Thailand: Reckless Drivers Endanger Lives As A Matter Of Course

[Fullstop]

evolution may be the only way out of this predicament

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but modern science, medicine and surgical techniques have slowed natural selection to a crawl.

[tullynagardy]

Those Vans that shuttle between Bangkok and Issan are simply mental. Its like they thrive on risk. Im still getting over the mental scaring of ours ploughing into some poor little man on his way fishing at 5 in the morning at about 60 miles an hour

[Dibbler]

The solution to the problem is very simple, and commonly known as "effective law enforcement". Ensure that all drivers of such vehicles on the roads are licensed to drive heavy vehicles and have passed the test on their merits rather than direct payments to the examining officer. Ensure that all speeding or drunk drivers have a non-zero chance of getting caught speeding/driving drunk and compliance with speed limits/drunk driving laws will increase, and accidents will decrease. Ensure that all traffic police are people who have passed exams and constantly monitored for honest practices at work, and speeding or drunk drivers will be stopped before they create accidents. It's not very difficult to imagine deaths on Thai roads could be drastically reduced with effective law enforcement.

[nuananddon]

Thailand could save a lot of money on paint, quit painting lines on their roads, most Thai drivers have no idea what the hell they are there for anyway. My two favorite roads are Tak to Ma Sot and the superhighway between lumpun and Chiang Mai, I refer to those as idiots alleys, drive them and you'll know.

[SiamKitt]

WHAT??!!..It's taken the Asian institute of technology to work out that drivers of buses, minivans etc can drive at any speed they damn well want..cos who's gonna stop them?? The Grim reaper will get 'em well before any MIB.

[NeverSure]

Law enforcement. Big fines. Loss of license after 3 traffic citations within 3 years. Massive insurance premiums after an at-fault accident or 3 tickets within 3 years. Loss of car and license for drunk driving with big money to redeem car from impoundment. Charge of manslaughter and jail for killing a person while drunk driving or reckless driving. Probable 5 - 10 years in jail.

I would have to pay $5,000 for first offense drunk driving. That's at .08. I would be taken to jail to sober up. My car would be impounded and I would lose my license for one year, first offense. Someone with a valid license would have to go with me to get the car back, and the fees for towing and impoundment would be about $500.

My insurance premiums would go from about $500 per year for full coverage, to about $500 per month for 3 years. If caught driving without the license and insurance after the conviction for drunk driving I would go to jail for a year and be fined another $10,000.

While there are a very few idiots who get caught in this, there are not many.

Simple speeding like 10 - 15 mph (20 - 25 km ph) over the limit, around $300. If no other tickets within 3 years, that's it. Pay the fine. Second offense within 3 years, same same but insurance premiums would double for 3 years.

Driving while using cell phone (unless hands free device with mic and speaker separate used) $250.

Sneaky photo radar units abound, with cameras; some are attached to traffic lights for running red lights, others for speeding. One day you get your mail and there is a speeding citation with your picture, a picture of your car and license, and the radar readout. A summons to court for speeding and a fine will be appropriate to your driving record. Minimum $250.

I rarely see an idiot on the road.

[hmj]

evadgib #10
"How about culpability towards fleet owners, along with their drivers?"

NeverSure #66
"My insurance premiums would go from about $500 per year for full coverage,
to about $500 per month for 3 years."

After 66 posts only two persons seem to know the solution: change the insurance
system and make the owner of the vehicle responsible (not the driver who usually
runs away). This is the system adhered to in civilised countries and it works.
Of course in Thailand.... And the police suddenly loses power.

[tetleythedog]

I could have told you this, you didn't need research.

Why do Thais think that stating the obvious is a major revelation? It really does show the general low IQ level here.

[Mudcrab]

The way to correct all these problems is start a proper system of learning to drive and then passing proper tests, both written and driving and don't give anyone a licence until everything is satisfactorily completed as it would be in the West. Drivers of Public Bus's and Heavy Goods should be subject to a higher level of testing before they can receive the appropriate license to drive those classes of vehicles. Tachograph systems should also be used on Heavy Goods and Public Service Vehicles to prevent bad driving and longer working hours than the law would define.

