Suicide By Car

[PattayaOneTeam]

A Fool In Paradise

Is that a Zebra Crossing?

Has anyone else noticed the subtle changes being made to Pattaya's road systems? No, I don't mean those well thought out improvements making the roads more efficient and less congested, I mean those making the traffic system a little more confusing. Beach Road, Second Road and South Pattaya Road, to name but a few, have been blessed with the installation of new zebra crossings, complete with pedestrian-friendly flashing amber lights, warning signs and panic buttons. One may conclude this is a good idea and an improvement to road safety, but I am not convinced Pattaya's motoring public are ready for this totally foreign concept.

In my book Money Number One I gave the warning: “In most Western countries, a pedestrian crossing means the pedestrian has right-of-way and vehicles must stop. However, without mentioning any names, in some countries pedestrian crossings are only there because, once the workers marking the lanes had finished, there were several gallons of paint left over. Rather than waste it, they got the idea of painting zebra crossings across the road just like the pictures in foreign magazines. You could find yourself severely dead if you believe that any vehicle will stop for you at a pedestrian/zebra crossing in Pattaya.”

I formed that opinion back in 1999 and the crossings I was referring to were those along Pattaya Second Road, particularly the one near Mike's Shopping Mall. To confirm that little had changed over the past decade and the danger still existed, I checked out some recent comments sent to the Bangkok Post. Hua Hin Paul wrote, “about the dangers of pedestrian crossings in Bangkok. Thai drivers, including police, have absolutely no respect for pedestrians. Daily I witness near-tragedies, as drivers zip across pedestrian crossings even with signs asking them to stop for pedestrians and plastic policemen emphasising the point. These crossings indicate the safest place of the road for a pedestrian to cross. But in fact they are the deadliest.”

Sukit Bejrsuwana said, “My dangerous crossing is in front of the national police headquarters. Each time I feel like a wildebeest making my way across the crocodile-infested Mara River. Once you step onto the zebra lines, the buses, motorcycle taxis and vans seem intent on pouncing. The false sense of security provided by the crossings is bad enough for locals, but imagine what happens to naive tourists from lands where they mean safe passage.”

That last writer hit the nail on the head. Consider a small child on a beach, playing and paddling in the shallow water. He is instinctively afraid to go out any deeper because he suspects it is dangerous. His mother comes along and places an air-inflated flotation ring around his torso and declares he is now safe from drowning. With his confidence rising, the boy gradually heads out into deeper and deeper water, gets swept away by a tidal rip and eaten by a shark. He took a risk due to the false sense of security provided by his mother.

The problem with pedestrian crossings stems from a lack of driver education. I don't drive in Thailand so I don't have a Thai driver's licence, but I have expat friends who do. I asked a motoring mate if any question regarding the rules relating to pedestrian crossings was asked on the written test he took to obtain his licence. He gave me a wink and said he couldn't remember. Oh, it's like that, is it?

Let me tell you what I remember of Zebra Crossings in Australia. Just as a cathedral or monastery provided sanctuary for someone running from the law back in the Dark Ages, the Zebra Crossing was a safe haven for hapless pedestrians. They were the holiest of holies, the most sacred of sacred sites and a place not to be taken lightly.

Prisoner A: “What are you in for?”

Prisoner B: “A double murder and half a dozen rapes. I'm serving twenty-five to life. What are you in for?”

Prisoner A: “I got life without parole. I failed to stop at a pedestrian crossing and almost hit an old lady.”

Prisoner B: “You sick bastard! Guard! Guard! I'd like to be moved to another cell!”

In Australia, a driver must come to a complete stop whenever a pedestrian puts so much as a little toe on the crossing. Even if the pedestrian stands on the footpath and looks like there is a chance he is thinking about possibly making a motion to cross the street at some point in the future, the motoring enthusiast must bring his vehicle to a complete stop. And it doesn't matter what side of the street the pedestrian is crossing from. A friend of mine was once fined and publicly humiliated for not stopping at a crossing. He was driving in the outside lane of a four-lane divided highway. The median strip was the width of a basketball court and grandmother touched her walking stick to bitumen on the far side of the road. She was a full three traffic lanes and a basketball court away, and you almost needed binoculars to see her. When he tried to explain this to the promotion-hunting, power-hungry PC Plod who pulled him over, my friend got the old line: “I don't make the laws, you godless perp, I just enforce them.”

But pedestrians don't get it all their own way. The Road Rules state that “A pedestrian must not cross a road, or part of a road, within 20 metres of a crossing on the road, except at the crossing.” Basically, if there is a pedestrian crossing nearby you are supposed to use it to cross the street. If you jaywalk within 20 metres of a zebra crossing you are open game for PC Plod or a fed up motorist bent on revenge.

In Pattaya, foreign licence holders already know these rules so the success or otherwise of zebra crossings will depend upon the action of traffic police in educating Thai drivers. I fear that simply saying “Paint it and they will stop,” is a recipe for disaster.

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-- Pattaya One 2011-12-10

[VisasPlus]

Interestingly, in some countries pedestrians have the right of way anywhere on the road. Even if you decide to walk along the middle of the road, you still have right of way. Mind you, that doesn't do you much good if you get yourself killed.

In fact, if a car so much as brushes your clothes, you can make a case in court, and the driver of the vehicle is guilty.

[VisasPlus]

Not to be toooooo pedantic, but it may be a pelican crossing ?

[surayu]

only monkey's crossing here

[WarpSpeed]

Here in Bangkok they've already become an instant U turn for motorcys with their own button to stop traffic at will..

One in my neighborhood was strategically placed by a taxi stand for a local market and the nearest U turn is 1/2k away so guess what the cross walk is used for?? I'm also impressed with how it seems to be optional whether or not most people stop, I get real perverse satisfaction when I'm in the front and force the people behind me to wait until it turns green..

I'm up front a lot too as even if I'm 2nd or 3rd in line in a minute or 2 I'll be up front since the cars before me will inevitably run out of patience and run through it..

Edited December 10, 2010 by WarpSpeed