No Tickets For First-Time Minor Traffic Violators: Thailand

[coma]

Is this a joke or what ? This lot needs to learn and letting them slip is not the way to teach em'. Secondly, how on earth are the BIB going to know if it is their first offence or their 100th ? Pathetic.

[munz]

another budget,,,, another pocket

[richard_smith237]

Very amusing...

1st Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

2nd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

3rd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

Repeat as necessary....

A really stupid policy... This is nothing more than media lip service... How about simply doing proper traffic policing.

teach the policemen the regulations - Don't let Motorcyles drive on pavements, fine people for double parking on the main roads, charge people for anti-social driving (i.e. blocking at box junctions)...

[Tanuki]

people get tickets here? Serious question as I see, on a daily basis, people driving on the wrong side of the road doing 3 times the speed limit with no headlights while talking on their mobile phones right in front of the police here in Phuket and NOTHING happens!? I often wondered if there were public records available for how many moving violation tickets are issued per year. In Phuket I bet the records would show something like: no helmet - 500,000 fines issued (495,000 to farang), speeding - 0, running red light/stop sign - 0, following too close - 0...etc.

[Scully]

Very amusing...

1st Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

2nd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

3rd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

Repeat as necessary....

A really stupid policy... This is nothing more than media lip service... How about simply doing proper traffic policing.

teach the policemen the regulations - Don't let Motorcyles drive on pavements, fine people for double parking on the main roads, charge people for anti-social driving (i.e. blocking at box junctions)...

Yes but they are going to have camera pens. You know the ones that James Bond has.

[Tanuki]

Very amusing...

1st Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

2nd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

3rd Stop: "Officer this is my first minor violation, honest"

Repeat as necessary....

A really stupid policy... This is nothing more than media lip service... How about simply doing proper traffic policing.

teach the policemen the regulations - Don't let Motorcyles drive on pavements, fine people for double parking on the main roads, charge people for anti-social driving (i.e. blocking at box junctions)...

police do their jobs? leave the coffee shop and go out on the road to patrol? hehe yeah that's gonna happen here

[Misterwhisper]

how does that traffic cop stopping you on the street determine whether the 'minor traffic violation' you allegedly committed is in fact your very first offence (thus, he's letting you off the hook) or your 985th one? Are all traffic cops from now on directly linked to a huge database with whose help they can check in an instant whether you're a first-time or repeat offender?

Maybe there is a use for the 900,000 or so tablet computers on order.

LOL, yup, especially the faulty ones.

[DGS1244]

If they can 'relax' the fines in Bangkok why not the rest of the country especially Chiang Mai where 'ambushes' occur daily.

[NomadJoe]

Is this an apparent outbreak in common sense?

Especially the red plate law. Can't drive outside your locality after dark coz they can't make and distribute plates properly. Is like something from middle England.

A few years ago in California the police were instructed to not cite vehicles whose registration was less than 6 months out of date due to a back-log in processing registrations at the DMV.

[newermonkey]

"Under new procedures, officers will be equipped with small video cameras, possibly in the form of a pen attached to their shirt pocket or in a shirt button, to record their traffic stops."

WOW.. the end of corruption, will they get a raise in wages to compensate?

BTW... will the drivers be allowed to video the proceedings as well? hey everyone get your phone cameras ready its "fair game time"

Edited August 16, 2012 by newermonkey

[PETERTHEEATER]

Just go back and read the news article again. Who writes this stuf!!?

1. Police checkpoints must not be....erected in daylight hours., So only after dark will police checkpoints be established?

2. .......The videos would then be used as court evidence in cases where traffic-law violators plead innocent and seek trial instead of pleading guilty and paying the fine. - Is it not reasonable that if a driver believes they are innocent they have the option to refuse a penalty and opt for a trial.How will an officer 'at his traffic stop' use his video record to show a moving traffic violation that occurred up-road such as speeding?

