Nine Killed, 65 Injured In Thai Highway Accident

[WarpSpeed]

Anytime there is an accident in Thailand that is bad, there is a huge outcry from internet warrior Farangs, slating all Thai people, Thailand as a country.

They completely forget the fact that if the percentage of motorcycle riders in western countries was the same as it is in Thailand, those same Western countries would have the same percentage of accident deaths as Thailand.

It just seems easier for Farangs to label Thai people as being stupid when they are involved in accidents, yet when it comes to a Farang, he just happens to be involved in an accident, stupidity doesn't come into it, it's just an accident, happens everyday all over the world. !!

Gottta love these expat sites, they're the same the world over, The Expats are always better than the natives, The Expats are always disadvantaged and the natives are always out to get them, The Expats think the country they choose to be in couldn't survive without them etc etc etc.

WALOB!!!

Nonsense. To say that if a similar percentage of road users were motor cycle riders in say the U.K. the percentage of accidents would be the same as in Thailand is rubbish. The UK has strict road users laws and they are ENFORCED. All riders would have to be licensed and have passed a test that is difficult, not the pathetic showing that passes for a 'test' in this country. Road regulations are strictly enforced, no non wearing of helmets, six up on a little bike, cutting right had corners etc. etc. You try and bribe a traffic policemen in the U*K, your feet wouldn't touch the ground. That is why the UK has one of the safest road accident statistics in the world together with Sweden.

BB - THe "facts" you state are" true" - for want of a better expression, but you are not seeing the whole picture - and neither are many other posters - enforcement and training are only a art of road safety, and in Thailand there are much bigger problems - people learn how to drive intuitively and adapt to the road conditions - regardless of country - it is the roads themselves that are mostly to blame.

If you look at countries with high and low accident rates, you will see also that the standard of road design and traffic engineering are correspondingly high or low. It is surprising how few people take this not account when making "judgments" on driving - and drivers - in other countries.

Implying that drivers in thailand are any less or more skilled than anywhere else is really barking up the wrong tree.

Yes the road design here is insane by any definition which compounds the problem with already unqualified drivers..

One thing, well actually 2 that really gets me is the 'afterthought' and cheaply re-engineered secondary roads around the primary roads and exit and entrance locations and short or non existent merge lanes.

They have the secondary road in many locations running around the toll way entrances effectively splitting the two down the middle causing the need for some serious navigation of merging from both right and left at the same time to both get past them onto the primary road and to get onto the toll way.

The toll way entrances should have been the furthest outside so that there would only be merging left 90% of the time and much easier and safer to navigate. Secondly they should not be located immediately before or after a major intersecting road causing a major back up and cluster <deleted> (for lack of a more accurate description) to get to the primary road or the toll way and have to cross numerous lanes of traffic to get there in a short distance merging much slower traffic with faster flowing traffic is a continual disaster in the making..

As I've mentioned before, if you're going to have U turns, which suck to begin with when they double as an intersection, (again to keep costs down and for no other purpose as an intersection is expensive to build and maintain) then at least have more of them closer together so shorter queues. Properly engineer them to safely accommodate a queue of cars making a U turn out of moving traffic on both sides and no need to re-engineer with cones or hydro-barriers to clear oncoming traffic without merging those lanes into each other creating another dangerous, slowing funnel at every U-turn location..

Edited April 5, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[Loz]

It said he was overtaking so how did he hit a parked vehicle? Wouldn't he have to have been "undertaking"?

Sad loss of life, however it came about...

[trisailer]

I think it's incorrect to say that Thai drivers are worse than drivers in the US. The test to obtain a license in both countries is the same. In the US the number one cause of failure of the driving test is the parallel parking. I never known of a injury related to a persons inability to parallel park. My wife passed driving tests in both countries (as did I ) and there is not much difference between the two.

In spite of huge improvements in road design and auto safety features the accident rates in the US have not significantly declined, in fact the single biggest cause of accidents in the US is inattention. Driving in the US is so safe that people do not stay focused on driving and think that they can get away with multitasking like texting.

In the US billions are spent on roads and enforcement for little return. Where would this kind of money come from in Thailand?

I've seen some pretty bad driving by farang here so let's not make this another opportunity to bash the Thai's.

[Payboy]

Nine Killed, 65 Injured

Where's the No Death Zone sign when you need one.

