully clear all confusion up

I have saw 4 people on motor bikes die in BKK in the last year ., 3 of then did not have helmets on.

By law, apparently, only the driver has to wear an helmet

Correct me if I am wrong.

Only rider has to wear helmet....driver don't need unless in the racing track

[keestha]

In the course of the last two months, two farangs that I knew very well died in seperate motorcycle accidents. Don't know if they were wearing helmets or not.

When we are talking about helmets, a helmet only gives very limited protection, and many Europeans told me helmets of the type sold here, wouldn't pass the test in Europe.

In the semi-countryside area where I have been living for 10 years now, the road safety has certainly improved: there are streetlights now in dangerous curves that used to be dark, etc. But because the Thai state has limited money to spend, there are still many situations like traffic lights or roundabouts lacking in places where they definitely should be.

Once when I was in India a long time ago, the government was just undertaking a big traffic safety campaign. Along the roads there were slogans written all over the place like "death is a five letter word, so is speed", and "drive slowly, your family needs you". A campaign like that could possibly have some impact.

[BWPattaya]

Welcome to Thailand!

With an expression like that on the girl at the front must be worth at least an extra 2-3 bhp.

Like the way she's squatting down off the front of the seat too for superior streamlining.

She is actually leaning forward so that the girl behind can see where she is going. That is the one who is steering.

I have just started watching a television programme from the UK about Africa. Jonathon Dimbley, a much respected and esteemed reporter, is setting a good example. On a motorbike taxi with no helmet. In fact despite many bikes in veiw not one has a helmet.

[slapout]

The lack of helmets, lack of enforcement of helmet laws, etc would not seem to be a contributing factor to the accidents in which motorcycles are involved. Until you have a drivers education and this is tied to a license to operate any vehicle on the roads, yes, even bicycles, you are not going to stop the road carnage.

Helmets, tickets, etc do not lessen the accident rate, granted helmets will decrease the head injury/death numbers but not the number of accidents. A impound/fine system that hurts monetary and convenience wise for no license, helmet, etc, then let the family take responsibility for ((taxi to school, public transport, etc) and if caught subsequently forfeit the vehicle and the privilege to drive for a specified time frame. Typical, blame/point a finger, in this case, the helmet and not the real cause, individual irresponsible people.

[EyesWideOpen]

The total cost to the country of Thailand of these endless accidents of helmetless riders is enormous.

I have often thought the country would be far ahead by having the govenment give a quality helmet to every single rider for free, and have a extremely rigorous crackdown on anyone riding without a helmet. I know this is pretty forward thinking for Thailand, but in the end would save a staggering amount of money.......

[sjjmmi]

Welcome to Thailand!

Only in Thailand

Edited June 4, 2010 by sjjmmi

[asiawatcher]

Please ... don't bring in another law so the police have another excuse to scam the public. If the law already states helmets must be worn, and those who fall off for whatever reason get killed by not wearing a helmet or are drunk... som num na. You can take the horse to water ....

[asiawatcher]

Wearing ahelmet is necessary to stop the police fining you. It isn't for protecting your head.

Sorry, I have been here too long.

Classic - but yes! Too true

[eggomaniac]

As few Posters said, the plastic bowls they call 'helmets' don't supply protection.

Also, if one of these helmetless Thais gets killed from a brain injury after smucking into a farang, does that get factored in as who is at fault?

Bad enough if it was them that blew the Stop Sign, worse if they would have lived through it with a PROPER helmet.

[stoko42]

The other night as I was crossing the street a Motor bike was coming down the road. I could hardly see it's head lite as they had the helmet in the basket in front of it.

The other day as I waited in my doctor's office on a main highway I watched as the police had a road block rite outside it. They seemed to have no system to what they were doing. Many motor bikes were stopped for no visual reason. Often a helmet less rider would go by while they had some one with a helmet stopped. There was no discernible pattern to what they were doing.

In Chiang Mai they are often trying to catch Tai Yai migrant workers who are at present forbidden to drive or own a motorbike. The fine 2000 baht. The bike is confiscated until they pay. This happened to my wife and the policeman in the station proudly boasted that they do this every month in his words "they earn 4000 and have to pay us 2000"

luckily this is ending now due to the new passport scheme which will allow legal migrant workers to apply for a license.

[Humphrey Bear]

I currently live and work in Vietnam - so the attitudes would be expected to be similar.