3. Motorists will be let off with verbal warnings for driving newly purchased vehicles with red license plates, which are not allowed on roads after dark. Enforcement of the red-plate law is being relaxed because the Land Transport Department is having problems supplying new plates, This clashes with last years edict that red plates must be replaced with white in less than 10 days to avoid delaying road tax collection. The LTD can issue new plates within 24 hours but new car dealers are too lazy to register 'singles' and wait until they have a 'pile'

Motorists will be issued written warnings...So officers at the checkpoints will have word-processors and printers or pre-printed forms and will act as one man adjudicators?

[naboo]

I can't talk about Bangkok but I have a feeling the police in Chiang Mai are not very happy right now. Since the fines for no helmet doubled, everyone's now wearing helmets, so police are hanging around at checkpoints with nobody to stop. I've passed by Nawarat Bridge numerous times in the last couple of months to see the police stood around looking hopefully for a backhander opportunity.

If they aren't getting their money, what can they do? Ah! Tell everyone they'll get a 2nd chance, that they won't be checking in daytime, cannot spring ambushes around a blind bend etc etc. Then people will stop wearing helmets again and the police will once again be rich. For a while.

Re. Red plates, the delay is usually the dealer hanging onto the cash or the finance company dragging their heals. A quick email 30 days after purchase to head office in a western country explaining you can't drive as your insurance is currently invalid has, in experience, got the dealer sorting plates in 3 days.

[thaikahuna]

In the U.S. when you get traffic tickets for moving violations, the Insurance Companies start raising your rates.

Does anyone know if the Insurance companies in do that in Thailand also?

Not yet.....

[madmitch]

Re. Red plates, the delay is usually the dealer hanging onto the cash or the finance company dragging their heals. A quick email 30 days after purchase to head office in a western country explaining you can't drive as your insurance is currently invalid has, in experience, got the dealer sorting plates in 3 days.

The main reason for the non-issuance of proper plates is that people like to keep the red ones as long as possible to show off the fact they have a new car.

I note that running a red light is not on the serious offence list.

[ggold]

No tickets for first-time minor traffic violators

THE NATION

Twelve serious traffic offences will result in immediate fines: racing, speeding, dangerous overtaking, drunken driving, driving the wrong way on one-way streets, not wearing safety helmets, double parking, no license plates, excessively black fumes, parking violations, parking on sidewalks, and driving or riding on sidewalks.

-- The Nation 2012-08-16

I have seen all the above offences committed on a daily basis by many many people, total that up across the whole of the country would suggest that a fair pesentage of the population will be fined. But as this is how Thais drive as a matter of course. Nothing will happen. It will continue as it does.

Sent from my GT-P6200 using Thaivisa Connect App

[belg]

overhere, we call that tea money, in stead of a ticket

[JanKlaasen]

I note that running a red light is not on the serious offence list.

No, but not wearing a safety helmet and black smoke are on the list so I guess that will make up for it,not?

By the way riding on the sidewalk is also on the list while when I went for my driver license I got tgo watch a video that explained that riding on the side walks was allowed in Thailand.

Could it be that the one who makes up this rules actually has no idea about traffic laws?

Edited August 16, 2012 by JanKlaasen

[stefb1964]

I wonder how they are going to keep records of all the traffic violations... a national database that every cop can consult using a mobile data terminal ? I don't see that happen any time soon. So far my wife and I got pulled over 3 times or so for so called traffic violations committed at the end of the month.. never got a ticket, but only a big smile and ... well, you know what I mean

[Bagwan]

Re. Red plates, the delay is usually the dealer hanging onto the cash or the finance company dragging their heals. A quick email 30 days after purchase to head office in a western country explaining you can't drive as your insurance is currently invalid has, in experience, got the dealer sorting plates in 3 days.

The main reason for the non-issuance of proper plates is that people like to keep the red ones as long as possible to show off the fact they have a new car.

I note that running a red light is not on the serious offence list.

Nor is driving on the wrong side of a two way street.

[hhiser]

Is it April 1st already?

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect App

[allan michaud]

In the U.S. when you get traffic tickets for moving violations, the Insurance Companies start raising your rates.

Does anyone know if the Insurance companies in do that in Thailand also?

I don't know that there's any linkage between the police ticketing "system" and the insurance companies, I've renewed my insurance many many times and this has never been an issue. Any time I get a ticket it's usually a case of pay the officer a couple of hundred baht and the ticket then goes away. On the odd occaision when I've not been able to do that and I've had to pay at a police station, there's no evidence to suggest the ticket details were ever recorded anywhere.