[canuckamuck]

I think it's incorrect to say that Thai drivers are worse than drivers in the US. The test to obtain a license in both countries is the same. In the US the number one cause of failure of the driving test is the parallel parking. I never known of a injury related to a persons inability to parallel park. My wife passed driving tests in both countries (as did I ) and there is not much difference between the two.

In spite of huge improvements in road design and auto safety features the accident rates in the US have not significantly declined, in fact the single biggest cause of accidents in the US is inattention. Driving in the US is so safe that people do not stay focused on driving and think that they can get away with multitasking like texting.

In the US billions are spent on roads and enforcement for little return. Where would this kind of money come from in Thailand?

I've seen some pretty bad driving by farang here so let's not make this another opportunity to bash the Thai's.

I haven't taken the car test here, but the motorcycle test consisted of 20 meters of driving in a straight line. turning a corner, driving between two pylons, returning to where I started and dismounting the bike. All of this in a closed parking lot with no other vehicles involved.

I am pretty sure the American test is a bit harder.

Edited April 5, 2011 by canuckamuck

[Loz]

there is no significant research that concludes Thais are worse drivers than their western counterparts. True. But then There was once no significant research proving that the earth was round, and yet...

So in short. I could agree with your view that Thais aren't bad drivers, but then we'd both be wrong.

[harrycallahan]

there is no significant research that concludes Thais are worse drivers than their western counterparts. True. But then There was once no significant research proving that the earth was round, and yet...

So in short. I could agree with your view that Thais aren't bad drivers, but then we'd both be wrong.

You need to differentiate between skills and wrecklessness. One can be highly skilled but drive in a manner which creates a high accident risk.

Michael Schumacher must be a good driver but still has more accidents than most people.

It could be argued the thai road environment creates highly skilled drivers, just as Mr Schumachers domain does.

[AleG]

...wrecklessness

I don't know if that was accidental or intentional, but sir, you have coined a terrific word!

[dumball]

harrycallahan' timestamp='1301980944' post='4336378']

Loz' timestamp='1301980421' post='4336348']

there is no significant research that concludes Thais are worse drivers than their western counterparts. True. But then There was once no significant research proving that the earth was round, and yet...

So in short. I could agree with your view that Thais aren't bad drivers, but then we'd both be wrong.

You need to differentiate between skills and wrecklessness. One can be highly skilled but drive in a manner which creates a high accident risk.

Michael Schumacher must be a good driver but still has more accidents than most people.

It could be argued the thai road environment creates highly skilled drivers, just as Mr Schumachers domain does.

The Thai road environment does not create even good drivers , what it does produce is excellent dodgem car drivers , highly skilled drivers do not cause accidents by being reckless , they avoid accidents with those skills ,

How do they manage that ? A skilled driver makes note of vehicles several ahead of them , not just a rear bumper , this way he has early warning of incidents that are imminent , many drivers(?) only know there has been such an incident as they pick themselves up off the ground , the lucky ones that survive that is .

Yes , they have incompetents all over , but this happens to be Thai related , pointing fingers never cures anything in your own environment , other than in your own mind .

As to mr schumacher , not even a smidgen correct , F1 drivers have those skills honed at a very earlier age on the racing scene , just to compare him with knuckle heads is very demeaning of you .

[Deeral]

[

if you bring this in , who will drive for them? quicker thailand brings in HGV licences and MOT's , the better for thailand, would even bring down the price of cars !!!

What's an MOT ? Where I come from it is Ministry of Transport.

"Who will drive for them" well, what is to be done. 1) Just bury your head in the sand and carry on as usual. OR

2) Govt must set up a training and licensing scheme and get on with it

Get rid of the old Mai pen rai attitude.

I could THOUSANDS of words outlining the incidents of poor road design and bad traffic engineering.

It doesn't matter how much "training" you give a driver or even how "safe" the vehicles are, drivers will still find a way to be stupid - the only continent I haven't driven on is Antarctica and I've seen idiots on all the other roads - the secret is to keep them pout of mischief and so mitigate the damage.

Even the driving test insisted on in the UK (probably one of the most stringent in the world) is only a short little affair and virtually any fool can pass it in the end.

To train properly everyone would need the equivalent of a degree before they could drive and even then they'd be on a learning curve for years.

The wonderful thing about traffic engineering is that most drivers don't even know it exists - they are manipulated by it, organised by it, yet they think it it THEY THEMSELVES that are driving so well - well have I got news for them!

If your roads are designed to do this,you will HUGELY reduce the amount of collisions - and therefore fatalities.

