Seat Belts And Crash Helmets

[UbonOz]

Just read the thread re crash helmets. Must be worn, too many lives are lost.

I thought I would mention one of my pet hates.

Why do people not wear their seat belt in a car or not wear their crash helmet on a motorbike?

Young children standing at the windscreen when car is moving. No chance in an accident.

Six young people died yesterday in a pick-up, probably been drinking and no seat belts. Sad loss.

In the vicinity of 27 deaths a day in Thailand on motorcycles. Sad loss.

Don't need to say anymore, just belt up and wear a crash helmet. Think of the grief for your family and friends when you are gone.

[theblether]

Laudable sentiment........

I detest, absolutely detest, seeing pick-ups loaded with people and in particular children in Thailand. I saw one recently where I jest you not there must have been about 20 five year olds on the bed of the pick-up. It's a recipe for distressing carnage if ever I saw one.

I referred in a recent topic to seeing two people literally spread eagled and lying in a pool of blood the last time I drove from BKK to Chiang Mai. The amount of people you see unsecured in the back of pick ups travelling at 140KPH is astounding. One wrong move and they are dead.

So yes, belt up when you can.....yes, wear your helmet......however there are far more fundamental flaws with road traffic movement in Thailand that have to be addressed before there will ever be a significant reduction in fatalities.

One good start would be getting Thais to go through something that remotely resembles a practical driving test.

[pattayadingo]

Most places have been issuing tickets for a long time now to those on m/c not wearing crash helmets. Also to people riding 3 or more on a m/c. Proper tickets too in the vast majority of stops and not tea money.

At least a year ago I was stopped at a toll for the then g/f not wearing her seatbelt. Quick as a flash she dipped into her handbag and took out some pharmacy she had in there and told the policeman it was for her stomach.

He waved us on with no ticket.

I doubt if they will ever stop people piling into the back of pick-ups. It seems to be traditional here.

[necronx99]

I think you have to consider that in the west it was not primarily the death or carnage that created seatbelt or helmet laws.

It was the drain on the medical system of caring for cripples and vegetables.

In LOS they mostly die.

[robblok]

Personally i wear a seat belt and a helmet when on the bike. I make sure the gf does the same. But for foreigners i would say let them decide themselves. They dont have free healthcare and they only kill or injure themselves with it. Its a victimless crime. Let them do what they want and let Darwin sort it out.

For the Thais as it is a drain on the healthcare system i can understand why they enforce it.

[jibberjabberjibberjabber]

Anyone know a good place to buy a motorbike helmet in the Silom area? I travel enough by motorcy taxi to warrant buying my own now but now sure where I can pick one up.

[draftvader]

Contact Sylvain here. He is the distributor of Shark helmets for Thailand. You can pick up a 5 star SHARP rated helmet for under B4,000. Nice new range of Shark helmets coming in March.

[hughben]

Every time I take a cab in Bangkok, the back seats have the strap but no buckle. I feel for it in the gap of the seats and it's like they have been removed. Ridiculous.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Every time I take a cab in Bangkok, the back seats have the strap but no buckle. I feel for it in the gap of the seats and it's like they have been removed. Ridiculous.

No, you sit in the middle and put your left arm and left leg through the left belt, and right arm/leg through the right belt. Very safe position in the middle, like a spider in its web.

[LazyYogi]

Every time I take a cab in Bangkok, the back seats have the strap but no buckle. I feel for it in the gap of the seats and it's like they have been removed. Ridiculous.

No, you sit in the middle and put your left arm and left leg through the left belt, and right arm/leg through the right belt. Very safe position in the middle, like a spider in its web.

LOL!

Edited February 24, 2012 by LazyYogi

[LazyYogi]

What amazes me is when I see someone driving a Honda Wave, not wearing a helmet, but there's a helmet sitting in the front basket.

Just had an incident last week. My wife's cousin is riding around with no helmet after he's been drinking. Loses control and smacks his bike into a wall.

He's extremely lucky that his jaw took most of the impact instead of the top of his skull.

Still, he had to speand a few days in the hospital, and now he has to drop out of school and look for a job so he can begin to pay back the medical bills.

[transam]

My first couple of cars never had seat belts and l never wore a crash hat either, until it became law.

[richard_smith237]

No seat belt stalk in the rear seats is a pet hate of mine.

Most taxis have the rear seat belts, but the stalk is trapped under the seat.

My wife and I wont drink drive so we tried to get our own driver for our car where we have seat belts, but we can't find a driver who's prepared to work irregular and often antisocial hours (evenings). I don't like not having the option of wearing the belt and find it rather irritating that it's tucked away...

[StreetCowboy]

Every time I take a cab in Bangkok, the back seats have the strap but no buckle. I feel for it in the gap of the seats and it's like they have been removed. Ridiculous.

Not every time. I always make a point of commending the seat belts and specifically tipping for them, whenever there are seat belts there. Normally, they are tucked down below the seat. I don't know why.

