Driver Of Sedan In Bangkok Horror Road Accident Was A 16-Year Old Girl

[webfact]

Driver of sedan was a 16-year old girl

By The Nation

Police say a 16yearold girl, a minor, was driving the sedan that collided with a passenger van in a horror road accident on an elevated tollway section of the Vibhavadi Rangsit highway on Monday night, killing eight people and injuring six others.

They said persons of that age were not entitled to a driver's licence, nor could they be fully subject to criminal and civil liability for deaths and damage.

Police have not yet charged the unidentified girl, and are compiling more evidence in the case. Footage from traffic cameras shows a brief moment in the accident - a burst at the point of impact from the white Honda Civic she was driving for about 70 metres to standstill - before the van veered off the lane, and out of camera view.

Case investigator Pol LtColonel Chatchai Iamong, of Vibhavadi police station said there would be more questioning of all seven survivors, including the sedan's driver, after they recovered sufficiently from their injuries.

The female driver of the van, Naruemol Pitathanang, was among the dead.

A survivor, Wisarut Phollasit, said he fell asleep at the start of the van's trip at the Big C Chaeng Wattana mall, and woke up to feel a hard bump at the back of the van before it began to spin. He was dazed but regained consciousness before crawling out of the smashed vehicle and being taken to hospital.

The Department of Land Transport proposed a regulation requiring all seats in passenger vans be installed with seat belts, which must be fastened before they begin a run.

The Cabinet yesterday discussed the accident, and a possible law requiring all public transport vehicles to be installed with GPSenabled tracking devices, to trace their routes and record speeds of vehicles, for the sake of crime prevention and easier investigation into accidents.

-- The Nation 2010-12-29

Related topic:

Eight People Killed In Grisly Bangkok Tollway Accident

[NanLaew]

MY wife mentioned that the car driver was a 16 year-old when she was watching the news on the TV yesterday morning. Under Thai law, being underage absolves her of direct criminal responsibility. Because she is too young to have a driving license, she can't even be charged with driving without one. What a nest of juvenile delinquency this nation is.

I assume whilst the police endlessly review the CCTV tapes, the family of this so-far uncharged vehicular manslaughter perpetrator will be getting either sufficiently lawyered up or selling whatever assets they have. Or both.

Seat belts in minibuses? Definitely would have reduced the carnage in this tragedy but there's no way to enforce the passenger to use them so it will be only be frowned on as an added expense by the owners/operators and a pain in the arse for the average Thai passenger who only went to the temple a couple of days ago.

GPS? How will that slow the vehicle down? What real use is seeing where the vehicle has been or how fast it was going.

How about a driver monitor system that records the vehicles speed as well as the drivers behaviour such as bursts of acceleration or excessive braking? Couple that up to a really, REALLY annoying over-speed warning inside the cab and a strobe light outside on the roof (like in Singapore) so that the vigilant Thai traffic cops (I know, I know) have an easier job of catching a speeder BEFORE the inevitable accident? Restrict these vehicles to left and center lanes only?

[beano2274]

Hopefully she will get done for something, if not I think there might be a bit of a public outcry. At University she might find herself being looked upon differently by her fellow students.

The law needs to change though, if she was driving then she should be punished for the deaths of the victims. Apparently she had a driving license too, so the Provincial Officer at that Issuing Office should be investigated and also charged,

[beano2274]

How about regulations giving the drivers of the minivans and taxis a shift of 10 hours per day, however, to regulate this would be problematic.

[Chunky1]

It's disturbing how people's minds work. Every New Years hundreds die from road accidents, yet, an accident occurs that involves a well-to-do child and gruesome images of blood and guts and people hanging from guard rails all of a sudden it's a huge media story.

It's sickening, but this is just entertainment for the masses. Have fun "debating".

[bristolgeoff]

one of the many in thailand who drive without a license.it wasn,t a bike which is the usual mode of travel.this time much worse.but she will get away with it and be forgotten in time

[beano2274]

When she took control of the car she thought she was an adult, she should be charged as if she was an adult, and her sister too.

[OzMick]

If her sister is 18, both she and the registered owner of the vehicle should be charged with aiding and abetting.

[bobbin]

Uh......

Usually, female drivers are not subject to testosterone-fueled highway dueling.

Sounds like the van cut across the sedan and suffered a self-inflicted "pit" maneuver.