However, VN is like Thailand was in the 1970's / 1980's - a few cars on the roads, but millions of motor-bikes (100cc scooters). Everyne wears a crash hat in the maor cities, most wear a crash hat in the countryside.

The police enforce the rule - this morning there were motor-cycle police on both sides of the road checking for traffic violations. They picked up a couple of motor-cyclists for no helmet, but hundreds had passed-by, wearing helmets. Most helmets are pretty well useless, but they are worn. Many are free gifts from companies, but many more are purchased by the user. There are as many helmet shops in VN as there are 7/11s in Thailand.

[tweety]

Another guide to the perfect Thai idiot

Songkran holiday (April 12-18) claimed the lives of 361 people with 3,516 accidents and 3,802 injured according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. 29.5% of crashes involved drunk drivers and speeding was cited in 17.1%. Motorcycles were involved in 79.6% of all accidents. It is likely the true numbers are considerably higher than the official figures as people who later die in (or on the way to) hospital are not counted

The death toll from a series of violent clashes between the anti-government protestors and troops in capital Bangkok during March 12 to May 19 stood at 88 as some 1, 885 others were wounded, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said Tuesday.

TIT Figure it out for yourself .......... Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

[ratcatcher]

The total cost to the country of Thailand of these endless accidents of helmetless riders is enormous.

I have often thought the country would be far ahead by having the govenment give a quality helmet to every single rider for free, and have a extremely rigorous crackdown on anyone riding without a helmet. I know this is pretty forward thinking for Thailand, but in the end would save a staggering amount of money.......

Your post is very good and your idea is sound albeit expensive.

However many Thais who ride motorbikes actually own helmets but don't use them because they figure they will not be involved in an accident.

Most injuries to the head occur at relatively low speeds where there is damage to arms and legs etc but the rider survives.

Anyone riding at high speed and hitting a large immovable object will usually sustain fatal or massive injuries regardless of helmet use.

Another consideration is that while there are many empty helmets, there are as many empty heads.

[d0om4gloom]

This article is another dreadful piece of reporting. Not wearing hemets is not a CAUSE of accidents, it may be associated with Head injury. Drunk driving is a cause but not an injury. A more appropriate report would examine the number of deaths associated with head injurys as opposed to something else and as a percentage of the total. Expand that to give the same figures on serious injury and non-serious injury and you might have some meaningful stats. Unfortunately this report is designed to support it's objectives without really caring to provide the truth. I am certain the numbers of head injurys are actually much lower than the 78.9% the report implies. Still, at least the helmet brigade can jump on the bandwagon again !

[ballpoint]

I have just started watching a television programme from the UK about Africa. Jonathon Dimbley, a much respected and esteemed reporter, is setting a good example. On a motorbike taxi with no helmet. In fact despite many bikes in veiw not one has a helmet.

Note the helmet in the front basket

[01322521959]

Even when wearing a helmet they forget to do the straps up, even Policemen. I have at first hand witnessed a motorcyclist have a helmet on and hit the kerb, his brains were splattered all over the place, just cause he was in a rush and did not do it up.

Laws in Thailand are there, but those in authority do nothing, a big overhaul of the system is required, but we will not see it happen in our lifetimes.

I ride my little Honda every day here treat my helmet like an "egg" do this and it will hopefully give a fair degree of protection in the event of an accident. I also wear leather summer gloves, Always wear a jacket and a bright orange flouresent bib, yes it's dam_n hot but at least I have some protection. Motorbikes in Thailand are looked on as almost the same as a bicycle, these automatic bikes don't make things any better, they seem to have only two throttle positions, ON and OFF. The thing that upsets me is mum and dad with smack hats and a 3 year old sandwitched between them in a nappy! Murderers! We all have stories, but one that stays with me was arriving at an accident, young student on the road with a bloke trying to pick her up, she had that "Dead Eye" look. No helmet of course. Turn my head away now when I see any accident.

The normal western ideas concerning safety don't occur in 99% of the Thai brains. Case in point, my educated girlfriend's comment when a policeman on a motor bike nearly hit me riding on the wrong side of the road when we were crossing, "maybe he has to get somewhere quickly."

The media needs to get involved with the education of safety, just stick a few information shorts in between the adverts in those terrible soap operas, that should do the trick...

