Passenger Van Driver Killed, 3 Passengers Severely Injured In Bangkok Accident

[transam]

Of course trucks shouldn't be parked there either. For those who don't know, close to Central a lot of trucks park on the side of the centre road running under the expressway. This is not the frontage road, it's the highway.

So,....... what if the truck had broke down ???????????

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer, not compute in drivers head that a truck was laid up, so plough into it and hope for the best.

[jerrysteve]

SAVONARAX: You are correct, there is no universal reaction time in emergency situations involving a moving vehicle, 1.5 seconds only represents a reaction time under the very best conditons of a wide awake sober driver. Distance traveled is not set in stone thats for sure and

there are a host of other variables you can be sure of.

Best regards: Jerry Steve

[ratcatcher]

Not trying to be an ass or anything but luckily only the driver died from his <deleted> driving skills. He deserves it for driving recklessly. How does a ten wheeler just pop out of nowhere? How could he not notice it? Earlier van accidents usually claimed the lives if several passengers. Hopefully the injured will recover quickly.

Personally I didn't think you were being an ass or anything of the sort.

Basic rules of driving are simple, be aware of what's around you, ahead of you and coming up from behind. You said it like it was,. The truck was there and the deceased van driver didn't see it. Sad for his passengers, but I hope they make a quick recovery and maybe speedy Gonzalez the van driver will take road traffic awareness a bit more seriously in his next life, even if he comes back as a street wandering soi dog..

This was merely accident # (fill in the blank) of many more to come.

[Beng]

Van drivers. Here they go again.

Very sad indeed.

[penala]

Saw that crashed van when i was coming from abac towards central bang na. Could also see the van driver, he was stuck inside. Most of the passengers looked luckily ok standing next to the van... Not nice thing to see while you are sitting in van without seat belt.

[tombkk]

....I guess he got his 'warning'.....wow, that is sheer genius....for sure those derelicts who have received warnings will never repeat their offense...

...passing on the left, especially the shoulder... should be fined 3000 baht for 1st offense and 6000 baht for 2nd offense.....and enforced....

I believe passing on the left is ok according to the Thai highway code. Correct me if im wrong.

If there are three or more lanes in one direction, you can overtake on any lane.

[tombkk]

sad. all vehicles in Thailand need to be speed limited to 80kms until they actually pass driving test after suitable training.

The general speed limit in Thailand is 80 km/h. This can be increased by signage only on "special roads", such as motorways.

In fact, drivers have to pass the driver's test before driving at all, not only for driving faster than 80 km/h.

[tombkk]

Accidents happen, and vans are notorious for that. However, let's not get into Thai-bashing, see forum rule #8.

[masterbiker49]

You would think that due to the high amount of these types

of accidents that the van drivers would slow down and drive

more carefully, but then again I guess not .....

Hope the three injured recover quickly form their injuries

At least the driver of the van did not run from the scene

+1 U beat me to it.

[robblok]

....I guess he got his 'warning'.....wow, that is sheer genius....for sure those derelicts who have received warnings will never repeat their offense...

...passing on the left, especially the shoulder... should be fined 3000 baht for 1st offense and 6000 baht for 2nd offense.....and enforced....

I believe passing on the left is ok according to the Thai highway code. Correct me if im wrong.

If there are three or more lanes in one direction, you can overtake on any lane.

That is what i thought when i did the test i read about it.

[robblok]

Accidents happen, and vans are notorious for that. However, let's not get into Thai-bashing, see forum rule #8.

I would not call complaining about Thais and their driving style bashing. I think its safe to say they don't drive as well as the average westerner. The reason is that in the west you get checked and fined for anti social driving. Here you can just do as you please and only get fined at check points.

I think many of the professional drivers here are the most dangerous and aggressive drivers around. Minivan's and taxi's are in general real dangerous with some exceptions of course.

I don't think the problem of Thai drivers driving bad is related to them being Thai but to enforcement and education. In the west people would drive as badly if there was no enforcement.

[chantsurfer]

Add on to this their addiction to tail gate, run red lights and weave the traffic.

[ableguy]

You would think that due to the high amount of these types

of accidents that the van drivers would slow down and drive

more carefully, but then again I guess not .....

Hope the three injured recover quickly form their injuries

At least the driver of the van did not run from the scene

I undersdtand they get paid per number of trips and money being God here is why they drive like lunatics.

[tombkk]

Accidents happen, and vans are notorious for that. However, let's not get into Thai-bashing, see forum rule #8.

I would not call complaining about Thais and their driving style bashing. I think its safe to say they don't drive as well as the average westerner. The reason is that in the west you get checked and fined for anti social driving. Here you can just do as you please and only get fined at check points.

I think many of the professional drivers here are the most dangerous and aggressive drivers around. Minivan's and taxi's are in general real dangerous with some exceptions of course.

I don't think the problem of Thai drivers driving bad is related to them being Thai but to enforcement and education. In the west people would drive as badly if there was no enforcement.

We don't discuss moderation, but then it was my fault to not have mentioned that I had to hide two postings from view.

Taking the mod hat off for the moment, I agree that the problem is lack of driver eduction and lack of rule enforcement.

[vijer]

Speed doesn't kill ... bad driving kills.

Per Wikipedia as of 2000

Accidents per 100,000 inhabitants

Thailand 19.6

USA 12.3

Accidents per 100,000 motor vehicles

Thailand 118.8

USA 15

[FarangTalk]

the problem is lack of driver eduction and lack of rule enforcement.

I think it is a cultural problem, rather than an educational or enforcement issue per se.

[GentlemanJim]

Not trying to be an ass or anything but luckily only the driver died from his <deleted> driving skills. He deserves it for driving recklessly. How does a ten wheeler just pop out of nowhere? How could he not notice it? Earlier van accidents usually claimed the lives if several passengers. Hopefully the injured will recover quickly.

Well, I can only make some assumptions concerning the trucks in Bangkok, based on observations of the trucks where I live, which is no where near as built up. We get a lot of accidents involving bikes and parked trucks at night. The trucks park on the sides of the road where they shouldn't and on the hard shoulder of dual carriage ways, where they shouldn't. It is often very dark at night and the trucks are hardly ever cleaned, so the entire lighting area at the back is often covered in thick dirt or mud so that there is no reflective glare from the truck when headlights are shining from an approaching vehicle. Late at night, tired and fatigued drivers and 'bang'!

The thing is that at the moment this kind of thing cannot be 'fixed' as it takes a complete change in the attitudes of the population to all things safety related, and as there is no will, there is just no way. If the traffic police did some traffic policing then it would be a start. Nation-wide the police need to start doing something. Stopping ALL vehicles they see jumping red lights and fining on the spot, stopping ALL drivers they see using mobiles, stopping ALL drivers they see not wearing seat belts etc etc. In my town, the police will occasionally set up random check points and stop everyone riding a bike not wearing a helmet, yet when the check points are not set up the police will drive around the town with gay abandon, ignoring every driver without a helmet.

This is a tragic incident probably caused by many many factors. Excessive speed, undertaking, fatigue, dirty vehicle light/reflector sets, parking in unsafe areas, and the problems all exacerbated by a police force that do not make the population follow traffic law and the punishments laid down by the judiciary come nowhere close to being a deterrent.

I hope the injured recover fully, often 'serious' injuries in this country would mean a full recovery is unlikely.