The GPS tracking is a good idea for these vans.

The commercial drivers are the worst drivers here in Thailand. I give them a wide berth when I see them coming up behind at the speed of light...

Hopefully(!) this horrible accident will spur some new regulations for vehicles transporting people. Of course, the new regulations would have to be enforced....

[ChiangMaiFun]

The whole culture is 'we don't care - we don't have responsibility' Mummy and Daddy will fix it - it's an utter disgrace

[jcartermad]

MY wife mentioned that the car driver was a 16 year-old when she was watching the news on the TV yesterday morning. Under Thai law, being underage absolves her of direct criminal responsibility. Because she is too young to have a driving license, she can't even be charged with driving without one. What a nest of juvenile delinquency this nation is.

I assume whilst the police endlessly review the CCTV tapes, the family of this so-far uncharged vehicular manslaughter perpetrator will be getting either sufficiently lawyered up or selling whatever assets they have. Or both.

Seat belts in minibuses? Definitely would have reduced the carnage in this tragedy but there's no way to enforce the passenger to use them so it will be only be frowned on as an added expense by the owners/operators and a pain in the arse for the average Thai passenger who only went to the temple a couple of days ago.

GPS? How will that slow the vehicle down? What real use is seeing where the vehicle has been or how fast it was going.

How about a driver monitor system that records the vehicles speed as well as the drivers behaviour such as bursts of acceleration or excessive braking? Couple that up to a really, REALLY annoying over-speed warning inside the cab and a strobe light outside on the roof (like in Singapore) so that the vigilant Thai traffic cops (I know, I know) have an easier job of catching a speeder BEFORE the inevitable accident? Restrict these vehicles to left and center lanes only?

You can fit vehicle speed restrictors on vehicles! Trucks it the UK and Europe have restrictors fitted as a matter of course. The Darwin Award theory exists however...what can be fitted can be removed after examination or seat belts fitted can be ignorned. At times the nannie state is restrictive...here we need a real nannie state to stop this waste of life! The fact that the driver cannot be prosecuted because she is under age is dumb! Any 16 year old is fully aware of their actions and she should face punishment.

[visions]

The report states the 16y old driver was also killed. Guess she and her family have paid already.

[happylarry]

The report states the 16y old driver was also killed. Guess she and her family have paid already.

I must have missed something here....where does it say she was killed?

All it says is that she has not been charged yet.

HL

[ChiangMaiFun]

The report states the 16y old driver was also killed. Guess she and her family have paid already.

The report says she was being 'interviewed'? so unless the Police have Mediumistic skills I guess she was not?

[princejohnjay]

The report states the 16y old driver was also killed. Guess she and her family have paid already.

"Case investigator Pol LtColonel Chatchai Iamong, of Vibhavadi police station said there would be more questioning of all seven survivors, including the sedan's driver, after they recovered sufficiently from their injuries."

"The female driver of the van, Naruemol Pitathanang, was among the dead"

Nah the report never said she's dead. it said she's among the seven survivors and will be questioned after she recovers....

It only said the female driver of the 'van' was among the death...not the 16 year old...

Read properly mate!! you might fail an English exam lol

[janetdoe]

The Thai news report I was watching on the web last night said the driver of the Honda Civic was 18 and not 16 yrs old. It also mentioned how she had just returned from the US and had one of the surnames that the Thai King bestows.

[ChiangMaiFun]

The Thai news report I was watching on the web last night said the driver of the Honda Civic was 18 and not 16 yrs old. It also mentioned how she had just returned from the US and had one of the surnames that the Thai King bestows.

If 18 she is of legal age to drive AND face charges - the name should count for nothing ('should')

[toybits]

The 15 year old daughter of a resident in our village drives her mother and younger brother around our city. I was more than stunned to see this happen. But she comes from a very wealthy family who thinks they can do anything and get away with it.

I wonder whether the 16 yo girl in that sedan that caused this accident on the freeway had a driver's license. They should the parents for letting an under aged person to drive on the freeway.

[jackr]

They have to make an example of someone on this one. If the silly little girl doesn't get sent down, the parents will have to to get the message out that silly little kids don't belong on the roads. However, if she's connected, well...

[NanLaew]

Once again the Thai media, it's translation and the online translation of that translation feeds the speculative chain.

