Thai Children Must Have Very Hard Heads.

[Just1Voice]

Five years ago here in CNX, if there were 20 people on bikes at a stoplight during rush hour traffic, maybe 2-3 were wearing helmets. Not sure of the reasons why, but there has been, and continues to be, a rise in the number of people wearing helmets. Friday night at a busy intersections not far from my house, I counted 26 people on bikes, and only 5 of them without helmets.

Would the doubling of the fine have anything to do with it ? and are two random samples enough to draw a conclusion from ?

Suggest you record info over 30 days 5 times a day & then report back, I will be waiting

Actually, I have been keeping a continual "eye" on things, and not just one sample from 5 years ago and one now. If you had bothered to actually read, I clearly stated: "...there has been, and continues to be, a rise..." That statement alone would imply, and should have informed you, that this is something I have noticed over the past five years, and not just wake up one day and see. But perhaps English Comprehension is not your strong suit, and you were unable to deduce that. lol

[Andre0720]

I see more and more people wearing a helmet in Phuket town, as an example.

[rsokolowski]

Helmets for bicycles, wow. What next, wear a helmet whilst walking in case you trip and bang your head on the kerb?

Why stop there? Maybe some elbow and knee pads so you don't scrape them if you fall while walking? What about requiring steel toed shoes and safety glasses at all times. I have read about dengue fever being an issue maybe the government should mandate long pants and shirts?

Helmets are common sense if you drive a motorcycle, I would wear one if I rode but that is my decision. I think people should wear a helmet, however I do not think the government should make it a law. Life is full of risks and decisions, I don't expect the government to manage all of them, but some people do.

[MRJOHNNY]

Ah, the cultural superiority comes out. Much of our awareness for road safety has come from 40+ years of public education. Thailand has barely started down that road.

I'm frankly amazed when I go to Europe or the US and see people riding bicycles without helmets. Why? They've been compulsory in Australia for 25 years.

By Europe I hope you don't mean the UK, as motorcycle helmets are compulsory and have been for about 40 odd years, there is no way on earth that you could get away without one on British streets. As for the Thais, well I'm sorry to say that I ride without one unless of course I am on a major road, furthermore my seven year old son never wears one either, something I should be insisting on really, which I do regarding wearing a seat belt when he chooses to sit in the front seat of the car, another practice that I am not too happy about, but as we all know the Thais have their own way of doing things, whenever I am driving I always insist on my passengers wearing seatbelts only to be told, "MAI BPENRAI, TEENEE MAI MEE TAMRUAT"!!!!

[Keesters]

I can understand a poor family not being able to afford helmets but I don't understand why they often drive with total disregard for safety.

Of course they can afford 150 baht for a helmet. It is just not a priority for them. Ask one next time you see him/her handing over 200+ for a bottle of booze.

[PalMan]

Helmets for bicycles, wow. What next, wear a helmet whilst walking in case you trip and bang your head on the kerb?

Why stop there? Maybe some elbow and knee pads so you don't scrape them if you fall while walking? What about requiring steel toed shoes and safety glasses at all times. I have read about dengue fever being an issue maybe the government should mandate long pants and shirts?

Helmets are common sense if you drive a motorcycle, I would wear one if I rode but that is my decision. I think people should wear a helmet, however I do not think the government should make it a law. Life is full of risks and decisions, I don't expect the government to manage all of them, but some people do.

-

Elbow & knee pads are required at most western BMX and skate parks - no pads no play.

Not just legislator's fault, I'm sure insurance is an issue too.

[samran]

Ah, the cultural superiority comes out. Much of our awareness for road safety has come from 40+ years of public education. Thailand has barely started down that road.

I'm frankly amazed when I go to Europe or the US and see people riding bicycles without helmets. Why? They've been compulsory in Australia for 25 years.

By Europe I hope you don't mean the UK, as motorcycle helmets are compulsory and have been for about 40 odd years, there is no way on earth that you could get away without one on British streets. As for the Thais, well I'm sorry to say that I ride without one unless of course I am on a major road, furthermore my seven year old son never wears one either, something I should be insisting on really, which I do regarding wearing a seat belt when he chooses to sit in the front seat of the car, another practice that I am not too happy about, but as we all know the Thais have their own way of doing things, whenever I am driving I always insist on my passengers wearing seatbelts only to be told, "MAI BPENRAI, TEENEE MAI MEE TAMRUAT"!!!!

I did say bicycle, not motorcycle.

As for the rest of it, well, it all comes down to having a bit of self discipline, and enforcing what you know to be right and safe, and that includes seat belts and helmets. If someone doesn't want to wear a seatbelt when I drive, the car doesn't move until they do.

It is all a matter of growing some balls and I think a lot of people just take the easy way out.

[ABCer]

I wonder what the parents are thinking when they take a baby on a scooter with no protection.