[colte]

Those "terrible soap operas" also have many scenes of motorcyclists without helmets. Maybe if those scenes were censored like the cigarettes and alcohol the message would be reinforced. Imagine their favourite superstar with his face obscured for most of an episode because he was not wearing a helmet

[witold]

One of the things I like about Thailand is that it is not so rules and laws oriented. People keep a more relaxed attitude and don't but into other people's business. I would hate Thailand to become a nanny state like EU and - increasingly - USA. I think public relations campaigns are good, but heavy enforcement is not. If someone takes extra risks, what is it to you?

[sirchai]

I have saw 4 people on motor bikes die in BKK in the last year ., 3 of then did not have helmets on.

By law, apparently, only the driver has to wear an helmet

Correct me if I am wrong.

The laws clearly say that both have to wear a helmet. But most of these helmets are similar to an egg shell. I've seen a few young guys dying on the street not wearing a helmet.

For example in a town in the lower north east is almost nobody wearing one after 5 pm, because the cops are off duty.

Driver's license with 18? How do all the students come to school? Would anybody check in a little village? Again this is a very important part of education, but if the teachers and cops are NOT wearing a helmet after 5 pm, how should students understand it?

There should be photos of deadly accidents at all schools, government buildings and the fine should be not to drive for one month, being caught without a helmet, plus a fine.

Last but not least all drivers should have to make a serious test; people under the influence of alcohol should lose their permit. People who drive through a red light should have to pay a big fine.

Last but not least cops should check more on motorbikes without light, some of them die because the rear bulb blew, only 10 baht for a new one. Tires and brakes must be alright and so on…………

Edited June 4, 2010 by sirchai

[seri thai]

I have saw 4 people on motor bikes die in BKK in the last year ., 3 of then did not have helmets on.

By law, apparently, only the driver has to wear an helmet

Correct me if I am wrong.

Here's one of the reasons in the capital: Spot the lawbreaker in the tight brown trousers (He's the one rider without the helmet)

[witold]

Most injuries to the head occur at relatively low speeds where there is damage to arms and legs etc but the rider survives.

Anyone riding at high speed and hitting a large immovable object will usually sustain fatal or massive injuries regardless of helmet use.

I think you don't realize just what sorts of falls riders can walk away from, or at least survive. I've ridden sportbikes in both LOS and USA, on both public roads and race tracks. I have seen my share of crashes, and have crashed myself several times also. I have crashed three times at speeds of around 100kph and walked away. (1 on track, 1 on US road, 1 on LOS road.) Several of my friends have crashed at speeds exceeding 230kph and walked away. Our leather suits, boots, and gloves protected our bodies. Our helmets protected our heads from considerable - and sometimes multiple - heavy impact. You are correct that no helmet will protect someone from running straight into a brick wall or guardrail, but chances are good that once you crash you just tumble and slide... Wearing a helmet makes a huge difference in survival statistics.

[seri thai]

One of the things I like about Thailand is that it is not so rules and laws oriented. People keep a more relaxed attitude and don't but into other people's business. I would hate Thailand to become a nanny state like EU and - increasingly - USA. I think public relations campaigns are good, but heavy enforcement is not. If someone takes extra risks, what is it to you?

In a welfare state where the taxpayers foots the medical bill for the individuals stupidity it is a big issue to the government and the citizen.

Here it's Som nam naa

Here there is the relaxed attitude to corruption, murder and anything that doesn't directly involve the individual, his personal relationships and his rice bowl. Right or wrong who's to say or judge?

(and don't say the police or judiciary!

I should add that taking an interest in anything outside the above in this culture is socially and historically considered foolish and dangerous

Edited June 4, 2010 by seri thai

[Just1Voice]

I drive a CBR 150R, and my helmet goes on BEFORE the bike is started, I don't care if I'm just going down to the little market less than a kilometer away. I have a full face helmet that has sun shades mounted inside that can be raised or lowered, as well as the clear shield on the outside. For anything other than going to the market, which means highway driving, I have a race jacket with fiberglass supports at the elbows and upper back. Granted, what I paid for the helmet and jacket is more than most Thai make in a month, but I grew up on bikes, starting with mini bike, then dirt & trail bikes, and then racing dirt tracks and motocross at 12. I have seen far too many people killed from bike accidents in my life because of stupidity, which includes no helmet, reckless driving, drunk driving, etc. I have a 27 yr old Thai son that I adopted, and bought him a Yamaha X1R a year ago. One day when he went to work and didn't wear his helmet, when he came home I took his keys away from him for a week, and he had to have a fellow teacher come pick him up every day. That ended that problem.

