Rules Of The Road Book For The Children

[canopy]

Let me give a quick lead in. In the villages around here the kids get on a motorcycle not long after age 10 years old and will never, ever use their bicycle from that day on again. They get daily enjoyment roaming around on their parents bikes for recreation with no idea of how to drive properly and it can be quite dangerous. In one case I was making a blind, tight left corner when an 11 year old on a motorbike appeared squarely in front of me in my lane. I wasn't sure what to do. Normal procedure would be to hug the left side but that would only work if he knew enough to do the same and I was betting he didn't. So I braked and eased right just slightly to give him a little room left of me and the option to get in his own lane if he tried. At this point I was nearly at a dead stop and he seemed to lose control and barely kept from slamming into me head on by taking my lane going by on my left side. In retrospect I could see I made the correct move in this case otherwise it would have been a head on collision. But it was a gamble. Now I see this little guy's older 15 year old sister can now be found driving her parents pickup truck for fun here and there dangerously and alone with no knowledge of the road rules.

What I wanted to do is get a DMV book and give it to the family so the kids would have a chance of learning how to drive before something bad happens. I went to the DMV in our province and to my surprise they have none to offer. In fact, they have no learning resources at their facility at all. They said to have a look at the government web site. I did and the only thing I found are some boring hard to click through scanned in images of a book. Giving that link would go over like a lead balloon. What they need is a book on their coffee table that they can pickup at their leisure, look over, and discuss. Is there any chance of that or finding a more realistic way to learn online?

[IMHO]

You should be able to find what you're looking for in a decent bookstore.

However, what incentive are you going to give them to read it? And how effective do you really think reading a book full of theory is going to be when it comes to prac?

At those ages, a free iPad or iPhone after successfully passing a theory exam would probably do the trick

Edited March 26, 2013 by IMHO

[Jitar]

Plus the i-gizmos are pretty good at distracting kids, might keep em off the motorbikes for a while, especially if they have Minecraft.

Sadly though road safety does not seem to be much of a priority for kids in Thailand. Children have an annoying habit of copying what they see, so even if they did learn some basics, much would be over written quickly by day to day examples.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Jitar

[canopy]

You should be able to find what you're looking for in a decent bookstore

Great idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it.

Sadly though road safety does not seem to be much of a priority for kids in Thailand

Yeah it seems a touch irresponsible to let them drive, but that won't change. The younger the driver, the less they are paying attention to what they are doing. I have learned anytime I see a motorcycle with someone wearing a Hara Jeans jacket to be extra careful around them as it is a telltale sign of a 14 year old and they usually have a number of people on the bike distracting them.

[VocalNeal]

I have one in my desk from the Land Transport dept. but it is like the UK Highway Code so has all the signs and what to do what not to do but doesn't have anything practical like HOW to ride/drive.

Or in your case how to turn from one road to another.

I learned that for my Cycling Proficiency and/or Cub Scout cycling badge. Which I had to get before I was "allowed out of the soi"

You'll have to try SE-ED or similar shop.

Edited March 26, 2013 by VocalNeal