Agency Takes Safety Measures As Road Accidents In Bangkok Rise

[webfact]

Special Report: Capital faces dangers high and low

Thanatpong Kongsai

The Nation

It has been proposed that a railing with a reflective warning sign such as this be installed at high-risk locations on elevated junctions and overpasses.

Agency takes safety measures as road accidents in Bangkok rise

BANGKOK: - Vehicles falling off an expressway, cars plunging down a hole created by land subsidence on a road surface, giant billboards collapsing on passersby - all accidents that threaten the lives of Bangkok residents and are being witnessed more frequently in the hustle and bustle of the big capital.

But these accidents could be prevented if authorities paid more attention to safeguarding lives. Following the latest accident on the Ratchawipa expressway on Wednesday, Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand governor Aiyanat Tinapai said ERAT would at the end of this month install crash cushions on 18 high-risk Y junctions in seven areas of its expressways.

He said the agency had already installed other safety measures including warning signs and lights, rumble strips on the surface, stickers 70 metres before Y-junctions - a safe distance provided vehicles are not travelling at more than 80 kilometres an hour. The cost of the crash cushions is Bt6 million.

Thailand Accident Research Centre (TARC) reports show accidents of high-speed vehicles crashing in core (major traffic) areas are caused by several factors including drivers' hesitation and poor vision caused by too short a distance for drivers to make a decision.

Drivers can save lives by driving slowly into junctions, and at night studying maps before travelling on unfamiliar routes, and avoiding sudden lane changes.

Simple steps

State agencies can help prevent accidents through simple and economical means such as extending the core area in order to increase the distance long enough for drivers to make a decision, and installing crash cushions in areas where core areas cannot be extended.

Following the catastrophic floods of last year, city roads have witnessed more land cave-ins. The first took place in March on Rama IV Road, followed by others on Rama III Road, in front of Charoenkrung Pracharak Road and on Chaengwattana Road. A survey by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration shows 114 spots in 32 districts face a high risk of land subsidence.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Theerachon Manomaipibul said land subsidence was caused by the expansion of urbanisation with more buildings, tap water pipe installations, and subway routes. He said the Department of Public Works had been using ultrasound systems to scan roads near canals and if cracks are found, road repairs are carried out immediately.

Meanwhile, the collapse of a giant commercial billboard that killed one person in Chom Thong district last Sunday was not unprecedented. Every year similar accidents happen not once but sometimes twice.

The incident prompted Bangkok Governor Sukumbhand Paribatra to instruct 50 district chiefs to check every billboard in their jurisdiction and a committee has been set up to review if present city laws and regulations are strong enough to prevent more accidents.

A survey conducted early this year found that 142 billboards violated city regulations, comprising 92 erected on the ground and 50 on buildings.

-- The Nation 2012-08-21

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Bangkok’s City Hall moves to cushion Bangkok roads

BANGKOK, Aug 21 - Crash cushions will be installed on 18 accident-prone throughout the Thai capital, mainly at flyovers, in Bangkok within September, Deputy Bangkok Governor Theerachon Manomaipiboon said on Monday.

He said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has already installed four cushions at the Ratchavipha flyover while 14 others will be fixed on the Y-shape intersections of six other flyovers within a month.

The arge cushions were installed in response to a recent accident at a Y-shape intersection on the Ratchavipha flyover where two persons were killed when their car plunged off the flyover.

Mr Theerachon said three accidents have occurred at accident-prone intersections on flyovers in the past month, adding that he has assigned officials in all Bangkok districts to survey sites where additional crash cushions will be needed.

He expressed concern that the installation work could be obstructed by the rain since the chemical that sticks to the concrete must be completely dry.

Some accident-prone locations on Bangkok's flyovers are under the control of the Highway Department and the Express Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand. The two offices have installed crash cushions at sites under their supervision.

Meanwhile, an accident at an intersection on a flyover near the northern outskirts of Bangkok was reported Monday morning, in which a 35-year-old driver was seriously injured.

Police said the car plunged from the flyover, skidded 75 metres on the road and overturned. The injured driver was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-08-21

[CelticBhoy]

Paint everything bright yellow. That's the trick.

Why not paint the driving test centre bright yellow

so the locals can see it better and maybe they will

have a few lessons and sit the test themselves. I'm

sick of being told how easy it is to 'buy' a license.

