Thailand's Dept of Disaster Prevention prepares measures to cut road accidents

[kimamey]

The only way to stop it is to give them all a bicycle and ban them from driving anything with an engine. Late last night at a traffic light 2 cops stopped next to 2 young boys on a bike no lights and no helmets and did sweet FA about it.

I don't think traffic police work after dark.

The police checkpoint near me that was taken over by the army after the coup now just has a couple of guys reading newspapers or checking their phones.

[ginjag]

What riles me about all this is that most of the threads started by people looking for advice on motoring in Thailand are turned into a series of tirades against Thai drivers.

Virtually every post is thoroughly negative. Posters also suggest that driving isn’t worth it because the roads are too dangerous to consider driving oneself, and that a driver or public transport was preferable.

I disagree - if you have driven in Thailand I would submit this sort of view is grossly inaccurate and ill informed, especially if you consider yourself a genuinely competent driver, you should be able to understand what factors affect road safety whatever country you are in.

What riles you ??? people that know with driving here the road manners/skills /anticipation/ regard for others etc are overlooked /ignored/oblivious. we are talking about INCIDENTS not accidents so much.

Forget the westerners and their driving knowledge, it is not the topic----I think you riled westerners with your stupid statement about Thai are better drivers.

Law of averages, many posters living in Thailand are not impressed with your attack on your fellow countrymen. stick to the things of your post that are positive, road conditions, vehicle servicing, driving license issuing, learning tuition, police control, etc. OK.

[NoshowJones]

There are bound to be a plethora of posts deriding the standard of driving in Thailand and blaming Thai drivers for road safety problems.

This is a wholly distorted perspective of the causes of the problem. I also suspect that many of these views have a racist motivation.

No drivers-no accidents. But in the future driverless cars will be the norm, few deaths/incidents. 80% of Thai deaths are motor cyclists, these damn Motor cycles causing all those fatalities.

A lot of it has to do with the stupid parents who give their motorbike keys to their underage children, and the many motorbikes driving on the wrong side of the road.

[khrab]

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the problems. Speeding, DUI, and brake failures are the main causes of vehicle accidents....

Brake failures ???

No!

Braker failures !!

[metisdead]

Off topic bickering posts and replies have been removed, remember this topic is about Thailand, not the UK or the US.

[GAZZPA]

There are bound to be a plethora of posts deriding the standard of driving in Thailand and laying the blame solely on Thai drivers for road safety problems.

This is a wholly distorted perspective of the causes of the problem. I also suspect that many of these views have a racist motivation.

Of course they are not racist posts,, what is it with comments about racism on this thread,?

It is fair to comment on the terrible driving conditions on Thai roads because it is true. Where I live in Pattaya the driving conditions are terrible, I have actually seen 4 dead bodies by the roadside since I have lived here whereas in the UK I have never seen such a thing.

The statistics are clear, Thailand has one of the worst fatality rates in the world,, in fact in Thailand they do not count it as a road death if the person dies later in hospital,, I suspect if these figures where included Thailand is probably the worst.

The lack of adherence to road safety and the total lack of regard for other drivers and safety is frightening.

Undertaking, speeding, no turn signals, weaving in and out of lanes, creating another lane using the hard shoulder, drink driving,,,, do I need to go? Have you driven on the road? Have you not noticed these things? These are things that are commonplace every single day.

This thread is about road safety, it is a real issue here and needs to be dealt with. People are clearly going to draw conclusions that Thai people are bad drivers because after all this is Thailand and the vast majority of drivers on the road creating these conditions are Thai.. But it is not motivated by racism so don't be try and make this something it isn't and stick to the point about road safety.

[Rimmer]

More off topic bickering removed also a personal attack on another member

[somjintana]

In Thailand the rules of Driving are ME,Myself and I fxxx the rest

[GAZZPA]

In Thailand the rules of Driving are ME,Myself and I fxxx the rest

Too true,, have you ever tried to let anyone out before? You can't just quickly flash your lights because it means "GET OUT OF MY WAY" here...

When I ride my motorbike around I have to nod my head indicating they can go. I do it when it sensible, safe and the right thing to do. I also do it in hope that my 1 small example, my 1 small contribution, might, just might start a mini trend and someone will let me out one day,,,,

Perhaps we should start a campaign "Courtesy driver day",, we could change the world! (getting a bit carried away now)

[GAZZPA]

But starting from today all drivers should have to go through driving schools, nationally run. L plates on all vehicles for 1 year, and a town road test for m cycles, as in the UK attended by driving examiners trained for the job who have advanced test driving ability.

All new drivers issued with a PROVISIONAL license. until they pass the test escorted with an examiner.

I have had a good laugh over this - I think its the funniest posting for quite a while! Now, who do you think is going to run this system and provide "Driving schools"? Where are the "driving examiners with advanced test driving ability" going to come from? And who is going to enforced the rule that "L" plates be carried by provisional licence holders? Half the road users dont have licences in the first place! For goodness sake, stop comparing Thailand with your own country - or anyone else's country - this is Thailand.

Nothing wrong with adopting better practice from another country..

i agree it will be a big uphill struggle to implement anything truly effective from day 1 but that doesn't mean it should not be tried. Perhaps break it down in stages and do each one properly, warn everyone of the zero tolerance to compliance.

Just my opinion, but don't forget people are dying at a terrible rate so something needs to be done,, you agree with that bit don't you?

[outsider]

The same messages are spewed out just before major events, holidays and festivals. Aren't they tired of saying the same thing over and over?