"2) Govt must set up a training and licensing scheme and get on with it

Get rid of the old Mai pen rai attitude. If Thailand wants to progress, this is one of the things that must be done. In other words 'Get better government'" - this is absolutely NOT the main solution.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Deeral

[Deeral]

Anytime there is an accident in Thailand that is bad, there is a huge outcry from internet warrior Farangs, slating all Thai people, Thailand as a country.

They completely forget the fact that if the percentage of motorcycle riders in western countries was the same as it is in Thailand, those same Western countries would have the same percentage of accident deaths as Thailand.

It just seems easier for Farangs to label Thai people as being stupid when they are involved in accidents, yet when it comes to a Farang, he just happens to be involved in an accident, stupidity doesn't come into it, it's just an accident, happens everyday all over the world. !!

Gottta love these expat sites, they're the same the world over, The Expats are always better than the natives, The Expats are always disadvantaged and the natives are always out to get them, The Expats think the country they choose to be in couldn't survive without them etc etc etc.

WALOB!!!

Nonsense. To say that if a similar percentage of road users were motor cycle riders in say the U.K. the percentage of accidents would be the same as in Thailand is rubbish. The UK has strict road users laws and they are ENFORCED. All riders would have to be licensed and have passed a test that is difficult, not the pathetic showing that passes for a 'test' in this country. Road regulations are strictly enforced, no non wearing of helmets, six up on a little bike, cutting right had corners etc. etc. You try and bribe a traffic policemen in the U*K, your feet wouldn't touch the ground. That is why the UK has one of the safest road accident statistics in the world together with Sweden.

BB - THe "facts" you state are" true" - for want of a better expression, but you are not seeing the whole picture - and neither are many other posters - enforcement and training are only a art of road safety, and in Thailand there are much bigger problems - people learn how to drive intuitively and adapt to the road conditions - regardless of country - it is the roads themselves that are mostly to blame.

If you look at countries with high and low accident rates, you will see also that the standard of road design and traffic engineering are correspondingly high or low. It is surprising how few people take this not account when making "judgments" on driving - and drivers - in other countries.

Implying that drivers in thailand are any less or more skilled than anywhere else is really barking up the wrong tree.

Yes the road design here is insane by any definition which compounds the problem with already unqualified drivers..

One thing, well actually 2 that really gets me is the 'afterthought' and cheaply re-engineered secondary roads around the primary roads and exit and entrance locations and short or non existent merge lanes.

They have the secondary road in many locations running around the toll way entrances effectively splitting the two down the middle causing the need for some serious navigation of merging from both right and left at the same time to both get past them onto the primary road and to get onto the toll way.

The toll way entrances should have been the furthest outside so that there would only be merging left 90% of the time and much easier and safer to navigate. Secondly they should not be located immediately before or after a major intersecting road causing a major back up and cluster <deleted> (for lack of a more accurate description) to get to the primary road or the toll way and have to cross numerous lanes of traffic to get there in a short distance merging much slower traffic with faster flowing traffic is a continual disaster in the making..

As I've mentioned before, if you're going to have U turns, which suck to begin with when they double as an intersection, (again to keep costs down and for no other purpose as an intersection is expensive to build and maintain) then at least have more of them closer together so shorter queues. Properly engineer them to safely accommodate a queue of cars making a U turn out of moving traffic on both sides and no need to re-engineer with cones or hydro-barriers to clear oncoming traffic without merging those lanes into each other creating another dangerous, slowing funnel at every U-turn location..

I could write THOUSANDS of words outlining the incidents of poor road design and bad traffic engineering.....but this isn't necessary, the point is that it doesn't matter how much "training" you give a driver or even how "safe" the vehicles are, drivers will still find a way to be stupid - the only continent I haven't driven on is Antarctica and I've seen idiots on all the other roads - the secret is to keep them pout of mischief and so mitigate the damage.

Even the driving test insisted on in the UK (probably one of the most stringent in the world) is only a short little affair and virtually any fool can pass it in the end.

To train properly everyone would need the equivalent of a degree before they could drive and even then they'd be on a learning curve for years.

The wonderful thing about traffic engineering is that most drivers don't even know it exists - they are manipulated by it, organised by it, yet they think it it THEY THEMSELVES that are driving so well - well have I got news for them!

If your roads are designed to do this,you will HUGELY reduce the amount of collisions - and therefore fatalities.