[ignis]

About time ABS and airbags were law on all new cars and pickups maybe help getting seriously injured in an accident.

[saltandpepper]

About time ABS and airbags were law on all new cars and pickups maybe help getting seriously injured in an accident.

The best would be to do everything possible to avoid accidents!

But I agree that increased passive safety is a plus!

[Moruya]

Much higher standard of driving test.

Drivers knowing how to drive

Drivers following the law

Police enforcing the law

Road markings correctly drawn

Enforcing speed limits

Not driving in the breakdown lane

Not creating additional lanes at will

Motor cyclists with helmets

Motor bikes not weaving around

And the answer is? Padded walls and reading maps at night!

[Kilgore Trout]

Drivers can save lives by driving slowly into junctions, and at night studying maps before travelling on unfamiliar routes, and avoiding sudden lane changes.

In all my years here I have yet to meet one Thai driver who can read a map or would study it at night

[jcw]

What is a round about ?

[noitom]

Paint over the national character that ignores law and order. Why pay attention to the yellow markings and road guards? With an attitude that they only apply to other less privileged, how can this help?

[phosphorescent]

What is a round about ?

It's the way in which things are done over here.

[starkey_rich]

The simple answer is teach these idiots how to drive and take a proper test not just drive around the car park once without hitting anything or you will probably get away with just hitting one thing.

[laurentbkk]

nothing to add , everything has been said in previous comments ...... so many accident could be avoid with a better knowledge in driving , of course in western countries we dont have the whole knowledge but we drive in such a better way , not to mention how hard it is to have your driving license. I just hope the future generation will be more responsible ...

[buhi]

What is a round about ?

What is a box junction?

Lots of them but no round abouts!

U turn, =Russian roulette.

[zakk9]

The wheel being re-invented yet one more time in Thailand. Will it be square or triangular this time, I wonder

[ricardofel]

Safety and Thailand is an oxymoron.............

[yooper2001]

The simple answer is to have the police do their job. I have lived in thailand for 2 years and my friend has lived here for 8 years and neither has seen anybody stopped for speeding. My girlfriend just got in a accident because a 12 to 15 year old kid decided to go through a red light past 15 mororbikes that were parked waiting for the light to turn green. she swerved to the left to avoid killing him. She slammed into the side of another car and both were heavily dammaged, but the boy took off and got the hell out of there. I understand now why when a van driver takes off after killing somebody. It is because nobody came over to see if everybody was ok and nobody come to tell us the plate number of the boy who caused the accident.Later a policeman in plain clothes come over and asked if we agree what happened and then left, I later found out that my girlfriend was responsible for the accident as she hit the other car. I asked what would happen if we did not avoid the motorbike who would be responsible? My girlfriend said to me that if any car hit a motorbike the car driver is responsible even if the motorbike goes through the traffic light. Then to top it off the lady called us an hour later and wanted 10000 bhat to pay for car rental while her car was being repaired. We called the insurance company and they said to not pay that this is way for them to get extra money because they saw a farang man was in the car when accident happened. I lost a lot of respect for thai justice

[Steiner]

So they are gonna stick up a few safety barriers when every bend in Bangkok has a nice shiny slippy drain cover to slide around on, the cut-out ones leaving an area of 10mm²

between your motorbike tyres and said slippy drain cover are a great idea.

Are they gonna remove those ludicrous globes of glass that are as wide as a small motorcycle tyre?

Ridiculous idea when they could use a road warning device that is; self cleaning, requires no power source, alerts drivers to an unintentional lane change, reflects lights at night and in bad weather (may even be possible to see them through Thai 'black out' glass) and have saved countless lives. See 'cats eyes', anyone from the UK will know the benefit if driving with this amazing safety device.

[Bagwan]

Much higher standard of driving test.

Drivers knowing how to drive

Drivers following the law

Police enforcing the law

Road markings correctly drawn

Enforcing speed limits

Not driving in the breakdown lane

Not creating additional lanes at will

Motor cyclists with helmets

Motor bikes not weaving around

And the answer is? Padded walls and reading maps at night!

Padded cells might be more appropriate for many drivers and almost all motorcyclists.

[Bagwan]

Paint over the national character that ignores law and order. Why pay attention to the yellow markings and road guards? With an attitude that they only apply to other less privileged, how can this help?

I am convinced that the majorityiof Thai road users consider that keep left or right signs are just political slogans.

