Passengers In Vans In Thailand To Be Required To Wear Seatbelts

[richard_smith237]

Seat belts should be compulsory for everyone in mini-vans and busses (not just in Thailand but in all countries).

In an accident the wearer not only protects themselves, but also protects others by not becoming a ‘missile’ if the vehicle is involved in a collision. This is why I believe this should be Law - Someone else's 'judgement call' regarding whether or not to wear their belt in a van potentially will have an impact on others around them.

There used to be an Ad on British TV. In a 30mph head on crash, the person in the back seat impacts the back of the seat in front of them with the force of a 3 tonne elephant.

I’m not sure of the exact impact etc… but the above ad certainly brought it home that seat belts don’t just protect the wearer, they protect everyone in the vehicle.

This Rule should also be applied to Taxis – All taxi’s by Law should at least give the occupant the choice to wear a seatbelt.

Mostly the taxi’s have the seat belt, but the ‘stalk’ is always hidden under the seat. IMO this is simple ignorance is just plain annoying. The drivers and taxi companies can’t be educated in the correct manner – Simply passing a law stating that any taxi with a seatbelt must make them usable would be a huge step forwards.

When my family were over, it was a lot of hard work to locate a private mini-van company who could provide a van with functional seat belts - In the end we found a good van and driver with child seats and belts for the duration of my visiting families stay - Even if there was a minor accident, it was not going to ruin the holiday due to an avoidable injury.

[jfchandler]

Re the status of the teenage van crash driver, I was wondering that too...

Back in January, I believe, the police said they expected to complete their investigation and have formal charges filed before the end of that month...

We're now halfway into February, and if there's been any news on that case lately, I've missed it....

Edited February 16, 2011 by jfchandler