Foreigner dies in horror Phuket smash

[stevenl]

And that is the exact reason why you will never see me on the outside of any truck when it is turning/cornering.

It makes no difference being on the outside or inside of any truck driving with goods in liquid form...

Stay behind in curves and pass it when the road goes straight as fast as possible..

Just let it go, if you overtake he will overtake you again witht he speed these guys are driving.

[Hippos]

Speed, Road worthiness.

These trucks drive way too fast and often have un roadworthy tyres,brakes,suspension,steering components and drivers!

Sad unfortunate accident yes but many factors contributed to it.

R.I.P.

[ezzra]

Those cement mixer are not controlled as far as how much wet cement they load on,

in my days of a cement mixer driver we were not allowed to take on more that the road

laws allowed, but I'm sure that here, they top it up to the max and thus the truck become

unstable and the smallest sudden swerving will tip it on it side...

[Johnnie99]

Ever noticed that in a 'traffic emergency', the brakes are the last to be used here?

I know that, probably, the braking systems of commercial vehicles are, at best, ineffective, but even with cars and motorcycles, the last thing thought of is to stop.

There seems an inane perception that no matter what is happening around them, the Thai driver has the inalienable right to continue moving forwards.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Johnnie99

[monkey4u]

It's a shame that the trucks are not weighed when loaded.

In Australia 1 of these trucks are legal at 22.5 tonnes gross.

The trucks all have 1 10.5 m3 barrel which is loaded with 6 m3

Anymore would result in being too heavy

Here they are filled till its sloping out as the truck drives down the road

[332]

The new stricter driving license testing will put an end to this.

[LivinginKata]

The new stricter driving license testing will put an end to this.

Yeh - right

[Spoonman]

The new stricter driving license testing will put an end to this.

Testing for alcohol or drugs in the system before they drive and if anything detect they must go home will have a far greater success.

[Ulic]

There is no doubt in my mind that cement truck drivers in Thailand are the most dangerous drivers in Thailand.

[krisb]

It's bad enough driving a car in Thailand.

Must really be dreadful being a truck driver.

Poor guy, a real freak tragedy.

A freak accident - really. These cement trucks all drive at full speed, take all sorts of driving risks to maintain that high speed.

Dreadful being a truck driver ? - I assume that was a sarcastic remark.

RIP the dead guy.

No not sarcastic at all.

Assuming all truck drivers are bad is quite sarcastic though.

[Lancelot]

It's bad enough driving a car in Thailand.

Must really be dreadful being a truck driver.

Poor guy, a real freak tragedy.

I have ridden my motorcycle a lot in Thailand and, personally speaking, I don't recall seeing trucks (or passenger vans for that matter) yielding to motorbikes...

[NamKangMan]

There is no doubt in my mind that cement truck drivers in Thailand are the most dangerous drivers in Thailand.

I would have to disagree and say the long distance coach bus drivers are the most dangerous.

They have killed so many in this country.

[kkup]

I've had many close calls when a motorcycle driver has decided to make a last minute decision without any thought to traffic around them, combine that with a wet road and it's a recipe for disaster.

I know heavy vehicle drivers have a rep for driving careless but maybe this was actually the motorcyclists fault.

I guess those of you that actually witnessed the accident and saw his speed can make fair judgement.

[marko kok prong]

How many times do motorsai's pull out without looking,i have never seen this in any other country,for example outside tesco in my local town often trucks park for unloading on the street,behind them is the motorbike parking,yet,they just pull out from behind the truck with no backward glance,i saw one a few weeks ago pull straight into the side of a car ,they were knocked of but as everything was going slow,no real injuries,i was with my Mrs,who saw it too,her verdict the cars fault,i argued that the bike rider did not look and hit the car,"car must care motorsai" she replied,what can you do when a lot of the population have this bizzare view of things,so it is quite possible the truck driver story is true,plus it looks as if the weather was wet in the photo which would not have helped.

[arminbkk]

Talk about being at just the wrong spot at just the wrong moment.

RIP

[patongphil]

There is no doubt in my mind that cement truck drivers in Thailand are the most dangerous drivers in Thailand.

I would have to disagree and say the long distance coach bus drivers are the most dangerous.

They have killed so many in this country.

My vote for most dangerous would be for Toyota Fortuner drivers.

[332]

Has never happened in a Western country.

[JSixpack]

Why does not Thai drivers look forward. Why do they only look at the road in near vicinity ? Why not widen your horizon a little bit, it could save hundreds of lives every year ?

Just one of those mysteries of the exotic Orient. So it goes. Next.

[Thaiready]

Speeding concrete trucks with ill trained drivers, wet, steep slippery road = a lot of unnecessary, but avoidable carnage.

As an ex heavy goods vehicle driver AND the flack I get on the motoring forum about tyre pressures , if this guys cement truck had under inflated tyres it would tip/flip if fully loaded..............

I disagree, he would have to run on nearly flat tires in order for that to happen, the back tires are twin mounted. If even 1 of the tires where running on low pressure, the pressure load on the last tire would cause it to heat up and explode...This clearly not what happen.

No...im pretty sure that the centrifugal force just took over, when you combine a poor driver (prob no licence and completely unaware of the law of physics) with a cement truck or a petrol truck, and then tell him he has to go from point A to B as fast as possible (or he chooses to do so in order for have time to visit his mia noi also)...you are just waiting for a accident to happen.

Now...If this had been i Europe, the driver would probably face charges of unaware man slaughter, should the case show that the company let a driver, drive a truck with no education....Then fine and law suit would probably force the company to a complete closure.

Here...since it's Thailand..i guessing a 2000,- bath fine would cover it...I would be surprised if any Thai police man actually knows about the centrifugal force..Sadly

So why does a cement truck have 4 wheels each side at the rear inflated to a certain pressure to carry the load and stop tilt.?

its called high center of gravity.....a sudden turn caused it to flip....no matter if all tires were correctly inflated.

[NamKangMan]

@ Thaiready

I agree.

The curve caused the liquid (cement) which is a very dense liquid (heavy) to move to one side, under centrifural force, and with no where to go within the mixer, it goes "up" within the vessel it was being carried in, and then you have what you say, a higher center of gravity, on a curve, at speed, and these forces act against the stability of all the wheels to keep the truck upright, and on the road.

I doubt if tyre pressure played a part in this accident.

[Blindside]

It's bad enough driving a car in Thailand.

Must really be dreadful being a truck driver.

Poor guy, a real freak tragedy.

I agree, being a truck driver must be tough. There are some pretty good ones in the country too. Have encountered them on the open roads. The rubbish ones too.

Not knowing the truth obviously, I am always a little dubious in cases involving cement mixers. I am petrified of them in Phuket. They drive very quickly in general and most of them seem oblivious to the laws of physics governing the top heavy nature of their "rides".

Who will ever know. Freak accident it is.