I have a 14 yr old niece that I have promised to teach how to drive, but made it clear that if I ever catch her on a motorbike, either as a driver or passenger, without a helmet, I will put her across my knee and spank her, and I don't care if it is front of her entire school. She got the message.

One of the things that are not mentioned in the reports such as the OP is the number of people who are maimed and crippled for life, and need long term medical care, or permanent care by their families.

As for the BIB, only once have I seen them actually do the "right thing". About a year ago my wife and I were visiting a friend who lives on a small, narrow soi off the main highway. We were all standing outside when the woman across the street told her son to go to the store and get something. This 12 year old boy hopped on the motorbike and shot out of the soi, turning the WRONG WAY, and was immediately crushed to death by a new D-Max. When the police arrived they had to restrain the woman from trying to attack the driver of the truck, and the senior BIB actually yelled at her and told her that it was HER fault her son was dead because SHE is the one who allowed him to drive at the age of 12, and that if he was going to arrest and charge anyone, it would be her. Too bad there's not a few thousand more like him.

[neverdie]

I have saw 4 people on motor bikes die in BKK in the last year ., 3 of then did not have helmets on.

By law, apparently, only the driver has to wear an helmet

Correct me if I am wrong.

You are WRONG.

Section 122 of the Land Traffic Act, B.E. 2522 states:

The rider and the passenger of a motorcycle shall wear a motorcycle helmet.

The provision under this section is not enforced for monks, novices, ascetics, persons of other religions which require wearing of a turban, or any person under Ministerial Regulation.

Edited June 4, 2010 by neverdie

[witold]

One of the things that are not mentioned in the reports such as the OP is the number of people who are maimed and crippled for life, and need long term medical care, or permanent care by their families.

Actually, it's the opposite. Helmets use actually greatly increases health care costs.

Helmet users survive with vastly more severe injuries and this results in complicated procedures and long - or lifetime - recovery/physical therapy. It really is quite amazing the sorts of accidents helmet users have survived because the brain was not damaged. In contrast, riders who don't wear helmets usually die at the scene even after fairly minor injuries because they bumped their head on the pavement just a little too hard - there is almost no medical treatment cost for these guys, it costs very little to scrape a body off the road.

[neverdie]

I have saw 4 people on motor bikes die in BKK in the last year ., 3 of then did not have helmets on.

By law, apparently, only the driver has to wear an helmet

Correct me if I am wrong.

Here's one of the reasons in the capital: Spot the lawbreaker in the tight brown trousers (He's the one rider without the helmet)

INCORRECT.

Under Section 122 of the Land Traffic Act, the Police Officer in the picture is exempt from wearing a helmet.

[bhoydy]

One of the things I like about Thailand is that it is not so rules and laws oriented. People keep a more relaxed attitude and don't but into other people's business. I would hate Thailand to become a nanny state like EU and - increasingly - USA. I think public relations campaigns are good, but heavy enforcement is not. If someone takes extra risks, what is it to you?

I agree with you on the first part, i would also hate Thailand to become like that, my example would be the UK. However, if someone takes risks, for example drinking too much and then gets onto a bike and mows down a member of your family then it's everything to you. I know the topic is about motorcycle helmets but now we seem to be onto more general rules and laws. It's impossible to find the happy medium between the way Thailand is now and the way a lot of so called developed countries are now, which in many cases i think has gone too far.

[hansum]

One of the things I like about Thailand is that it is not so rules and laws oriented. People keep a more relaxed attitude and don't but into other people's business. I would hate Thailand to become a nanny state like EU and - increasingly - USA. I think public relations campaigns are good, but heavy enforcement is not. If someone takes extra risks, what is it to you?

I had a chat about 5 years with an old boy in the UK one of the things he said was that although he knew his life was to end soon, he'd was glad when he was born when he was as back then people had far more freedoms ... on example he gave was that although its stupid to do he could ride his big mtorbikes without a helmet whereas now the govt makes us do so.

But imo there has to be some rules and wearing a helmet is one that should be strictly enforced.

IN Pattaya by the traffic lights near walking street the police have been stopping people for 1 week no everynight and day, yet plenty still seem to not care as it'll mess up there hair whilst on the way to work.