Look Both Ways ! Yeah I Thought Knew That :)

[cbrer]

One of the worst close calls I had was today. <deleted> retard of a school van driver decides to drive in the opposite side of a narrow road while on a blind curve, which meant I could not see him. If I slammed the brakes too hard I'd probably end up doing a "stoppie" then go flying off into his windshield. On my left was a brick wall, so I could not avoid him by turning that side or I'd slam on the wall. The only course of action I thought taking was swerving into the side where he was supposed to be, I almost didn't make it. Would have lost it, but didn't want to make a scene, plus it happened just a few meters from work... Was glad me and mine came out unscathed from the incident so I just shook my head, made a low "wheew!" and went my way.

A few meters from home another retard in a new shiny white Vios decides the traffic is too slow for him (what does he expect it's the evening rush) and drives in the opposite side at "ramming speed", without even using his turn lights, luckily I had barely enough room on the left to avoid him.

How to reply without calling Thais *censored*.

And *censored*.

And *censored*.

[Fookhaht]

In your scenario, my closest death-calls come from the motorbikes barreling up the shoulder of the road on the wrong side.

I look both ways, pull out, and then almost get T-boned from a motorbike who was just out of the line of sight on the far left of the road--of course, coming the wrong way.

[blackpanda]

It is good luck when you buy a new vehicle to buy a lottery number with the same numbers as your license plate.

You had good luck today.

My plate number came out in the lottery the day I got it. Didn't play it though. dam_n!

Same thing happen with my wife's car !!

[Lancelot]

Recently I rode my motorbike from Pattaya to Chaing Mai- and several times I had to do some quick turning to avoid getting splatterd by vans and pickups in my lane passing vehicles in their. They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

[cbrer]

They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

Beautiful society, ain't it.

[Fookhaht]

Recently I rode my motorbike from Pattaya to Chaing Mai- and several times I had to do some quick turning to avoid getting splatterd by vans and pickups in my lane passing vehicles in their. They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

In such a scenario, I have this perverse desire to allow my body to blast through their windshield (have to aim high) and hopefully break their neck in the process. Just a fantasy of mine, of course.

[yankee99]

Meanwhile the van driver on Thai Van Driver Forum, "The opposite lane was clear for miles so I pulled out to overtake a couple of cars and this motorbike pulls out from a shop whilst looking over his right shoulder and nearly drives into me." ****$£>>??,/!

But seriously glad you're still in one piece. We all get these reminders and close shaves from time to time.

And he would be correct in his statement as long as it wasnt a no passing zone.

[cbrer]

Recently I rode my motorbike from Pattaya to Chaing Mai- and several times I had to do some quick turning to avoid getting splatterd by vans and pickups in my lane passing vehicles in their. They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

In such a scenario, I have this perverse desire to allow my body to blast through their windshield (have to aim high) and hopefully break their neck in the process. Just a fantasy of mine, of course.

Or happened to be in a big articulated truck at night with only one lowbeam on so it looked like a motosai. Of course only switching on the full set of highbeams when they're already past the point of no return.

[mania]

And he would be correct in his statement as long as it wasnt a no passing zone.

If the solid line means the same here as US it was a no passing zone

The pic in that link is a few feet from where I was

[wantan]

Mania,

I don't know where you are from but since I was very small, it was drilled into me and I think ALL my contemporaries:

Look right,

look left

and look right again

before crossing.

Same applies to motorcycles.

But he wasn't crossing. Or i got it wrong

Sometimes one has to wonder at the intelligence of people on forums.

NO he wasn't crossing, neither was the van driver. But the same common sense rules apply that are taught to children in most societies. Had he looked to his right and then to his left and then to his right again, which is second nature to most, the indecent may not have happened.

Mania will not make the same mistake twice, I think.

You can do it this way if you like. I prefer looking in the direction i drive when starting to drive. I guess you can switch your head a thousand times when starting, there will always be new cars and motorbikes coming in your view

Edit: I am talking about crazy Thailand city traffic, not the rest of the world.

Edited January 4, 2013 by wantan

[yankee99]

And he would be correct in his statement as long as it wasnt a no passing zone.

If the solid line means the same here as US it was a no passing zone

The pic in that link is a few feet from where I was

In the states solid/double no passing. Here i really dont know what the deal is. A few years ago in florida i was making right on to a one way divided road. I was coming out of a private business and was at a complete stop. Lots of traffic coming so i was looking hard left. When i started to go a cuban on a bicycle was coming from the wrong way and we collided. I was guilty

[mania]

And he would be correct in his statement as long as it wasnt a no passing zone.

If the solid line means the same here as US it was a no passing zone

http://www.thaivisa....25#entry5988416

The pic in that link is a few feet from where I was

In the states solid/double no passing. Here i really dont know what the deal is. A few years ago in florida i was making right on to a one way divided road. I was coming out of a private business and was at a complete stop. Lots of traffic coming so i was looking hard left. When i started to go a cuban on a bicycle was coming from the wrong way and we collided. I was guilty

I guess it could be different

But the State I am from solid double means no passing either side when there had been some before that has

a solid on one side a broken on the other.

Meaning those on the broken side can pass.

