Many Injured As Train Hits 9 Cars At Bangkok's Asoke Rail Crossing

[webfact]

Train Hits 9 Cars at Asoke Rail Crossing

Photo: js100 Radio

A train hit 9 vehicles that were parked on the Asoke railway crossing while stuck in red light. At least 10 people were injured with 6 in critical condition.

Among them was a railway official stationed at the crossing who had been waving a red flag to signal the train driver to stop.

Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light.

This time, however, the train driver misjudged his brake distance and couldn't put the train to a halt in time before it actually reached the crossing.

-- Tan Network 2011-12-15

[glenfaux]

I don't think the train driver should justify his misjudged braking distance.

The selfish drivers trying to inch their way home and ignoring rules of the road are to blame.

[laurentbkk]

I better no comment on that ...I feel sorry for the train driver as obviously the car drivers are to be blame ...one more time .... I rarely seen people stopping at red lights anyway ..... and I am not surprise at all , the sellfishness of Thai drivers is very well know ..

[ratcatcher]

If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? Why were cars "parked" (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? Silly questions of course. T.I.T.

However these accidents also happen in other countries with supposedly more sophisticated warning and gate systems.

I hope the train driver is OK and also the idiots in their cars, stopped on the tracks, who were injured.

[Heng]

No real traffic enforcement at that crossing. Just a 250 Baht a day peon from the SRT, not even a single traffic police peon.

[whybother]

If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? Why were cars "parked" (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? Silly questions of course. T.I.T.

However these accidents also happen in other countries with supposedly more sophisticated warning and gate systems.

I hope the train driver is OK and also the idiots in their cars, stopped on the tracks, who were injured.

Have you ever been to that intersection? There are cars stopped on the tracks 90% of the day.

Usually, the police at Petchaburi / Asoke intersection let the lights run to clear the traffic enough to get the traffic off the tracks and the gates across. They must have been asleep.

[travelmann]

<deleted> me it aint rocket science is it, you dont enter the rail area until your exit is clear, unfortunately with the childish I must be first/in front/cant wait selfish attitude here they get what they deserve. Tomorrow it will all happen again, in fact theyll even sit in the crossing eyeing the burnt out wreckage because of course "it weill never happen again".

Many Thais dont know what or how to use a roundabout/island/junction/traffic light so they will have zero ability to undertsand the yellow diagonals which I assume were painted on the road here? That said they dont know in the UK half the time and when you wind down your widnow as you try to cross the blocked road pointing it out you get every name under the sun, thats why im such a "people" person.

Yellow diagonals DO NOT ENTER unless your exit is clear ( in the Uk unless you wish to turn right then its ok)

Edited December 15, 2011 by travelmann

[Forkinhades]

If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? Why were cars "parked" (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? Silly questions of course. T.I.T.

However these accidents also happen in other countries with supposedly more sophisticated warning and gate systems.

I hope the train driver is OK and also the idiots in their cars, stopped on the tracks, who were injured.

Have you ever been to that intersection? There are cars stopped on the tracks 90% of the day.

Usually, the police at Petchaburi / Asoke intersection let the lights run to clear the traffic enough to get the traffic off the tracks and the gates across. They must have been asleep.

This is a waiting disaster in Pattaya too. Soi Know Noi to Sukhumvit

[Briggsy]

If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? Why were cars "parked" (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? Silly questions of course. T.I.T.

However these accidents also happen in other countries with supposedly more sophisticated warning and gate systems.

I hope the train driver is OK and also the idiots in their cars, stopped on the tracks, who were injured.

Have you ever been to that intersection? There are cars stopped on the tracks 90% of the day.

Usually, the police at Petchaburi / Asoke intersection let the lights run to clear the traffic enough to get the traffic off the tracks and the gates across. They must have been asleep.

