Honda Civic Plunges From Expressway, Killing Driver: Pathum Thani

[webfact]

ACCIDENT

Honda Civic plunges from expressway, killing driver

Photo : Anan Vijitpracha

PATHUM THANI: -- A Honda Civic car crashed into the rear of a 10wheel truck before plunging from the Udon Ratthaya Expressway in Pathum Thani's Muang district to a football field below and exploding in flames in the early hours of Wednesday, killing the driver instantly.

The accident took place at around 4.50am. Police found the charred body of a man in the driver's seat. The car registration book and a document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25.

Security footage showed the car crashing into the 10wheeler at 4.47am before plunging into the field, The truck fled the scene.

In related news, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration earlier revealed 68 dangerous curves and 30 dangerous intersections about which Bangkokian commuters should be aware, as well as 18 Yshape elevated roadway spots that have become notorious for cars, when driven by speeding or hesitant drivers, plunging through the barriers to the ground below.

-- The Nation 2012-08-15

[saltandpepper]

RIP the poor chap who lost his life in such a terrible way.

the truck fled the scene....How amazing?

[kimamey]

Apart from the obvious matter of badly trained drivers and police not doing their job maybe I could suggest looking at the suitability of the barriers.

[ratcatcher]

"The truck fled the scene."

I sincerely hope the driver got a ride home and they found the truck.

On a more serious note, I wonder if the truck was parked in a traffic lane without marker lights?

Yet another fatality in the list of vehicles diving from overhead roadways.

Nobody will know the grief experienced by the man's family as he fails to return.

It's unknown whether he was on the way to or returning from work.

[bkkjames]

Can we get a list of the Related News about the unsafe areas revealed by the Bangkok Police?

[coma]

That is a nasty looking smash. It seems as if it is Standard Operating Procedure [sOP's] for Thais to flee vehicle accidents as quickly as possible. Even if when it seems, in this incident, that the fleeing driver was not at fault.

The car registration book and a document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

[Kananga]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

[Payboy]

Time to import crash cushions.

[saltandpepper]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

[Kananga]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

No, thats not what I am saying.

Just out of interest, is this how you engage people in conversation face to face?

Edited August 15, 2012 by Kananga

[ratcatcher]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

I don't think he was saying it is the rule to flee, but due to the facts that he outlined, as a rule drivers tend to flee because they are scared shyteless of the possibility of the crowd of onlookers being judge and jury at the scene.

I don't agree with this course of action, being a westerner; I prefer people to act responsibly and stay at the scene of an accident and render assistance to any injured parties and assist police in the investigation,

BUT this being Thailand, we know why they run.

[OzMick]

I don't imagine that there was much assistance the truck driver could offer given the positions of the vehicles.

[Kananga]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

I don't think he was saying it is the rule to flee, but due to the facts that he outlined, as a rule drivers tend to flee because they are scared shyteless of the possibility of the crowd of onlookers being judge and jury at the scene.

I don't agree with this course of action, being a westerner; I prefer people to act responsibly and stay at the scene of an accident and render assistance to any injured parties and assist police in the investigation,

BUT this being Thailand, we know why they run.

Thanks for explaining what I couldnt be bothered to do in simplistic terms.

[asiawatcher]

Truck getting hit in the rear at 4:05am? Two thoughts, trucks mostly don't travel at the speed of cars and if a guy hits it with enough force to become airborne then fair chance he was speeding! Next issue would be was he heading anywhere specific, home or work, drunk, on drugs, went to sleep at the wheel? Final issue, yes the truck driver did a runner - standard practice for any large vehicle including BMA buses due to the 'big vehicle rule' meaning no matter what - the largest vehicle will be held responsible. Did the truck driver have a license? Was he illegally here, on any substances, or simply shit scared? If they got the footage then they should be able to identify the vehicle and its owner. Let time unravel the mysteries.

Edited August 15, 2012 by asiawatcher

[Phatcharanan]

document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

Such a childish comment.

[Pseudolus]

Can't speculate upon this crash at all. 10 wheeler truck might have been clipped in the rear, car flips, and he hardly notices he's been hit perhaps thinking he's gone over one of the many many holes in the road, especially if he was heavily laden.

The lad most likely speeding (must have been to get airborn). Maybe he was thinking of his other past times?

http://goo.gl/WkuJH

[alexmaniax]

document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

Such a childish comment.

Right!!

[hedonist44]

document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

Such a childish comment.