So to recap, we have the hi-so 16 year-old sister behind the wheel of her older hi-so 18 year-old sister's 'boy racer' souped-up Honda, playing face-saving road-rage high-speed chicken with another female driver of a packed minibus during prime-time rush hour.

Have I missed anything? Apart from the 8 RIP's of course?

PS. I can hardly wait for the first 'if the Honda driver was a farang' post... unless that's been done in the original news story already.

[Boater]

They have to make an example of someone on this one. If the silly little girl doesn't get sent down, the parents will have to to get the message out that silly little kids don't belong on the roads. However, if she's connected, well...

if janetdoe post is correct, there is no chance she is going down !, but she should be made an example of !

[Heng]

If this goes by the well worn method of doing something 'bad' here, some authorities and victims will get paid off, then these girls will likely just end up with 'going abroad for school' after this all blows over. They'll quietly move back 4-5 years down the road when 'Film' Ratapoom or 'Ken' Teeradech gets some random starlet pregnant and the media won't even pay them a paragraph of news time.

[JUDAS]

Quote from the OP: " They said persons of that age were not entitled to a driver's licence, nor could they be fully subject to criminal and civil liability for deaths and damage." By this logic anyone who is underage for a firearms licence can illegally get a gun and cause untold damage but not be fully responsible

[bangon04]

Uh......

Usually, female drivers are not subject to testosterone-fueled highway dueling.

Sounds like the van cut across the sedan and suffered a self-inflicted "pit" maneuver.

The commercial drivers are the worst drivers here in Thailand. I give them a wide berth when I see them coming up behind at the speed of light...

.

The driver of the van was female too......

[fnprop]

The 15 year old daughter of a resident in our village drives her mother and younger brother around our city. I was more than stunned to see this happen. But she comes from a very wealthy family who thinks they can do anything and get away with it.

TiT. They not only think they can do anything and get away with it. They actually can do anything and get away with it.

This may wind up costing the family a few baht and a little nah, but Somkid will soon be able to put this unpleasantness behind her, and live the privileged life she was destined to lead.

[goatfarmer]

Uh......

Sounds like the van cut across the sedan and suffered a self-inflicted "pit" maneuver.

Indeed. Do we know that the "silly" girl was at fault? Can we presume that, because she couldn't be charged, she caused the accident? What about the presumption of innocence? They only thing I would presume is that, to have survived, she was probably wearing a seat belt.

[capricciocap1]

There is no enough public transport in Bangkok. BKK transportation is sick.

[capricciocap1]

TiT. They not only think they can do anything and get away with it. They actually can do anything and get away with it.

right!!

[neverdie]

They said persons of that age were not entitled to a driver's licence, nor could they be fully subject to criminal and civil liability for deaths and damage.

I thought the age of Criminal liability in Thailand was 15. At some stage I actually thought there was a push to lower that age for serious crimes.

Of course by holding someone criminally liable at such a young age doesnt change anything in relation to the fact that they are still technically classed a child & subsequently put before the courts as a 'child' and if a custodial sentence was passed, naturally they would be held appropriately. None of that changes the fact that Criminal liability comes in well before someone reaches the legal age of being considered an adult.

Can anyone confirm what the age actually is?

Edited December 29, 2010 by neverdie

[outre99]

Having driven in Thailand for 2 years now i have to say that a huge number of drivers here still think they are driving in their sleepy village/neighborhood. There's no recognition and appreciation of the rules and realities of a fast flowing traffic. I've see people do stupid and inconsiderate shit like changing lanes without looking behind, performing u-turns across 4 lanes of traffic, parking in a traffic lane, going slower than the speed limit in the fast right-most lane, etc, etc. I'm convinced that at least 50% of traffic gridlock on Thai roads is preventable if drivers would actually go through proper driving education. But, alas, it's easier to buy your driver's license or just go without it as this sad case demonstrates.

What is the solution? Enforcement, of course. But here lies the rub. I've seen our BIB spending their time in roadblocks shaking down motorbike riders rather that actually giving tickets to illegally parked trucks.

Until the traffic cops on the ground start enforcing all of the rules and not just some rules the stupid traffic problems will persist. I think the authorities should follow the money and create a "progressive" revenue share model with the individual cops. So a cop legally gets to keep a % of the tickets issued. And the actual % depends on how important the rule is. That way the limited policing resources can be quickly focused on policing what's important for the city and not what's easier and pays better.