Seven Dead In East Pattaya Minivan Crash

[Waffle]

Terrible accident, took a mini-van from Nongkhai to CM last week and it was a white knuckle ride for sure,

I hope those people can rest in peace...

Regards.

[MaxYakov]

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2013/03/03/reckless-van-driver-blamed-for-fiery-fatal-crash/

Say the driver was speeding he survived but seriously injured and the van was NGV not LPG.

Yes, NGV. Was it compressed (CNG) or liquified (LNG) I wonder. Have the gas/petrol tanks been eliminated as a cause of the fire? Being a van owner myself (Dodge Grand Caravan), I'm impressed at how the Toyota maintained structural integrity in the rollover. My Dodge would have probably disintegrated because it's a dual sliding door.

Hit a concrete pole road sign?! Did anyone see any corrugated steel safety rails in the video? Did someone post that the new freeways were approaching EU/USA standards earlier? Perhaps an unsafe driver, but definitely an unsafe roadway.

[MaxYakov]

Near bira , some big holes in the highwAy ....

This is also the danger, road Seems perfect and atracts speeding....

And then, a hole .....and a topheavy van, .....Loaded with 10 times 80 kg = 800 kg.moverloaded .....

Rip

It was a Toyota Commuter, they have a payload of 1045KG's. so not overloaded.

RIP to those who passed away.

Assuming the tires and suspension were good, of course.

[simple1]

Drivin from pattaya to Bangkok last night I had this thread fresh in my mind. In the middle lane I watched for fast moving traffic in the outside lane. So many d1ckheads. Not all minivan drivers.

But trucks, sedans, buses.

Crazy people out there

Just drove return Pattaya / Chon Buri on the expressway.. High speed overtaking on the inside lane and then cutting me off when returning to middle or outside lane was of more concern to me.

[transam]

Gas tanks inside the cabin of any ride is shear lunacy if not protected by a firewall. .

[monty]

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2013/03/03/reckless-van-driver-blamed-for-fiery-fatal-crash/

Say the driver was speeding he survived but seriously injured and the van was NGV not LPG.

Yes, NGV. Was it compressed (CNG) or liquified (LNG) I wonder. Have the gas/petrol tanks been eliminated as a cause of the fire? Being a van owner myself (Dodge Grand Caravan), I'm impressed at how the Toyota maintained structural integrity in the rollover. My Dodge would have probably disintegrated because it's a dual sliding door.

Hit a concrete pole road sign?! Did anyone see any corrugated steel safety rails in the video? Did someone post that the new freeways were approaching EU/USA standards earlier? Perhaps an unsafe driver, but definitely an unsafe roadway.

Can only be cng.

Liquifying NG only can be done by cooling to approx. - 162°C (-160° F)...

LPG is also possible, many people here are confused between the two...

As I mentioned before, both cng and lpg powered vehicles usually are dual fuel powered, so still have a petrol tank.

Indeed as you post, structural damage is not overly bad, and the gas tanks also look undamaged on the pics.

A ruptured petrol tank and hot exhaust or sparks during crash as ignition source are the most likely source of the fire.

Again, obviously only valid when the gas (lpg or cng) installations are up to scratch, always doubtful over here...

I always have been a staunch defender of those alternative fuels, they have proven themselves to be totally safe in proper installations, but over here I have my doubts with all those cowboy installations and the lack of checks.

I know what to look for do detect a dodgy installation, but obviously your average customer can only trust the installer...

[monty]

Gas tanks inside the cabin of any ride is shear lunacy if not protected by a firewall. .

Almost all gas tanks (lpg or cng) are mounted in the trunk (boot) of a vehicle, and the only thing between the passenger compartment and the tank is the backseat, not the same ad a firewall...

Standard, even in the west...

[transam]

Gas tanks inside the cabin of any ride is shear lunacy if not protected by a firewall. .

