Crazy Thai Drivers Fail At Stopping For Red Lights

[george]

Crazy Thai drivers fail at stopping for red lights

It just shows you that if a police car can go through a red light then what hope is there for law and order in Thailand?

With normal pedestrian crossings I don't stop even if someone is crossing the road. This is more out of safety reasons. No-one expects me to stop, so either the car behind me will crash into my bumper for suddenly stopping in the middle of the road or they will try and overtake me and then knock down the pedestrian that my car is hiding from their view. I only stop at pedestrian crossings in Thailand when I consider it is safe for everyone to do so. However, with lights, I would always stop. I guess it will just take time for the Thai drivers to learn. Or maybe not and they have just wasted 4.5 million USD in installing them. /via @richardbarrow

Source: http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/showthread.php?36144-Beware-of-the-pedestrian-crossing-lights-in-Pattaya

[BillR]

4.5 million USD

[Beetlejuice]

.

[onnut]

Why is it that the Thais just drive on through like they are not there? there has got to be a serious answer to this one.

[JurgenG]

The guys says he never stops at pedestrian crossing for SAFETY REASONS ?????

I have serious doubts about who is really insane here.

Edited November 14, 2010 by JurgenG

[MSingh]

I don't personally think it's crazy..

I've thought about it for Years & think it's selfish, stupid & shows a massive lack of both awareness & education doubled with a different concept of danger & little or no sense of danger than many people in the West have..

This goes for crossing the Road & pulling out of turnings on Bikes &/or Cars too..

[BillR]

people do it because they know they can't get caught. Implementing one of those automatic ticket photo things makes perfect sense for Thailand. Government could collect a lot of money without having to do anything.

[LennyW]

The video was on the first or second day of operation (about a week ago), it would seem now that most car/pick up drivers are getting the message and stopping on red, only the motorcycles still seem to scoot through as they please.

Why is it that the Thais just drive on through like they are not there? there has got to be a serious answer to this one.

Dont believe for a minute that the Thais were the only ones ignoring the lights, first few days i saw just as many foreigners doing the same!!!! Certainly better now though.

[JUDAS]

Spending money to hopefully improve road safety without education and enforcement is a complete waste of time.

[Spoonman]

Yeah I dorve through one today, rude fooker gave me the finger for mot stopping......... fookin ruskies, what do they think they own the place or something.

[Loz]

Spending money to hopefully improve road safety without education and enforcement is a complete waste of time.

Golden Post.

Start with Education. Then buy the tools to facilitate. But of course, no contractors would be party to big corruption kick backs that way, so it's a non-starter.

[stander]

A few years back I was sitting at a traffic light in Ratchaburi and a car went flying through on red.

There was a traffic cop on a big bike there who, much to my surprise took off in pursuit of the offender, only for his unsecured orange"McDonalds" vest to fly up on to his face.

Indignant he stopped readjusted and took off again only for the same thing to happen again, only this times he nearly hit a oncoming car.

So I am not sure hot pursuit is such a good idea here

[IanForbes]

What I hate most is approaching a stale green light on my motorbike. I know it's likely to change to red at any time and I know there will be light jumpers (before light turns green for them) as well as the guy in the big truck behind me who has no intention of stopping if the light suddenly turns red. It's ALWAYS a scary situation. I can't think of ONE light change that I HAVEN'T seen someone go through long after the light turned red.

[bangkokcitylimits]

What I hate most is approaching a stale green light on my motorbike. I know it's likely to change to red at any time and I know there will be light jumpers (before light turns green for them) as well as the guy in the big truck behind me who has no intention of stopping if the light suddenly turns red. It's ALWAYS a scary situation. I can't think of ONE light change that I HAVEN'T seen someone go through long after the light turned red.

Agree, most dangers come from the backside it's very scary. Also most annoying when waiting for red and behind you one start pushy honking 'go on!' even before it's green.

I decided to change my (motorbike) driving and never stop for red lights anymore, much safer ! You learn to anticipate on the traffic lights system and safely crisscross trough the traffic that's coming from different sides.

Most safe way is to drive more crazy then Thais ! No problem for me I love it

Zigzagging the trafficjam and sometimes upto 80 km/h trough the inner city eventually with no helmet and a can of beer in one hand, wonderful country...

[wintermute]

A few years back I was sitting at a traffic light in Ratchaburi and a car went flying through on red.

There was a traffic cop on a big bike there who, much to my surprise took off in pursuit of the offender, only for his unsecured orange"McDonalds" vest to fly up on to his face.

Indignant he stopped readjusted and took off again only for the same thing to happen again, only this times he nearly hit a oncoming car.

So I am not sure hot pursuit is such a good idea here

Did you hear the Benny Hill theme song playing when this happened?

Edited November 14, 2010 by wintermute

[AleG]

One week with traffic police issuing tickets for running the red lights and the whole thing would had been paid for, plus some extra change leftover.

Every time I hear how the police is underfunded and how that makes them turn to "alternative" forms of revenue I think that if they actually enforced the laws and applied the requisite fees they'll have a much better budget for the force.

[IanForbes]

One week with traffic police issuing tickets for running the red lights and the whole thing would had been paid for, plus some extra change leftover.

Every time I hear how the police is underfunded and how that makes them turn to "alternative" forms of revenue I think that if they actually enforced the laws and applied the requisite fees they'll have a much better budget for the force.

Ah, don't go using reason and common sense with them, AleG. Burrying their heads in the sand is a much better plan.