SC

[SlyAnimal]

Always grates on me, I teach at a school with 2600 students, but I don't think I've ever seen one of them wearing a helmet. And they're terrible drivers too, just as bad as their parents no doubt but with less experience.

The only saving grace of most Thai motorcyclists, is that they know they're terrible. As a result, they drive at around 20-30kmph and drive on the shoulder of the road.

I'd love to see the police setup a helmet check outside school, and confiscate the kids lunch money every day lol

[BookMan]

No seat belt stalk in the rear seats is a pet hate of mine.

Most taxis have the rear seat belts, but the stalk is trapped under the seat.

My wife and I wont drink drive so we tried to get our own driver for our car where we have seat belts, but we can't find a driver who's prepared to work irregular and often antisocial hours (evenings). I don't like not having the option of wearing the belt and find it rather irritating that it's tucked away...

I have tried, unsuccessfully, a few times to pull them out. My most recent 130k hour trip to the airport reminded me of why I had started taking the train. My GF is amused that I like to wear one.

[madjbs]

Always grates on me, I teach at a school with 2600 students, but I don't think I've ever seen one of them wearing a helmet. And they're terrible drivers too, just as bad as their parents no doubt but with less experience.

What do you need the police for? Why don't you suggest to the principle that you should start a helmet campaign in school? Give detentions to anyone driving to school without one. It IS against the law after all......

[nisakiman]

Seatbelts and helmets are incidental if there is a lack of roadcraft.

I remenber someone saying a few years back that instead of airbags in the steering wheel, car manufacturers should fit a lethal spike in the centre. That would then focus the driver's mind on what he was doing, instead of lulling him into a sense of false security because he had all these safety devices around him.

It's the Volvo effect.

Personally, I never wear a seatbelt. I find them uncomfortable and distracting, and I'm not altogether convinced of their efficacy. And before the holier-than-thou start berating me for a mindless fool, I would say that I have driven more miles than most, having been a professional driver (class 1) for many years of my life. I know and understand where seatbelts can be a lifesaver, and I also know when they can be lethal.

(I might add here that I now live in a country where seatbelt and helmet laws are not enforced very strongly, so I actually have a choice.)

But without the relevant driving skills, it's all academic anyway. Two seatbelts aren't going to help much in a pickup with ten people in the back and a lunatic driver.

I also never wear a helmet when I'm out on my bike in the summer. Again, they are uncomfortable, and there is such a sheer joy feeling the wind through your hair (not that I have much of that anymore ) which is entirely lost with a helmet. It's the feeling of freedom. I'll wear one on the rare occaisions I ride my bike in the winter months, but only for warmth.

I'm a free agent. I don't like others telling me how to live my life. I have my own moral compass that has served me well for many years. I am wiser than most of those who would presume to tell me how I should live. I have lived on the edge for most of my life, so every day I wake up is a bonus. And I'm not risk-averse, which most people have been conditioned into being now. Life is risk. That's what makes it exciting, and worth living. Guaranteed immortality would be guaranteed boredom.

So I live how I choose, not how others choose for me.

And part of that is ignoring seatbelt / helmet laws.

Flame on!

[draftvader]

Seatbelts and helmets are incidental if there is a lack of roadcraft.

I remenber someone saying a few years back that instead of airbags in the steering wheel, car manufacturers should fit a lethal spike in the centre. That would then focus the driver's mind on what he was doing, instead of lulling him into a sense of false security because he had all these safety devices around him.

It's the Volvo effect.

Personally, I never wear a seatbelt. I find them uncomfortable and distracting, and I'm not altogether convinced of their efficacy. And before the holier-than-thou start berating me for a mindless fool, I would say that I have driven more miles than most, having been a professional driver (class 1) for many years of my life. I know and understand where seatbelts can be a lifesaver, and I also know when they can be lethal.

(I might add here that I now live in a country where seatbelt and helmet laws are not enforced very strongly, so I actually have a choice.)

But without the relevant driving skills, it's all academic anyway. Two seatbelts aren't going to help much in a pickup with ten people in the back and a lunatic driver.

I also never wear a helmet when I'm out on my bike in the summer. Again, they are uncomfortable, and there is such a sheer joy feeling the wind through your hair (not that I have much of that anymore ) which is entirely lost with a helmet. It's the feeling of freedom. I'll wear one on the rare occaisions I ride my bike in the winter months, but only for warmth.

I'm a free agent. I don't like others telling me how to live my life. I have my own moral compass that has served me well for many years. I am wiser than most of those who would presume to tell me how I should live. I have lived on the edge for most of my life, so every day I wake up is a bonus. And I'm not risk-averse, which most people have been conditioned into being now. Life is risk. That's what makes it exciting, and worth living. Guaranteed immortality would be guaranteed boredom.

So I live how I choose, not how others choose for me.

And part of that is ignoring seatbelt / helmet laws.

Flame on!