"2) Govt must set up a training and licensing scheme and get on with it

Get rid of the old Mai pen rai attitude. If Thailand wants to progress, this is one of the things that must be done. In other words 'Get better government'" - this is absolutely NOT the main solution.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Deeral

[jhwest]

Shocking news and RIP for those killed and their

Families.

AGAIN I am afraid to say that everyday when I go out to drive, you can see these death traps occuring.

How many times do you see suicidal and maniac drivers speeding and getting so close to vehicles infront of them, then overtake on blind bends and at places where there is traffic coming the other way.

What is it in people in that they love to overtake at very strange places and then make the following driver slam on his brakes and always I have observed they are going so fast that they have to put on their brakes for 10 or more seconds.

Plus the fact they are drunk and or drugs or both and also really bad drivers and very rude to every other road user.

Indeed it is often the case when there are chidren involved and have been in a car when the driver boasting doing 130 per hour and absolutely shocking indeed.

Meanwhile the police just do not seem to be around, or if they are do not want to know it seems.

I am afraid this is likely to continue on and really I think people who are involved and the minority is certainly growing seem to have great pleasure in causing these deaths on the road and yes jump clear or run off or just carry on as if nothing has happenned. Shocking indeed, but what do one expect here and elsewher.

[jimbeam1]

We will read of these incidents again and again. It is about time that someone in power engaged their brain and started enforcing the laws, such as vehicle checks, driver checks, company checks and if they don't have Tachometers in the cabs, fit them. RIP the dead. Yet again.

jb1

Tachometers?? There sure is a bunch of silliness being posted in this thread

That's not just picking on your post, I couldn't be arsed to quote all the other rubbish posted, can't multi-quote that many in one post anyways....

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck..

Sorry can not be arsed to look back on someone elses posts to see what they have said for you. That you obviously can not say for yourself. As irriating as that may be. I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, as I am sure that you would find it just to irritating. I am sure that the UK, Europe, The USA + many other countries have a perfectly good use for them though? So I will leave you to try and sort that one out yourself. Hey but here is a little clue for you. As for helping the driver avoid other vehicles. It wouldn't

Please do not be perplexed, as I did not state in any way that the use of a tachometer, would be better than proper driver training. One last thing, I did not say whether there was, or was not a tacho fitted. Just that there should be.

jb1

[Deeral]

Tachometers?? There sure is a bunch of silliness being posted in this thread

That's not just picking on your post, I couldn't be arsed to quote all the other rubbish posted, can't multi-quote that many in one post anyways....

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck..

Sorry can not be arsed to look back on someone elses posts to see what they have said for you. That you obviously can not say for yourself. As irriating as that may be. I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, as I am sure that you would find it just to irritating. I am sure that the UK, Europe, The USA + many other countries have a perfectly good use for them though? So I will leave you to try and sort that one out yourself. Hey but here is a little clue for you. As for helping the driver avoid other vehicles. It wouldn't

Please do not be perplexed, as I did not state in any way that the use of a tachometer, would be better than proper driver training. One last thing, I did not say whether there was, or was not a tacho fitted. Just that there should be.

jb1

" I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, " - "vast complexities??? Well if you think using a tacho is "vastly complex" it might go some way to explaining some of your ideas posted here!

[jimbeam1]

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck..

Sorry can not be arsed to look back on someone elses posts to see what they have said for you. That you obviously can not say for yourself. As irriating as that may be. I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, as I am sure that you would find it just to irritating. I am sure that the UK, Europe, The USA + many other countries have a perfectly good use for them though? So I will leave you to try and sort that one out yourself. Hey but here is a little clue for you. As for helping the driver avoid other vehicles. It wouldn't

Please do not be perplexed, as I did not state in any way that the use of a tachometer, would be better than proper driver training. One last thing, I did not say whether there was, or was not a tacho fitted. Just that there should be.

jb1

" I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, " - "vast complexities??? Well if you think using a tacho is "vastly complex" it might go some way to explaining some of your ideas posted here!