Sadly; and it is sad for a so called 'developing country', we all know such sensibility here will not occur in our lifetime unless 'sensible' people start running the country. Can't see that anywhere on the horizon at the present time as all parties are just not interested in the least about such matters as there is 'no profit in it'. You know the old saying...'If things don't change...they will stay the same' !

You can have all the rules and education in the world. But if people don't obey them or if it is enforced then the whole scheme is useless. I read that more US citizens were killed on the roads than soldiers in the Vietnam war. I suspect the same would be true in the current instabilities in Afghanistan and the Middle East. As the gun nuts are fond of saying (paraphrased) vehicles don't kill people, people kill people.

Keep on wishing guys!!

[Thai at Heart]

I could have told you this, you didn't need research.

Why do Thais think that stating the obvious is a major revelation? It really does show the general low IQ level here.

The newspapers print these naval banal stories every day add though there has been some kind of epiphany of knowledge.

It is more to do with, nothing is true until a pooyai says so.

[MaxLee]

Reckless drivers endanger the lives:

Start at the top of the Thai-Chinese branch: Red Bull driver or the insane Kid of former Miss universe who smashed his Mercedes into a bus, and I forgot to mention that kid that split a Laotian girl into half after a motor show with his Porsche...

Edited April 12, 2013 by MaxLee

[nev]

And when they finish with that lot. how's about taking on the sugar trucks..??

You wont find a speeding sugar truck but well over loaded is the norm, we do it with ours if you don't you lose money, by the way the police are paid off by the factories, but we take ours to the local weigh station easier.

[Mudcrab]

And when they finish with that lot. how's about taking on the sugar trucks..??

You wont find a speeding sugar truck but well over loaded is the norm, we do it with ours if you don't you lose money, by the way the police are paid off by the factories, but we take ours to the local weigh station easier.

see n a few on their sides

Edited April 12, 2013 by Mudcrab

[jackinthebox]

>Vans: To avoid frequent stops at gas stations, many passenger vans have
added extra gas cylinders. When fully loaded with passengers and gas,
these vans can weigh about 3,500 kilograms, which is 1.75 times more
than the allowed weight limit of 2,000 kilograms. The extra weight makes
the vans highly unstable and unsafe, which increases the chance of an
accident.

There must be a mistake. The Toyota Commuter has already 15 seats (driver + 14 Passengers), so the allowed weight limit for this car can not be of 2,000 kilograms. The tare mass seems to be about 2000kg, so the gross vehicle weight is 3500 kilograms.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HF2-kpOwj_A/TvP1oIKWqVI/AAAAAAAAA-I/gNX7q-BAtVw/s1600/kursi1.jpg
http://nangfa-resort.com/media/1880248fbe4252d3ffff8120ac14422f.jpg

Nevertheless they often drive too fast....

[FLHR]

Until Thailand gets out of the 3rd world mentality & starts putting cops on the road to enforce moving violations & a vehicles road worthiness (lights, tire treads, ect.) absolutely nothing will change here! Driving within the guidelines of the drivers license exam, replacing that head light or replacing those fried brake pads vs a substantial fine would make a huge difference.

[bikerider21]

I see. constant lane changing with no indicators, overshooting red lights by several seconds (I count) pulling out into fast traffic every day and each time I say the same thing "where are the police?)

I could stand at a red light with a video camera and within half an hour would have enough evidence to prosecute most of the drivers photographed. If I took this to the police would they do anything? Maybe put me in jail.

[MacChine]

Snippet from article;

Driving over the speed limit results in a higher risk of a crash or
severe accident. As the speed of the vehicle increases, the driver tends
to have less control over the vehicle, and the chances of taking
evasive action decreases as well. The effect of a collision that a
vehicle travelling at higher speed incurs is much higher than the effect
of collision at a lower speed. The severity of injury greatly increases
as the impact of the collision increases.

When I read these kinds of paragraphs written by Thai writers in English language, national newspapers- explanations consisting of common sense that most other populations on the planet know by age of 15, that inertia kills, it justifies my convictions that Thais really are different, and it's not in a good way.

It is my opinion that the culture's fatalistic religion is the cause of poor driving. Driving too fast and get killed? Who cares? Move onto the next, maybe better life and it's OK to take a few with you.

In fact I could argue the better one lives their life, the more careless they are. The reward for recklessness will be a better one.