Plain single broken of course means passing allowed both sides

& single solid means no passing both sides.

The only double lines in my State were for areas that had different rules for each opposing lane

But after all is said & done it is my job to watch out for myself period.

Would not matter if he was wrong or right lawfully.

I would still be under that van

[Whale]

My only accident, to date, was being hit by another motorcycle coming down the wrong side of the road at break neck speed. Luckily no real damage to me or the bike but his little things was in pieces.

[cbrer]

^ Lucky.

I was reversed over by a lady who didn't use her make-up mirror on the windshield.

She was very surprised and apologetic.

Then put it back into reverse and went to go back over my bike that was still under the car.

While out on the road here it's really quite apt to consider that every other vehicle has a goldfish driving it.

Edited January 4, 2013 by cbrer

[bramds]

Well today I almost hit a farang. First with the bike and after with my fists. I did say almost. He was just walking in between cars that were stuck in traffic, not thinking about oncoming motorbikes.

I had to brake real hard not to hit him, he didn't even notice me. I honked the horn and he looked straight through me as if I wasn't even there and just kept walking.

If he keeps this up he will end his holidays in hospital.

[mania]

he didn't even notice me. I honked the horn and he looked straight through me as if I wasn't even there and just kept walking.

Yeah the "walking dead"

We have a lot of them up here in Chiang Mai too.

Especially around the moat

[nikster]

Well today I almost hit a farang. First with the bike and after with my fists. I did say almost. He was just walking in between cars that were stuck in traffic, not thinking about oncoming motorbikes.

I had to brake real hard not to hit him, he didn't even notice me. I honked the horn and he looked straight through me as if I wasn't even there and just kept walking.

If he keeps this up he will end his holidays in hospital.

Well I think most Thais look out for farangs because they already know farangs are crazy and will just walk into traffic. I've used that to my advantage in the past...of course the reason is they come from countries where pedestrians have rights and where there are severe consequences for hitting one....

[Choonpon]

Skip the lottery! Go to a temple to pray and get blessed by monk.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect App

[nikster]

Recently I rode my motorbike from Pattaya to Chaing Mai- and several times I had to do some quick turning to avoid getting splatterd by vans and pickups in my lane passing vehicles in their. They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

In such a scenario, I have this perverse desire to allow my body to blast through their windshield (have to aim high) and hopefully break their neck in the process. Just a fantasy of mine, of course.

After just such an incident I spent some time thinking about how hard it would be to jump up and go over their car/van while the bike hits them in the front. Just fantasizing of course, I didn't really want to cause a horrific accident, even if the driver is an ass and even if I got away scotch free... there would need to be a little bit of a distance so one could launch oneself off the bike, then jump high enough - no problem over a car for sure, but over a van maybe only in movies.... then land on the roof, and slide along the road on the other side, protected by gear... you see I've thought it through

[jbrain]

Recently I rode my motorbike from Pattaya to Chaing Mai- and several times I had to do some quick turning to avoid getting splatterd by vans and pickups in my lane passing vehicles in their. They see you but they simply don't care- they are bigger and know the motorbike driver will do anything to avoid a disasterous head on collision...

In such a scenario, I have this perverse desire to allow my body to blast through their windshield (have to aim high) and hopefully break their neck in the process. Just a fantasy of mine, of course.

After just such an incident I spent some time thinking about how hard it would be to jump up and go over their car/van while the bike hits them in the front. Just fantasizing of course, I didn't really want to cause a horrific accident, even if the driver is an ass and even if I got away scotch free... there would need to be a little bit of a distance so one could launch oneself off the bike, then jump high enough - no problem over a car for sure, but over a van maybe only in movies.... then land on the roof, and slide along the road on the other side, protected by gear... you see I've thought it through

You could have an instructive conversation with Tom Cruise about that.

[Computrrage]

Interesting reading about everyone's experiences riding on Thai roads. Myself, i had an experience similar to Mania's, yesterday. Coming out of the wide driveway of my hotel, I STOPPED, unlike Thai drivers, and looked both ways and probably behind, then. seeing no traffic, I turned left onto the Soi and, was going to go left again just past the food vendor's stand on the corner. A guy on a scooter was coming from that Soi and he was on his right side of that lane, because there was a car stopped in front of him. Without stopping he just made his right turn, without seeing what was in the road, so he was coming right at me. Fortunately I was still going very slowly so I stopped dead and let him swerve around me. This was a case of no matter how many directions you look you cannot always be prepared for something coming from where you don't expect it. Driveways where you had no idea they were there and vehicles pop out of them and jump into the stream of traffic without looking at all. Cars cutting across lanes to exit and disregarding the bikes in the way.....

But another very dangerous traffic hazard are the turning circles and the traffic triangles. So many people play chicken and expect other drivers to avoid colliding with them. One time my g/f riding in front of me, STOPPED at one of the triangles - where you can clearly see the traffic and you don't have to stop. So I nearly collided with her - because I was looking to the left for vehicles.

The only thing I can say in conclusion is that you have to be 100% alert all the time and never be complacent and think you are O.K. A traffic tragedy can come up anytime anywhere.

[cbrer]

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