[Jingthing]

They should have gone more radical. Install tire puncturers that pop up on the red signal. Pay for them from tire seller kickbacks. Have the tow trucks/tire shop owners on call 24/7. Problem solved.

Next ...

[richard_smith237]

They should have gone more radical. Install tire puncturers that pop up on the red signal. Pay for them from tire seller kickbacks. Have the tow trucks/tire shop owners on call 24/7. Problem solved.

Next ...

That idea is daft to the extreme... It is also probably the best method I've ever heard of for driver education in getting them to stop at the lights !

You know you've been in Thailand too long when............

[contemplating]

Couldnt the cute girls from 7-eleven stop the traffic? Since they are already working with the police, but of course, that is only the Participating 7-elevens. They might even make a baht or two from some nice customers.

[smedly]

Spending money to hopefully improve road safety without education and enforcement is a complete waste of time.

100% correct, this should have been supported with a TV campain and adds in local news papers during the run up to actual activation and also supported with the threat of hefty fines for those that where caught refusing to stop on red, also the road could have been marked clearer showing heavy stop lines and the crossing area.

[Englander]

You cant blame lack of education for that driving, its Pattaya many of those filmed are probably Westerners, who within milliseconds of getting behind a wheel seem to manage to drive exactly like Thais.

But why do Thais do it? I think because a significant section of society lacks common sense and genuine decency.

Most have a close family member who has died in a road accident yet they dont learn or wear crash helmets ... such actions speaks for themselves.

[bifftastic]

The guys says he never stops at pedestrian crossing for SAFETY REASONS ?????

I have serious doubts about who is really insane here.

Maybe you stopped reading at 'safety reasons.'

he went on to say

"No-one expects me to stop, so either the car behind me will crash into my bumper for suddenly stopping in the middle of the road or they will try and overtake me and then knock down the pedestrian that my car is hiding from their view."

Which is a safety reason, is it not?

[Jingthing]

They should have gone more radical. Install tire puncturers that pop up on the red signal. Pay for them from tire seller kickbacks. Have the tow trucks/tire shop owners on call 24/7. Problem solved.

Next ...

That idea is daft to the extreme... It is also probably the best method I've ever heard of for driver education in getting them to stop at the lights !

You know you've been in Thailand too long when............

Yeah, the idea was rather Swiftian in the sense of

A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public

[monkfish]

Traffic control Portugal style would be cheaper and more effective especially in Pattaya

Edited November 14, 2010 by monkfish

[Tokay]

The video was on the first or second day of operation (about a week ago), it would seem now that most car/pick up drivers are getting the message and stopping on red, only the motorcycles still seem to scoot through as they please.

They are sometimes stopping in select places. Seems if there are people crossing the road they SOMETIMES slow down or stop. If no one in the cross walk, it's full on in most areas I've come to.

I am afraid to stop on my bike. I don't want to be smashed by a speeding bus who doesn't want to stop. Best to just run them like the locals do.

[jackr]

That's Pattaya for you. Reckon they should introduce a mandatory IQ check to the supposed driving test... anyone under 120 fails and gets locked up. Wait, that's 99.9999% of the population then.

[evanson]

What I hate most is approaching a stale green light on my motorbike. I know it's likely to change to red at any time and I know there will be light jumpers (before light turns green for them) as well as the guy in the big truck behind me who has no intention of stopping if the light suddenly turns red. It's ALWAYS a scary situation. I can't think of ONE light change that I HAVEN'T seen someone go through long after the light turned red.

Agree, most dangers come from the backside it's very scary. Also most annoying when waiting for red and behind you one start pushy honking 'go on!' even before it's green.

I decided to change my (motorbike) driving and never stop for red lights anymore, much safer ! You learn to anticipate on the traffic lights system and safely crisscross trough the traffic that's coming from different sides.

Most safe way is to drive more crazy then Thais ! No problem for me I love it

Zigzagging the trafficjam and sometimes upto 80 km/h trough the inner city eventually with no helmet and a can of beer in one hand, wonderful country...

It's a well known fact here on Phuket that the worst drivers are the stupid arrogant farang who think they can get away with driving even worse than the Thais, because they can. With no thought at all given to the fact that they may very well (and often do) put other people's lives in danger. At least you've had the benefit of a Western traffic education. Or have you? Prck.

By the way, at Red Light crossings I simply put my hand up Police style and walk meaningfully across the road, sometimes accompanied by some timorous Thai. From the surprised looks on the drivers' faces, I'm going with the posters who put it down to lack of education rather than non law enforcement.

[tim armstrong]

Spending money to hopefully improve road safety without education and enforcement is a complete waste of time.

Says it all really. I still find it strange that you can go through a red light to turn a left hand corner, and that motorbikes can drive on your side towards you, At night its especially dangerous.

[IanForbes]

Enforcement DOES work. I see it everywhere that the police actually do something about the traffic laws. Police in Pattaya and Bangkok are FAR more stringent about the helmet law than they are in rural districts... and it's noticeable when compared to elsewhere in Thailand. When the police spend some time on the streets of Chiang Mai I notice an increase in riders wearing helmets. But, in the evening when police go off patrol the Thais all take their helmets off again. I just heard last night that one of my pretty girl friends in Chiang Mai was killed a couple months back... Yes, it was a head injury caused by no helmet.

In Canada, when they brought out intersection cameras and started handing out tickets for people going through after the light turned red, the drivers quickly wisend up and started stopping on the Amber like we are supposed to. In Thailand the drivers and riders SPEED UP for an amber light.