Edited April 13, 2013 by MacChine

[willyumiii]

Has anyone considered a drivers license test that actually requires to know how to drive? It should have been step # 1 when cars and bikes took over for the buffalo long ago!

And how about enforcement of the laws besides checking for license and helmets...have you ever seen someone pulled over for a traffic violation? not stopped and checked at a road block, but an actual patrol car patrolling and pulling over unsafe drivers?? I never have!

Edited April 13, 2013 by willyumiii

[youngXpat]

Although the topic of this thread is totally relevant at this particular time of year, is it really NEWS?? We all have known these facts for years. Was a 'survey', research necessary?

This is old news and the reason this story keeps popping up is because nothing is done about the speeding vans and buses. Also, driving, sorry sticking in the outside lane, driving on the wrong side of the road, NO lights ..... the list is endless.

The real story should be 'When will the law be enforced on drivers of the public to drive safely?'

[bangkokfanatic]

As above - "I have but one rule during any Thai holiday. And that is, I stay OFF the roads."

I couldn't agree more. Many Thais also dare not venture on to the roads over Songkran. Whilst for some it is a matter of safety, for others (who don't have a Driver's Licence at all) it is to avoid the Police during the only real crack-down time of the year.

With 1.5 million new cars on the road it wouldn't be surprising to anyone that there would be a commensurate increase in the number of unlicenced car drivers on the road. Amongst my Thai family not a single one of them has a drivers licence, nor a motorbike licence.

Edited April 14, 2013 by bangkokfanatic

[FarangTalk]

It has to be recognised that in almost every aspect of life here, Thailand is a "mak ngaai" country <Thai language removed>

<Thai language removed>.....careless; shoddy; sloppy, negligent

This is a fact often acknowledged by Thai people themselves.

I'm not Thai bashing I have been here for 20 years now and love the Kingdom. I'm just stating the facts.

Add to the mix the "Mai pen rai" factor and it often has deadly consequences.

Spot on and the problem is very much a cultural one.

[thhMan]

On a serious point. A small step in the right direction would be to have chevrons painted on the road, showing approximately how far away you need to be from the car in front, in case of an emergency braking incident. I know not many people would use them ( & if people did then someone would pull in front of them), but I don't believe people have a clue about safe braking distances & may make a few people think!

On a serious point are really expecting anyone to paint lines on all the roads. Where exactly. Ok they have those stupid dots on the Chonburi motorway that everyone ignores but... seriously.

Simplest way, and this assumes anyone is interested in this, is to add the two-second rule to the safety video everyone has to watch when they renew their licence. You don't need paint or brushes or a machine or workers or huge budget. Oh wait then that's what will, probably happen if anyone from the Land Transport Office reads this post.

​Two second rule is much easier and it adaptable because fixed points only work at one speed. Two second rule automatically increases the distance as the speed increases.

And yeah... then what.. they have watched the video and as soon as they are on the road... its all forgotten....

Educating the masses means jack sh&t if it doesnt effect them personally with a crunch to the wallet!

[MacChine]

I agree completely. I have Thai friends who warn me how rotten it really is. It's not Thailand, it's the people who make it so !!

It has to be recognised that in almost every aspect of life here, Thailand is a "mak ngaai" country <Thai language removed>

<Thai language removed>.....careless; shoddy; sloppy, negligent

This is a fact often acknowledged by Thai people themselves.

I'm not Thai bashing I have been here for 20 years now and love the Kingdom. I'm just stating the facts.

Add to the mix the "Mai pen rai" factor and it often has deadly consequences.

[Steely Dan]

I can think of no finer way of measuring the development of a nation than examining the number of road deaths each year. To make any significant improvement the following areas need to be addressed;-

- Education

- Enforcement

- Vehicle safety checks

- Quality of infrastructure

- Training of rapid professional emergency response staff

- Hospital accident and emergency departments having necessary training and equipment for trauma type injuries.

It will obviously not happen in the lifetimes of most if not all Thaivisa members.

[apetley]

With 1.5 million new cars on the road it wouldn't be surprising to anyone that there would be a commensurate increase in the number of unlicenced car drivers on the road. Amongst my Thai family not a single one of them has a drivers licence, nor a motorbike licence.

My wife knows 6 drivers who recently bought new cars under the govt's tax back scheme. 2 of them have driving licenses.