[steveyinasia]

Unfortunately there is no way to issue "common sense", this certainly seems lacking in all aspects of driving and in many other aspects of Thailand.

[Thai at Heart]

How many people paid for their license?

How many have a license? Considering this, the driving is amazingly good.

[Tanaka]

The simple answer is teach these idiots how to drive and take a proper test not just drive around the car park once without hitting anything or you will probably get away with just hitting one thing.

And just how do you intend to teach idiots anything at all?

[Tanaka]

The simple answer is to have the police do their job. I have lived in thailand for 2 years and my friend has lived here for 8 years and neither has seen anybody stopped for speeding. My girlfriend just got in a accident because a 12 to 15 year old kid decided to go through a red light past 15 mororbikes that were parked waiting for the light to turn green. she swerved to the left to avoid killing him. She slammed into the side of another car and both were heavily dammaged, but the boy took off and got the hell out of there. I understand now why when a van driver takes off after killing somebody. It is because nobody came over to see if everybody was ok and nobody come to tell us the plate number of the boy who caused the accident.Later a policeman in plain clothes come over and asked if we agree what happened and then left, I later found out that my girlfriend was responsible for the accident as she hit the other car. I asked what would happen if we did not avoid the motorbike who would be responsible? My girlfriend said to me that if any car hit a motorbike the car driver is responsible even if the motorbike goes through the traffic light. Then to top it off the lady called us an hour later and wanted 10000 bhat to pay for car rental while her car was being repaired. We called the insurance company and they said to not pay that this is way for them to get extra money because they saw a farang man was in the car when accident happened. I lost a lot of respect for thai justice

it is not true that a car driver is automatically at fault in a collision with motorcycle.

[Thai at Heart]

I have noticed that one would do very well to steer clear of newly plated jazz's, cities and other little cars. The recent tax breaks have created a flood of the dam_n things, many for very young people, and they genuinely have absolutely no idea what to do in traffic. I watched one student go round the block 4 times the other day trying to make a right turn, and when they finally turned, did it at about 40km an hour barely getting around the corner. I looked through the window at who was driving, and she couldn't have been more than 17, and she looked genuinely petrified.

[Jim walker]

Every little helps

[Crossy]

The problem with those crushable barriers is that once crushed they need to be replaced, is that in the budget?

[kimamey]

I have noticed that one would do very well to steer clear of newly plated jazz's, cities and other little cars. The recent tax breaks have created a flood of the dam_n things, many for very young people, and they genuinely have absolutely no idea what to do in traffic. I watched one student go round the block 4 times the other day trying to make a right turn, and when they finally turned, did it at about 40km an hour barely getting around the corner. I looked through the window at who was driving, and she couldn't have been more than 17, and she looked genuinely petrified.

We took delivery of a new Honda Jazz on 19 June but it's OK it's not newly plated as we're still waiting for them. I've no idea why it takes longer to make a thin plate with numbers on than it took to make the car.

The potentially good news is that young drivers could still be taught to drive properly if an effort was made. Some of the older drivers are past help I think.

[piewarmer]

At least in Thailand they don't lean on the horn constantly like many neighbouring countries...

[beano2274]

Saw an Australian programme where a guy made Crash barriers out of old tyres, and had metal rods through them, the things took the impact and went back into shape straight away by themselves, maybe this is something they should look at.

[Thai at Heart]

I have noticed that one would do very well to steer clear of newly plated jazz's, cities and other little cars. The recent tax breaks have created a flood of the dam_n things, many for very young people, and they genuinely have absolutely no idea what to do in traffic. I watched one student go round the block 4 times the other day trying to make a right turn, and when they finally turned, did it at about 40km an hour barely getting around the corner. I looked through the window at who was driving, and she couldn't have been more than 17, and she looked genuinely petrified.

We took delivery of a new Honda Jazz on 19 June but it's OK it's not newly plated as we're still waiting for them. I've no idea why it takes longer to make a thin plate with numbers on than it took to make the car.

The potentially good news is that young drivers could still be taught to drive properly if an effort was made. Some of the older drivers are past help I think.

I have a nephew who s dad is a major government official who only got his own first car 5 years ago. In spite of the driving being so bad, the cumulative experience of watching parents driving properly is still extremely small. Many 18 year old have never been in a car with their parents.

This family have asked me to teach my nephew to drive.