I would love a mercedes and car seat but I can't afford one on 9000B per month.

Sure, you are right. But if you can afford a 49,000 Bt scooter you should buy a 200 Bt helmet.

Personally speaking, my beef is not with drivers - they will do anything they can get away with just like in any other country.

But the Thai Police! - watching FOUR kids on a scooter without a single helmet going home from school, or coming to school in the morning, all four underage = no licence! Thousands of them on the road! TIT...

[PalMan]

But the Thai Police! - watching FOUR kids on a scooter without a single helmet going home from school, or coming to school in the morning, all four underage = no licence! Thousands of them on the road! TIT...

-

Kids aren't given enough pocket money to make stopping them worthwhile.

[apetley]

Somewhere in the west, there is a billionaire being driven by a hired ex-SAS member in his armoured limousine, wondering how anyone can think of carting their kids around town in a mini-van.

 

Thai parents love their kids, just like western parents.  As arthurwait implies, if they could afford a vehicle with seating and seat belts for each passenger, that's what they would buy.

 

Do a little math and figure out how you'd clothe, feed and get your family around town on 300 baht per day.

To suggest that they just don't care is a little arrogant.  

 

Well, if they can afford a 50.000 Baht motorbike, iguess they can also afford a 150 Baht helmet. Not ?

I'm guessing that most of them can't afford to pay 50,000 and that is why they normally take credit.

and those 150 baht helmets are as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Try this simple test.

Stand 30cm in front of a brick wall and headbutt it as hard as you can. Once with a cheap helmet and once without.

Report back here which one hurt the most.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[overherebc]

TexasRanger,

Took me a little while to work it out but obviously you think that ( 1 )falling off a push bike at 25 mph and smacking your head on the road is less dangerous than ( 2 ) falling off a motorbike at 25mph and smacking your head on the road.

In fact on a push bike you will probably notice that your head is a bit higher than on a motor bike so has a few more centimetres to travel and will have a bit more energy behind it.

I have actually been through ( 2 ) my helmet was the first thing to hit the road, it's an amazing noise.

If you have a 10 dollar head get a 10 dollar helmet.

[Businessman]

Don't be worried. It is a well known fact that babies bounce. Why do you think the expression "bouncing baby boy/girl" comes from? Besides, according to most Thais I know you don't need a hemet on smaller streets or close to home. I can only assume that this is because the pavement is softer in these locations.

sent from my mobile

Edited May 22, 2013 by Businessman

[Keesters]

Thai Children Must Have Very Hard Heads.

Not just Thai children but Farang children in Thailand too. I see many Farang driving motorbikes with their child on the back mostly helmetless. The driver may or may not have a helmet.

[joepattaya1961]

Helmets will be worn for the police's sake, not for safety.

Wearing a helmet may save money, but will not save lives.

Carrying a baby on a motorbike without proper protection is just a matter of babies being exempted from the helmet-rule and has nothing to do with "not caring for them"

-

You sir are nuts.

And in civilized countries of course anyone carrying kids around like this will have their children immediately taken away from them by the government and put into foster care. Many child-custody suits have been won on this basis.

Of course helmets save lives. That doesn't (to me) justify laws requiring their use, but there is no doubt they do save lives.

Obviously you didn't see the sarcasm in my post.

Edited May 22, 2013 by joepattaya1961

[shaggy1969]

Somewhere in the west, there is a billionaire being driven by a hired ex-SAS member in his armoured limousine, wondering how anyone can think of carting their kids around town in a mini-van.

Thai parents love their kids, just like western parents. As arthurwait implies, if they could afford a vehicle with seating and seat belts for each passenger, that's what they would buy.

Do a little math and figure out how you'd clothe, feed and get your family around town on 300 baht per day.

To suggest that they just don't care is a little arrogant.

Well, if they can afford a 50.000 Baht motorbike, iguess they can also afford a 150 Baht helmet. Not ?

I'm guessing that most of them can't afford to pay 50,000 and that is why they normally take credit.

and those 150 baht helmets are as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Try this simple test.

Stand 30cm in front of a brick wall and headbutt it as hard as you can. Once with a cheap helmet and once without.

Report back here which one hurt the most.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I got a fractured skull from my first attempt head butting the wall with the cheap helmet.

You may have to wait awhile for the full report....if I ever recover enough to try without.

I do see your point and I am not trying to have a cheap shot at you.

Simply saying that the 150 baht helmets are crap.

[Traveling Sailor]

I don't buy the line that they don't have enough to buy helmets, but somehow always manage to have the money to make sure the old man has his whiskey or beer every night.