This is a waiting disaster in Pattaya too. Soi Know Noi to Sukhumvit

Yes, but far fewer trains in Pattaya and the gridlock is not 24 hours a day there as it is in Asoke. In fact there is only one 'up' train and one 'down' train per day in terms of scheduled passenger trains. There are a few freight and rolling stock movements as well. I'll go back to Nerdland now.

[pointoffew]

"Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light."

Tells you something - admit: we knew for long - about the police....

Cars DON'T get stuck on the rail crossing during "due to heavy traffic congestion" .but due to a total lack of brains and/or manners.

Call it unrivalled selfishness, if you will.

Somnamna indeed.

[rich54321]

"Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light."

Tells you something - admit: we knew for long - about the police....

Cars DON'T get stuck on the rail crossing during "due to heavy traffic congestion" .but due to a total lack of brains and/or manners.

Call it unrivalled selfishness, if you will.

Somnamna indeed.

agreed -

its not the fault of the train driver who is probably distressed - its the car drivers and the Police

[Evilbaz]

Maybe there should be a guy with a red flag walking in front of every train?

[SWW]

We need to stop assuming that things here are the same as they are in the West. In the UK if you hear the sirens/bells telling you a train is coming, you get the HELL away from the tracks, as the trains usually go past at over 60mph (used to be 90mph, and at smaller crossings in the middle of nowhere they would not slow down at all and go past at 125mph), and they ain't stopping! Also, the trains tend not to have crossings at busy traffic junctions, for safety reasons.

However, returning to Thailand, it is very common at a busy junction with a railway crossing over it, for traffic to get stuck on the tracks - and they don't get much busier than the junction at Asok/Phetchaburi, where there are cars stopped on the tracks almost constantly during busy hours.

The train is supposed to stop and wait as the cars get out of the way (it can hardly go around the cars - the only control its driver has, is over its speed). That's what the guy with the torch and red flag does at the junction - tells the driver of the train to stop or go.

In this case the guy with the flag was waving frantically telling the train to stop - and people here are blaming the cars?

I was at the junction as they were still clearing the line last night, about an hour after the incident. More telling to me was that the song-taew driver I spoke to said that the train driver was probably drunk. If that were the case, would people here still blame the cars' drivers?

[cowslip]

I better no comment on that ...I feel sorry for the train driver as obviously the car drivers are to be blame ...one more time .... I rarely seen people stopping at red lights anyway ..... and I am not surprise at all , the sellfishness of Thai drivers is very well know ..

Sorry - you are not right there. This situation happens on a daily basis - the train driver knew that - or should have known that and therefore should have been prepared to stop.

however he is obviously not solely to blame.

blame in an incident like this NEVER rests on one party alone - yet time and again posters on TV have this urge to lay blame solely on one person - this is as stupid as it is unhelpful.

The fact is that rail crossings throughout Thailand are mismanaged; the railway authorities know this but don't see any reason to do anything about it.

As for the drivers - well it seems apparently daft, but they do not control the traffic ahead, and many will have seen the train one to a halt before. When planning for safety one has to assume the "public" are complete fools - the idea is to create a situation where an "accident" can't happen - there should be absolutely no way that a car - however daft the driver - could get onto a crossing - yet of course in Thailand this is NEVER the case.

One could argue that anyone with common sense would not cross the line until there was space on the other side, but you just have to read the posts on TV to see that stupidity is not the preserve of those attempting to cross the line on this fateful occasion.

[BKKBrit]

I use this route every day. It's common 'practice' that the cars will be bumper to bumper leading to the Asoke-Petchburi junction. And daily, the cops in their box will hear the train approaching because of the sirens coming from the barriers that start flashing before they come down. The road junction lights are then turned to green to allow the Asok-bound traffic to move. The SRT staff then head out and using their flags, move the stuck cars though the barriers and stop those approaching. The barriers then come down.

In my humble opinion there would be many factors at fault here - yes the car drivers are to blame, but there again, there're no yellow boxes in that area - not that means much anyway to the average Thai driver. If there was such gridlock that traffic couldn't go when the lights were green, then the answer to this is that strict enforcement of a no-waiting zone is made either side of the railway crossing.