In the UK I had to declare any offences on my licence to the insurance company and am am sure you would be expected to do so in the US too, here no idea what they do.

[Pib]

I wonder how the average traffic cop is going to make-up the lost income caused by this policy change?

[vijer]

Motorists will be let off with verbal warnings for driving newly purchased vehicles with red license plates, which are not allowed on roads after dark. Enforcement of the red-plate law is being relaxed because the Land Transport Department is having problems supplying new plates, Worrasak said.

This idiotic concept of a vehicle with a red plate only allowed to be driven between 6am and 6pm is so Thailand. Lets see, you have been driving for 30 years and you bought a new Mercedes and you're driving it after 6pm so you get pulled over and receive an opportunity to support your local BiB. But lets say you just received your very first drivers license, you can drive any time you like. Sure sound moronic to me.

Twelve serious traffic offences will result in immediate fines: racing, speeding, dangerous overtaking, drunken driving, driving the wrong way on one-way streets, not wearing safety helmets, double parking, no license plates, excessively black fumes, parking violations, parking on sidewalks, and driving or riding on sidewalks.

Seriously, excessive black fumes? Who determines what is excessive? Seems to me they should be pulling old diesel vehicles over constantly but I have never seen it happen. And what about all the vehicles with faulty lights? I followed a pickup truck yesterday that had NO tail lights, none, no bulbs and no lenses. I see a lot of taxis, commercial trucks and motorcycles without running lights. Seems to me that is a serious violation, of stupidity, if not the law.

[Farangdam]

plenty of tablet..plenty of pen camera .. wow... made in china ..few new thai bilionaire added to list ....slump still slump

[Unkomoncents]

Gotta love the "pen camera" bit. Issuing those to every police officer and then ensuring that he wears it would be nigh impossible. It would also have to be more expensive than keeping some kind of database of criminal activity with tablet PC access for the officers. I see many of them riding on 125 cc scooters though, two at a time, so I assume if they can't even afford one of the motorcycles for each, someone's wiling the tea money away at the top.

possibly in the form of a pen attached to their shirt pocket or in a shirt button

A practical admission of the outrageous, quixotic, impractical thinking behind this statement (as it is nothing more).

[hawker9000]

Even the cops ride on the sidewalks in Bangkok... Sidewalk riders ride right past manned police kiosks all day long. Motobike traffic on sidewalks is so commonplace, a cop who decided to turn "rogue" and start handing out tickets for that could probably establish his retirement fund in one day just along Sukhumvit. Stunned (or amused - not sure which) to hear that's considered a "serious" offense.

[kimamey]

Is this an apparent outbreak in common sense?

Especially the red plate law. Can't drive outside your locality after dark coz they can't make and distribute plates properly. Is like something from middle England.

My gf got her new car on 19th June after ordering it in January and she's still waiting for plates. I've never known a car leave a showroom without plates anywhere in the UK let alone middle England.

We also asked for a handbook in English and we're still waiting. The printers must have got flooded as well as the factories.

[Pseudolus]

No one will ever get ticket ever again then. This is open season for every cop to say "you done this before. You pay money now".

[cup-O-coffee]

So we're adding another law to:

Moving Violations

Improper Child Restraint

Defective Headlight or Brake-light

Exhaust

Excessive Acceleration

Expired, Improper or Missing Plates

Expired License

Following too Close

Failure to Yield

Failure to Yield to Emergency Vehicle

Failure to Signal Turn

Insufficient Speed

Improper Passing

No Seat-belt

Speeding

Wrong Way

Weaving

Failure to Stop

Parking in Front of a Hydrant

Parking in a No Parking Zone

Improper Display of Plate

Obstruction of Roadway...

Does this also mean no tickets for first time minor traffic violators who are minors?

Summing the articles stupid headline up; By the time the police can dig into their records to determine if the offender is a first-time violator, said offender will die of old age.

[Tanuki]

overhere, we call that tea money, in stead of a ticket

which 99.9% of the time will never be spent on actual tea.