I remember an article in the paper a couple of years ago and some Thai Minister of Something or other, was talking to a western journalist, and the subject of helmets came up. This man actually stated that it really wasn't important if Thai wore helmets, as they were naturally born with harder heads that other people, and that protected them. This same guy also stated that Thai were perfectly capable of talking and texting on the phone while driving cars and motorbikes, because their brains were developed in such a way that it allowed them to do this, while other people could not.

Yes, and in Thailand, pigs fly and there is no corruption.

[impulse]

A helmet that meets federal standards reduces the wearer's chances of being killed in an accident by about 40 percent, Hedlund said. The only reason for wearing a novelty helmet is to avoid getting ticketed for not wearing a helmet, he added.

Source: http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2011/04/us_motorcycle_deaths_drop_but.html

More here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6123a1.htm

To those of you recommending a 150-200 baht helmet, you may want to rethink.

On another site:

A national study by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATS) found that:

• Motorcycle rider death rates increased among all rider age groups between 1998 and 2000
• Motorcycle rider deaths were nearly 30 times more than drivers of other vehicles
• Motorcycle riders aged below 40 are 36 times more likely to be killed than other vehicle operators of the same age.
• Motorcycle riders aged 40 years and over are around 20 times more likely to be killed than other drivers of that same age.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety (With footnotes to follow for details)

Bottom line, once you've chosen a cycle over a car, your chances of being killed are 10-36x as high as driving a 4 wheel vehicle the same number of miles. Helmets help, but not by much, and cheap helmets even less (if at all). So it goes back to the choice of scooters, which is forced on most folks by simple economics. Not stupidity, not lack of care, just simple economics.

Edited May 22, 2013 by impulse

[Thongkorn]

The police are cracking down on not wearing helmets, I saw the Thai police in a few provinces on the outskirts of Bangkok a few weeks ago,They where pulling most Motor bikes over, if they had no helmet on, also they are cracking down on paper work for cars,( Insurance). And just for the books , none where falang.

The Thai government had issued a directive to the police, to start issuing fines, and enforce them, to people not wearing helmets, Also there are some TV adverts promoting wearing helmets. time will tell if it has any effect on the number of people needing hospital treatment for head injury's. The Thai government has come to the conclusion that it is costing to much money and to many lives because of a simple helmet.

[PalMan]

I don't buy the line that they don't have enough to buy helmets, but somehow always manage to have the money to make sure the old man has his whiskey or beer every night.

I remember an article in the paper a couple of years ago and some Thai Minister of Something or other, was talking to a western journalist, and the subject of helmets came up. This man actually stated that it really wasn't important if Thai wore helmets, as they were naturally born with harder heads that other people, and that protected them. This same guy also stated that Thai were perfectly capable of talking and texting on the phone while driving cars and motorbikes, because their brains were developed in such a way that it allowed them to do this, while other people could not.

-

I would personally be very interested to see evidence of this interview.

[PalMan]

Plus most Dutch learn to ride a bike real young, we masters at it there are more bikes as people in my country.

-

Plus actually encouraging bike usage for commuting, especially designing the urban streetscapes properly for bike safety.

Most of our communities "back homes" are designed as if they assume the private auto is the only decent mode of transport and will continue to be possible into the far future.

-

At least Thais don't actually try to knock you off the road:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3771013.ece

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22614569

[overherebc]

TexasRanger,

Took me a little while to work it out but obviously you think that ( 1 )falling off a push bike at 25 mph and smacking your head on the road is less dangerous than ( 2 ) falling off a motorbike at 25mph and smacking your head on the road.

In fact on a push bike you will probably notice that your head is a bit higher than on a motor bike so has a few more centimetres to travel and will have a bit more energy behind it.

I have actually been through ( 2 ) my helmet was the first thing to hit the road, it's an amazing noise.

If you have a 10 dollar head get a 10 dollar helmet.

Just as an addition, I never wear an open face lid, only a full lid, why wear a helmet that lets you hit the road face first.

[Keesters]

[impulse]

Keesters- it looks like that guy put on the beanie after the brain injury, not before.

[apetley]

That or bad constipation.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[fletchsmile]

Rather than having hard heads they just know they'll get a new head in the next life

Thais are generally very good at living in the moment, whereas westerners often spend time thinking of the future or reflecting on the past, and are less good at appreciating the here and now.

What's going thru their head? Probably nothing - or at least nothing to do with wearning a helmet. It's often not on the radar screen.

Cost may be a small factor, but only a small one. If you can afford a few (tens of) thousand for a bike you can affor a few hundred for a helmet if you choose to. We're spending time in Vietnam at the moment. People are generally poorer here than Thais, but the norm for the majority is wearing a helmet, even with less disposable income. Education about it and law enforcement of course play a part too.

Cheers

Fletch

[quandow]

I am a music teacher and lost a very promising young student last year. She was riding a motorbike, no helmet, turned a corner and ran into a car. She was only 16 and showed great potential for having a wonderful life. Too sad!