No point, you know it won't work. Good luck with that freedom choice.

[StreetCowboy]

Seatbelts and helmets are incidental if there is a lack of roadcraft.

I remenber someone saying a few years back that instead of airbags in the steering wheel, car manufacturers should fit a lethal spike in the centre. That would then focus the driver's mind on what he was doing, instead of lulling him into a sense of false security because he had all these safety devices around him.

It's the Volvo effect.

Personally, I never wear a seatbelt. I find them uncomfortable and distracting, and I'm not altogether convinced of their efficacy. And before the holier-than-thou start berating me for a mindless fool, I would say that I have driven more miles than most, having been a professional driver (class 1) for many years of my life. I know and understand where seatbelts can be a lifesaver, and I also know when they can be lethal.

(I might add here that I now live in a country where seatbelt and helmet laws are not enforced very strongly, so I actually have a choice.)

But without the relevant driving skills, it's all academic anyway. Two seatbelts aren't going to help much in a pickup with ten people in the back and a lunatic driver.

I also never wear a helmet when I'm out on my bike in the summer. Again, they are uncomfortable, and there is such a sheer joy feeling the wind through your hair (not that I have much of that anymore ) which is entirely lost with a helmet. It's the feeling of freedom. I'll wear one on the rare occaisions I ride my bike in the winter months, but only for warmth.

I'm a free agent. I don't like others telling me how to live my life. I have my own moral compass that has served me well for many years. I am wiser than most of those who would presume to tell me how I should live. I have lived on the edge for most of my life, so every day I wake up is a bonus. And I'm not risk-averse, which most people have been conditioned into being now. Life is risk. That's what makes it exciting, and worth living. Guaranteed immortality would be guaranteed boredom.

So I live how I choose, not how others choose for me.

And part of that is ignoring seatbelt / helmet laws.

Flame on!

it doesn't seem fair on the paramedics...

[richard_smith237]

@ nisakamin, that's your choice. But you will harm others in an accident if others are in the car with you.

In my car I tell everyone to use their seatbelt not for their safety, but for mine. I don't want someone bouncing around and hitting me in the event of an accident.

The issue I have with taxi's is if I want to be stupid and think that a seatbelt can cause more harm than good I have no choice about it anyway!

[IanForbes]

I think you have to consider that in the west it was not primarily the death or carnage that created seatbelt or helmet laws.

It was the drain on the medical system of caring for cripples and vegetables.

In LOS they mostly die.

You just wrapped it up in a nutshell. Authorities in western countries couldn't care less if people die or are injured. They just don't want it to cost them any money that is better spent padding their pension funds and excessive salaries.

[transam]

I think you have to consider that in the west it was not primarily the death or carnage that created seatbelt or helmet laws.

It was the drain on the medical system of caring for cripples and vegetables.

In LOS they mostly die.

You just wrapped it up in a nutshell. Authorities in western countries couldn't care less if people die or are injured. They just don't want it to cost them any money that is better spent padding their pension funds and excessive salaries.

+1

My wife's village l see buses taking kids home and dozens are on the roof, yes on the roof.

[StreetCowboy]

I think you have to consider that in the west it was not primarily the death or carnage that created seatbelt or helmet laws.

It was the drain on the medical system of caring for cripples and vegetables.

In LOS they mostly die.

You just wrapped it up in a nutshell. Authorities in western countries couldn't care less if people die or are injured. They just don't want it to cost them any money that is better spent padding their pension funds and excessive salaries.

+1

My wife's village l see buses taking kids home and dozens are on the roof, yes on the roof.

Good thing too. In the West, they would just lease another bus from one of their mates - where's the fun in that for the kids?

I'm quite grateful that thanks to motorcycle helmets and seat belts, my brother and I respectively are still alive.

I'm always quite surprised by the number of maimed people I see in Thailand... In the West we are discouraged from getting maimed so that the government can extort more tax money from us.

SC

[inzman]

Only a <deleted> would not wear their helmet. Last week I got t-boned by a guy who ran thru a red light, hit me on my bike, I flew over the hood and hit the ground hard, only damage other than a couple road rashes was a 6 inch crack in the back of my helmet where my head hit the ground real hard. I keep thinking that without the helmet the crack would have been my head! First bike accident in 8 years here. He came out of the blue, don't matter how good you drive, also how much is your head worth, or is your vanity more important. No helmet makes for a very unsitely corpse!

[transam]

Only a <deleted> would not wear their helmet. Last week I got t-boned by a guy who ran thru a red light, hit me on my bike, I flew over the hood and hit the ground hard, only damage other than a couple road rashes was a 6 inch crack in the back of my helmet where my head hit the ground real hard. I keep thinking that without the helmet the crack would have been my head! First bike accident in 8 years here. He came out of the blue, don't matter how good you drive, also how much is your head worth, or is your vanity more important. No helmet makes for a very unsitely corpse!

Hope you re-arranged his nose.