Wishing a speedy recovery to all that were injured. :jap:

[rmacdon61]

Unfortunitly, cars that do stop keeping off the tracks waiting the light, are passed by cars and scooters and would never make the light. It becomes a matter of using a "POLICE" controlled crossing. Even having drop gates would only get stuck on the roof of the cars in the way. Heavy traffic causes people to push their luck to get through, sometimes at their own risk. It will happen again and again.

[toenail]

I would bet that the traffic police collect more fines from the poor motorbike drivers than from the arrogant car drivers in BKK.

[kjun12]

SWW, you can't comment on this when you and I are not great traffic engineers as most of those who write comments here are. They just know it all. Just like Dr. Irwin Corey, the World's Foremost Expert!

[eladblum]

Yeah,

So it's the heavy traffics fault, the train drivers fault but not the IDIOTS driving the cars!!!

Oh I know! those 9 cars didn't have a buddha image in them, right?

[givenall]

I guess it bond to happen soon or later. I always wondered how these drivers keep pushing their car in any holes they find, even though it doesn't make any difference or speed up their progress in any ways. It is like when the Thais get into the car then they become gods and never give an inch.

Edited December 15, 2011 by givenall

[Scott]

Trains are not normally held responsible for accidents with vehicles at crossings. A train is very difficult to stop.

I try to make sure I can get over the tracks, but that's not always possible in BKK traffic.

[Reasonableman]

This is a mean-spirited response to this tragedy. There are many unsafe rail crossings throughout Bangkok, and in peak hours drivers do sometimes get stuck half way across the rail tracks, through no particular fault of their own. The issue is perhaps more about the appropriateness of level crossings in the middle of a huge metropolis, where heavy road traffic is continually disrupted by sporadic rail traffic. It is very very dangerous and should be addressed as an urgent infrastructure issue by the Thai authorities. If the rail lines cannot be diverted to safer routes, then elevated roadways must be built to take road traffic safely above/below/around them. Level crossings are always a hazard, but in many developed countries, they are relegated to the distant countryside, and never downtown.

"Police said due to heavy traffic congestion in the area, cars are often stuck on the rail crossing during the red light."

Tells you something - admit: we knew for long - about the police....

Cars DON'T get stuck on the rail crossing during "due to heavy traffic congestion" .but due to a total lack of brains and/or manners.

Call it unrivalled selfishness, if you will.

Somnamna indeed.

[sfm]

"If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? "

Probably a signal was broken, and that is the real problem. Do not think that national train system runs on flags in the dark. It doesn't.

"Why were cars 'parked' (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? "

Because it is the way it works in the city. Cars stop on tracks, and it is very hard to avoid.

People also get stuck in any other intersection.

You go towards an intersection in heavy traffic. It is green for you. You can see that there are cars inside the intersection. so that everybody MAY not be able to get out of the intersection before it is green in other directions.

Do you stop for green, even if you are not absolutely certain?

Well, the norm here is, that you go in, and others, who have green waits until there is free passage.

Personally I think it is a better system than people stopping for green light in their direction, based on an evaluation that will be wrong much of the time.

- - -

Dozens of things can happen on a track. A bus could get a motorstop. Two cars could have had an accident. Or, as it happen 100 times in the city every day: cars are stuck in a queue.

The intersection guards are there to ensure safe passage. Something failed.

This accident is 100% the error of the train company. There should be back-up solutions.

It is as simple as having a backup lantern. Not a flag in the dark.

[moskito]

so how much time the car drivers saved now by entering such a dangerous spot? I dont think that the

traindriver is to blame here, must be terrible enough for him too having so many ppl killed

RIP ....and hopefully we dont have to read the same story next week again, same place same accident....

[glenfaux]

"If the accident happened during evening hours, why was the "railway official" waving a red flag and not a red lamp? "

Probably a signal was broken, and that is the real problem. Do not think that national train system runs on flags in the dark. It doesn't.