Almost all gas tanks (lpg or cng) are mounted in the trunk (boot) of a vehicle, and the only thing between the passenger compartment and the tank is the backseat, not the same ad a firewall...

Standard, even in the west...

Well crazy, get a rear end shunt and perhaps toast. When l put a petrol tank and NOS bottle in the TA trunk l welded in in a firewall. Easy.

[monty]

Gas tanks inside the cabin of any ride is shear lunacy if not protected by a firewall. .

Almost all gas tanks (lpg or cng) are mounted in the trunk (boot) of a vehicle, and the only thing between the passenger compartment and the tank is the backseat, not the same ad a firewall...

Standard, even in the west...

Well crazy, get a rear end shunt and perhaps toast. When l put a petrol tank and NOS bottle in the TA trunk l welded in in a firewall. Easy.

I've seen lpg tanks in massive rear end crashes and they won't leak, even after serious impact deformation.

Proper safety valves will shut even when the copper tubing is severed.

Not sure if NOS tanks have the same safety features.

Now obviously we're not arguing the fun factor difference between NOS and LPG

[pattayadingo]

In many Western countries they do not allow LPG (I call it propane) because of a safety issue. Are there such things as a "safe" tank. It there is, I do not expect Thailand to enforce using these since the cost would be more but it sounds like there should be some safety enforcement with these tanks. They're moving bombs.

Misinformation.

I do not think there is one single European country prohibiting lpg.

They most definitely are not moving bombs.

I do agree installations here in Thailand are not always up to scratch.

FYI following website lists the lpg stations across Europe:

http://www.mylpg.eu/stations/

In the U.K. they - the government - used to give £1000 towards installation costs too. So it cannot be prohibited.

[T_Dog]

If I hadn't seen the way these drivers operate first hand I might tend to think of it as "just an accident". But I know better. Those drivers are morons -- crazy and irresponsible. I'm very sorry for the victims and their families. I have had one driver who was careful and considerate but he was by far the exception. Never again. I'll gladly take a bus or fly before I set foot in one of those death traps again.

Buses are not any safer. I often see them passing on double-yellows, flashing their lights at oncoming traffic. It is just a matter of time until Standard Bus Tour has a happening north of Chiang Mai.

[joepattaya1961]

Most of us know the mini-vans as luxury vans with max. 7 seats in the back, a passenger-seat ans a driver-seat.

Probably this was a company commuter vehicle with 12 seats, but more and more mini-vans are able to accommodate 14 passengers.........just imagine!

Since April last year mini-vans aren't allowed to drive any faster than 90 km/h................huhh??

[joepattaya1961]

A bit sad that the location is described as East-Pattaya.
Why not East Banglamung?

[blackthorn2005]

I have just returned from a visa run, Phuket-Burma. I used the services of Thai Visa Run Company, which I have done for years. There driver was very professional, courteous and thankfully in no rush to kill his passengers, the minibus also had a camera installed under his rear view mirror, which I believe is fed back to HQ. A nice relaxing safe trip, apart from the idiots driving minibuses for a company whose name slips me, however, they are easy to recognise, the rear window has a big sticker of a speedo on it. You can also spot them because they drive fast, break hard,speed into blind bends on the wrong side of the road, undertake and just about beak every rule going. Sorry I cannot recall their name, when I do, i will repost.

[mic59]

I last took one of these travelling to Pai from Chiang Mai along the "road of a thousand turns". The drivers are maniacs and even though it takes some hours more I now take public buses. Apart from the safety issue you can get seriously carsick in these things.

[Charlie Cheap]

I just got back from a visa run to Cambodia. I opted to take the minivan, there were 11 of us in total.

I checked the tires before climbing into the deathtrap. And I noticed something was much different this time. The driver was driving a bit slower, however he was still passing vehicles approaching blind corners. Most of the people on board didn't speak English, however I did want to bring up this horrible travesty during the ride. I had a feeling everybody in the van knew the story because I did see nervousness and most of the people were clutching with a death grip on the seats and whatnot.