Note to ones self. Must get a sense of humor? My comment about tacho's was tongue in cheek. Please read my first post and let me know exactly where you think I may be wrong?

jb1

[outre99]

Running away from an accident is a bad and stupid thing to do, for sure.  Does anybody know if the bus picking up workers was off the main road, or did it, like i've seen so many times before,  just decided to stop in the traffic lane counting on it's size to intimidate other motorist to have to slam on the breaks and go around.<br>I'm so sick of the bus and truck drivers changing lanes, turning, stopping and doing all kinds of stupid crap without any notice to or regard for others on the road.  I was taking route 7 toward Pattaya today and there were several moments where all of the 4 lanes were occupied by trucks trying to pass each other.  And of course the police is only interested shaking down speeders rather than making the road safer.<br><br>Terrible accident to be sure,  but the bus driver might  have to share the blame.<br>

[bangon04]

Fleeing the scene seems to be all too common in Thailand especially in the case of fatalities. That's those cultural flaws hampering progress again folks.

Cultural flaws?? You farang just don't understand Thai culture. Running away is not a flaw, it is good sense to avoid punishment if you can.

[metisdead]

Some insulting/inflammatory posts have been removed.

[WarpSpeed]

there is no significant research that concludes Thais are worse drivers than their western counterparts. True. But then There was once no significant research proving that the earth was round, and yet...

So in short. I could agree with your view that Thais aren't bad drivers, but then we'd both be wrong.

Michael Schumacher must be a good driver but still has more accidents than most people.

Say what ??? What kind of rubbish is this being brought forward?? Where has this been documented or reported? Link please??

[WarpSpeed]

The Thai road environment does not create even good drivers , what it does produce is excellent dodgem car drivers , highly skilled drivers do not cause accidents by being reckless , they avoid accidents with those skills,

Most definitely..

How do they manage that ? A skilled driver makes note of vehicles several ahead of them , not just a rear bumper, this way he has early warning of incidents that are imminent , many drivers(?) only know there has been such an incident as they pick themselves up off the ground , the lucky ones that survive that is .

Spot on.

As to mr schumacher , not even a smidgen correct , F1 drivers have those skills honed at a very earlier age on the racing scene , just to compare him with knuckle heads is very demeaning of you .

Demeaning is an understatement and putting it very diplomatically.

[WarpSpeed]

Tachometers?? There sure is a bunch of silliness being posted in this thread

That's not just picking on your post, I couldn't be arsed to quote all the other rubbish posted, can't multi-quote that many in one post anyways....

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck..

Sorry can not be arsed to look back on someone elses posts to see what they have said for you. That you obviously can not say for yourself. As irriating as that may be. I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, as I am sure that you would find it just to irritating. I am sure that the UK, Europe, The USA + many other countries have a perfectly good use for them though? So I will leave you to try and sort that one out yourself. Hey but here is a little clue for you. As for helping the driver avoid other vehicles. It wouldn't

Please do not be perplexed, as I did not state in any way that the use of a tachometer, would be better than proper driver training. One last thing, I did not say whether there was, or was not a tacho fitted. Just that there should be.

jb1

&lt;deleted&gt; ? Clearly you don't have a clue what a tachometer is or does? Tachometer's tell the driver the engines RPMs while driving, prey tell tell me how this is going to do anything to prevent accidents??

Shouldn't have any reason not to read back a couple of pages when you had to read past his post to get to this point anyways...Sure, why read the posts when you can just foolishly answer out of context after at best skimming through..

[WarpSpeed]

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck..

Sorry can not be arsed to look back on someone elses posts to see what they have said for you. That you obviously can not say for yourself. As irriating as that may be. I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, as I am sure that you would find it just to irritating. I am sure that the UK, Europe, The USA + many other countries have a perfectly good use for them though? So I will leave you to try and sort that one out yourself. Hey but here is a little clue for you. As for helping the driver avoid other vehicles. It wouldn't

Please do not be perplexed, as I did not state in any way that the use of a tachometer, would be better than proper driver training. One last thing, I did not say whether there was, or was not a tacho fitted. Just that there should be.

jb1

" I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, " - "vast complexities??? Well if you think using a tacho is "vastly complex" it might go some way to explaining some of your ideas posted here!

Gee that's incredibly similar to what I was thinking ...

[Deeral]

" ? Clearly you don't have a clue what a tachometer is or does? Tachometer's tell the driver the engines RPMs while driving"

I think someone else needs to look up Tachographs too!

However I'll repeat - no amount of training or enforcement will work so long as the roads and traffic are so badly engineered.

[Oberkommando]

The problem is also a cultural one as I alluded to earlier. Thais feel more safe in a vehicle and will act more aggressively and irrationally as normal because of that.