I agree and very inappropriate, but considering the source it's expected. A person looses his life and some clowns feel the need to have a go at humor for some reason.

[saltandpepper]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

No, thats not what I am saying.

Just out of interest, is this how you engage people in conversation face to face?

I might not have put it the way I was thinking it... Apologies if it sounded rude, but that's not what I meant.

[Kananga]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

No, thats not what I am saying.

Just out of interest, is this how you engage people in conversation face to face?

I might not have put it the way I was thinking it... Apologies if it sounded rude, but that's not what I meant.

Apology accepted. What I am saying is that in Thailand if you fear you are going to get blamed for the accident due to a lack of influence or money or you fear reprisals from angry natives at the scene then many people flee the scene so they dont get sued by the richer and more powerful other party (regardless of who is actually to blame) or clubbed to death by an angry mob.

[Scott]

I've seen a few accidents where the driver of one of the vehicles has been very badly beaten. One example was on a major road outside of Bangkok. A pickup with about 10 people in the back sideswiped a vehicle it was trying to pass. Not a major accident and clearly the pickup's fault, but the guys jumped out of the back and proceeded to beat the driver of the other vehicle senseless.

I don't condone fleeing, but street justice is a little bit too common for comfort.

RIP to the victim and condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

[MEL1]

I'd certainly like to see the barrier he went over or through.

With reference to post #2, fair observation.

In the west, barriers are there to stop cars going thru them, and where there are barriers it is indeed difficult to go thru them.

If these kind of barriers were employed in Thailand on elevated roads then there would not be the amount of cars falling off elevated roads, if any (assuming they were built correctly, and not from sub-standard materials).

It does often make me wonder how safe I am when traversing or travelling along an elevated tollway or U-turn.

I wonder if we'll see the footage of what actually happened, and did he indeed 'take off' over a barrier?

-mel.

[LuckyLew]

Trucks flee the scene because they are driven by poor people. If he was hit by the car he would have probably been worried that if he hung around the angry family of the dead boy would try and may be successful in suing him. You can't beat the culture here for passing the buck onto some poor schmuck.

This is what happens when you cannot rely on or have faith in the judiciary and law enforcement.

So what you are saying is that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent, the rule is to flee ?

No it is not the rule

but hen you read every week in the news about people

fleeing after accidents, you start to think it is the rule

[nottocus]

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

Like it.

[stefb1964]

That is a nasty looking smash. It seems as if it is Standard Operating Procedure [sOP's] for Thais to flee vehicle accidents as quickly as possible. Even if when it seems, in this incident, that the fleeing driver was not at fault.

The car registration book and a document from the Civil Aviation Training Center identified him as Manchukorn Namwichai, 25

Maybe the driver was using the expressway to practice take-offs and landings.

Sadly enough as it is, another life is lost here. Family is trying to cope with the loss and will mourning quite some time.

I don't see the humour in making fun over somebody's death and find it totally inappropriate.

[stefb1964]

I've seen a few accidents where the driver of one of the vehicles has been very badly beaten. One example was on a major road outside of Bangkok. A pickup with about 10 people in the back sideswiped a vehicle it was trying to pass. Not a major accident and clearly the pickup's fault, but the guys jumped out of the back and proceeded to beat the driver of the other vehicle senseless.

I don't condone fleeing, but street justice is a little bit too common for comfort.

RIP to the victim and condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

I totally agree with your observation here but allow me to add something to it. In case there would exist a justified reason in Thai laws (fearing getting killed by bystanders) to leave the scene, the next decent thing the driver could have done is turn himself in at the nearest police station. As from my current position, he still would be considered having fled the scene and would get charged with neglecting help to a person in danger. It might look bizarre in this case for a number of the readers here, but besides the physical help he might (or not) have been able to offer, he could at least have called the emergency services immediately. Edited August 15, 2012 by stefb1964

[Scott]

I totally agree.

In Thailand I guess they remember a line from the movie "Thelma and Louise"

"Why go to the police? If we wait long enough, they'll come to us."

Edited August 15, 2012 by Scott

[jimmybkk]

Don't forget that there is some strange law in Thailand about the bigger vehicle in an accident automatically being in the wrong (or something like that). Added incentive to flee the scene unfortunately.

[culicine]

The young man's facebook:) Seemed he had a lot going for him. Very sad, my condolences to his friends and family. He's a co-worker of an ex-student of mine.

https://www.facebook.com/BuckMiie

[metisdead]

An insensitive nonsense post has been removed.