"Why were cars 'parked' (stopped) on railway tracks when the warning lights were flashing? "

Because it is the way it works in the city. Cars stop on tracks, and it is very hard to avoid.

People also get stuck in any other intersection.

You go towards an intersection in heavy traffic. It is green for you. You can see that there are cars inside the intersection. so that everybody MAY not be able to get out of the intersection before it is green in other directions.

Do you stop for green, even if you are not absolutely certain?

Well, the norm here is, that you go in, and others, who have green waits until there is free passage.

Personally I think it is a better system than people stopping for green light in their direction, based on an evaluation that will be wrong much of the time.

- - -

Dozens of things can happen on a track. A bus could get a motorstop. Two cars could have had an accident. Or, as it happen 100 times in the city every day: cars are stuck in a queue.

The intersection guards are there to ensure safe passage. Something failed.

This accident is 100% the error of the train company. There should be back-up solutions.

It is as simple as having a backup lantern. Not a flag in the dark.

What a load of fluff.

Its the motorists at blame here due to the selfish road etiquette that Thailand possesses.

I don't cross the rail tracks unless there is at least 2 car lengths of space for me after the tracks and wait for the next light.

Don't know why people try to rush home after work when they have been twiddling their thumbs and being unproductive at work all day.

Maybe they should take their driving home effort and use it in the workplace.

[shadiadi]

Easy just impose 100,000 baht fine for stopping on the railway lines enforce the law a few times nobody will do it again. I can't say I feel sorry for the drivers of the cars it's their own fault juat imagine if it was a farang driver he would be in jail for damaging the train.

[dominique355]

Sometimes I see long trains with dozens of gasoline cars crossing inner Bangkok, Sukhumvit/Ploenchit.

I don't know if this train goes on to Asoke but this is a major catastrophe waiting to happen with the habit of so many drivers to block the intersections.

[moskito]

We need to stop assuming that things here are the same as they are in the West. In the UK if you hear the sirens/bells telling you a train is coming, you get the HELL away from the tracks, as the trains usually go past at over 60mph (used to be 90mph, and at smaller crossings in the middle of nowhere they would not slow down at all and go past at 125mph), and they ain't stopping! Also, the trains tend not to have crossings at busy traffic junctions, for safety reasons.

However, returning to Thailand, it is very common at a busy junction with a railway crossing over it, for traffic to get stuck on the tracks - and they don't get much busier than the junction at Asok/Phetchaburi, where there are cars stopped on the tracks almost constantly during busy hours.

The train is supposed to stop and wait as the cars get out of the way (it can hardly go around the cars - the only control its driver has, is over its speed). That's what the guy with the torch and red flag does at the junction - tells the driver of the train to stop or go.

In this case the guy with the flag was waving frantically telling the train to stop - and people here are blaming the cars?

I was at the junction as they were still clearing the line last night, about an hour after the incident. More telling to me was that the song-taew driver I spoke to said that the train driver was probably drunk. If that were the case, would people here still blame the cars' drivers?

YES - blame is still on the car drivers.

you should read Travelmans Post No 7 here in the thread - NOTHING more to say about it - if you STOP on the track without a way out it is YOUR fault, even IF the traindriver was totally drunk at least its a TRAIN Track!

The selfish loosing face when I stop attitude cost some life here on a daily basis!

[happysanook]

I don't think the train driver should justify his misjudged braking distance.

The selfish drivers trying to inch their way home and ignoring rules of the road are to blame.

i agree. ludicrous it's suggested that the train driver is anywhere near blame here.

what do you think happens when you stop on a railway. morons.

[whybother]

so how much time the car drivers saved now by entering such a dangerous spot? I dont think that the

traindriver is to blame here, must be terrible enough for him too having so many ppl killed

RIP ....and hopefully we dont have to read the same story next week again, same place same accident....

Nobody is dead yet.