Law enforcement is the way forward along with better driver training (I have done the test and it is pathetic, I can tell you most Thais that pass do not require the skills to command a motor vehicle on the roads) and improved infrastructure as another poster points out, but more importantly a cultural change is needed in the way Thais approach driving and road usage. Until that important step is addressed, there will be no improvement.

[Deeral]

The problem is also a cultural one as I alluded to earlier. Thais feel more safe in a vehicle and will act more aggressively and irrationally as normal because of that.

Law enforcement is the way forward along with better driver training (I have done the test and it is pathetic, I can tell you most Thais that pass do not require the skills to command a motor vehicle on the roads) and improved infrastructure as another poster points out, but more importantly a cultural change is needed in the way Thais approach driving and road usage. Until that important step is addressed, there will be no improvement.

No way will law enforcement or "training" alone help unless accompanied or preceded by a massive program to sort out the roads.

people keep citing the UK tttest - well theri are plenty of countries without this kind of test that have low incident rates.look at driving around the world and you'll build up a picture of what truly affects road safety

[Thaddeus]

The problem is also a cultural one as I alluded to earlier. Thais feel more safe in a vehicle and will act more aggressively and irrationally as normal because of that.

Law enforcement is the way forward along with better driver training (I have done the test and it is pathetic, I can tell you most Thais that pass do not require the skills to command a motor vehicle on the roads) and improved infrastructure as another poster points out, but more importantly a cultural change is needed in the way Thais approach driving and road usage. Until that important step is addressed, there will be no improvement.

No way will law enforcement or "training" alone help unless accompanied or preceded by a massive program to sort out the roads.

Ok, c'mon then, let's just pretend for a few minutes that no one here understands what you mean by sorting out the roads, please elaborate, as fine a detail as you like.

[jimbeam1]

[quote name='WarpSpeed' timestamp='1301975247' post='4336137'

Well rather than posting a rubbish reply. Maybe you could be arsed to give us the benefit of your superior wisdom.

jb1

Actually Deeral already did that for me saved me the irritation...

OR perhaps you can impart more of your superior wisdom on us and explain what a tachometer in a truck (and how you know there wasn't one?) would have to do with making it safer or the driver avoiding other vehicles?

I'm perplexed as to how that would make any difference in this or any accident over the driver just being properly trained and alert as he should be behind the wheel of such a large truck.

" I really can not go into the vast complexities of the use of a tachometer in a truck, " - "vast complexities??? Well if you think using a tacho is "vastly complex" it might go some way to explaining some of your ideas posted here!

Gee that's incredibly similar to what I was thinking ...

Instead of sitting on someones shoulder, like a Parrot. Or bad mouthing others posts. I suggest to you that you use the Google feature on your computer and type in tachometer. Also if you read my reply to the other chappy you would have noticed? that my comment about the complexities of an tacho was, tongue in cheek. Just trying to lighten things a bit. But carry on if you eish.

jb1

[jimbeam1]

&lt;deleted&gt; ? Clearly you don't have a clue what a tachometer is or does? Tachometer's tell the driver the engines RPMs while driving, prey tell tell me how this is going to do anything to prevent accidents??

Tachometer as in engine- drivers log. Not as in rev counter. Does that really need to be explained to you. As stated before just go to wikipedia.

Jesus help us.

jb1

[jimbeam1]

The problem is also a cultural one as I alluded to earlier. Thais feel more safe in a vehicle and will act more aggressively and irrationally as normal because of that.

Law enforcement is the way forward along with better driver training (I have done the test and it is pathetic, I can tell you most Thais that pass do not require the skills to command a motor vehicle on the roads) and improved infrastructure as another poster points out, but more importantly a cultural change is needed in the way Thais approach driving and road usage. Until that important step is addressed, there will be no improvement.

Give this man first prize.

jb1

[jimbeam1]

I do agree, that roads do play a part in accidents, although not to a great extent. My opinion is that what causes most accidents and deaths on the roads in Thailand is. Irresponsibility, lack of law enforcement & driver training and before anyone decides to jump down my throat, that is what I was getting at in my original post when I mentioned driver checks.

Some things that I have noticed here, are that they just do not know how to make an correct right hand turn. They do not have any Idea what Chevrons are on the road for, as they just drive over them asap. They also think that hard shoulder/ emergency lane is another lane to be used to gain advantage. Even when it is clearly marked by a continuous white line. I could go on? But one thing for sure what we say here is not going to Improve the situation. Again I say RIP the Innocent.

jb1