why have zebra markings on roads

[Borzandy]

Why they want bike lanes? As for zebra marks, Thais love paint the streets.

[Johnnie99]

I love to spice up my life by walking slowly on the crossings, looking at drivers right in where I suppose their eyes to be.

Always ready to make a dash though, just in case Somchai doesn't understand what the pretty pattern is for.

[MediaWatcher]

In Search of Space, on 09 Nov 2014 - 21:59, said:

Not too many countries give priority to pedestrians at zebra crossings

All I can say, how ridiculous, if what you say is true...glad to say, in Australia, pedestrians have right of way.

[MediaWatcher]

Borzandy, on 10 Nov 2014 - 10:06, said:Borzandy, on 10 Nov 2014 - 10:06, said:

Why they want bike lanes? As for zebra marks, Thais love paint the streets.

So true, they seem to love broken and continuous lines as well as the red/white, black/white and yellow/white markings, purely decorative along with any speed signs, warning signs... oh you get my drift.

Edited November 10, 2014 by MediaWatcher

[GuyL]

Why have zebra markings on roads?

To allow the local cops to fine foreigners who don't use them, I guess...

[GuyL]

Remember asking the same question many years ago in France..

The answer was it is the best place for pedestrians to see if there are any cars coming and it is safe to cross...

It was NOT "Pedestrians have the right of way" just thought was same here..

​[...]

Edited November 10, 2014 by GuyL

[EnglishJohn]

As often happens, Thais copy what the foreign country did but then apply a little Thai logic to the mix.

Near here, they have a zebra crossing at a market across a busy 6-lane dual carriageway. If drivers hit the brakes every time someone stepped onto it, there would be loads of accidents.

All part of the façade : do things which give the appearance that you have rules and laws then forget about them.

[robblok]

Zebra crossings in Thailand serve a purpose they group all the pedestrians together so its easier for the cars to hit them.

[moojar]

My wife says if you use the zebra crossing, "at least you die legal".

[arthurwait]

Have you never seen a rolling start ?

[docspinoff]

hi may be of some use driving in Thailand RULES

Driving in Thailand:

If you are a confident driver, you will find Thailand easy to navigate but there are a few things you really do need to know.

The Rules:
Rule one Do not have an accident..
Rule two Always be courteous..
Rule three Always obey the rules..

Legal bit:

Hirer insurance is third party and if involved in an accident you are responsible for damages.
Thailand requires a IDP if you do not posses the new style photo ID driving license. You can obtain a IDP from the AA or RAC.
Emergency vehicles carry flashing amber and red lights. Royal Thai Highway Police vehicles are either brown or maroon with white doors and Police vehicles are all blue or all white.
If a Police officer blows one long whistle you must stop. Two short blasts means go. Security guards, carpark attendants, and road workers will also use a whistle. If a Police Officer holds up his hand facing you you must stop or if he has his back to you and is holding up either hand.

· DrivingLane position:

Drive on the left. On dual carriageways use the left hand lane first.
Most roads have a hard shoulder that is an unrestricted lane and may be used to stop if you have a problem but do not park, it may also be used as a shortcut by motorcyclists passing in the opposite direction.
A motorcycle travelling the wrong way has the right of way.
On single carriageways all oncoming vehicles have the right of way. If an oncoming vehicle is overtaking manouvre to the hard shoulder to give him room. If there is no hard shoulder move as far to the left as you safely can.

Lane markings:

A single solid white line on single carriageways denotes the centre of the road.
Single or double yellow lines means do not cross the lanes.
Short broken white lines means you can overtake (Do not overtake when there is oncoming HGV - they cannot give way to you).
Do not enter white hatched or chevroned areas. Yellow hatched means no stopping or waiting.
Junctions are marked which lane is for what exit.
At traffic lights or trunk route filter lanes do not use the left lane to go straight on.

Road signs:

Major road information signs are green and include the highway number. Some give advance information for trunk route.
Minor road information signs are blue and include the phonetic spelling, direction, and distance.
Local information signs are white
Restrictions are white with a red border and round or a circle on a white background.
Warning signs are yellow diamonds with a logo depicting the hazard ahead.
Instruction signs are blue with a white border and round or a circle on a blue background
Trunk route markers are a white square with the route number. If the route marker is at a junction there will also be a white square with an arrow depicting the direction.

Junctions:

Traffic lights are Red Amber Green.
Sometimes there is a counter that tells you how many seconds to the next light change. Do not go before the clock gets to zero. If the light is on green do not try to cross if there is insufficient time.
If the light is on red you may turn left but you must give way to traffic from your right.
If on green you are turning right move to the centre of the junction and give way to oncoming traffic.
When oncoming vehicles are both turning right they pass in front of each other.
If on green you are turning left you must give way to oncoming motorcycles.
If the light is flashing red you must use the crossing as an uncontrolled junction. You must stop and give way.
If the light is flashing amber you have the right of way but must slow down and look both ways.
http://www.anachak.co.uk/images/driving/trafficroad191.jpg'>At roundabouts give way to the right.
Do not shortcut traffic islands and signal your intended manouvre.
Sometimes roundabouts have a sign for a U-Turn. This means you may turn right at the roundabout if you need to travel back along the road you are on.

Rural Roads:

In very quiet areas take extra care at night especially during national holidays. Be aware of agricultural equipment being driven slowly and farm animals being moved or escaped animals.

Restrictions:

Motorcyclists must wear a crash helmet and must have lights on at all times. Motorists must wear a seat belt. The national speed limit is 80kph and inside city limits is 50kph except where signs say otherwise and this includes villages.
Kerb stones painted alternate black and white mean no parking. Red and white means parking restrictions apply. These markings may also be on lampposts or other posts on the side of the road to which they apply.
Insurance is voluntary. Not having insurance is high risk.

[realenglish1]

Its obvious you do not understand Thai Driving standards

(1) When approaching an intersection where a light that has turned amber and then red SPEED UP before the cars on the other side start to move

(2) It you have missed a turn to the left or right because you are in the wrong lane it is ok to cut off a driver on the extreme left or right if you really speed up to make the turn.

(3) If you see someone attempting to cross the road on Zebra lines Speed up and cross the zebra lines as long as you do not hit anyone Its ok

(4) Its ok to stop and double park on a main street. This is acceptable only if you have a good reason to do so and hold up traffic (not)

\

The governement is starting a Motorcycle self rule standard. As a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk If you come across a motorcycle on the foot path

you will now be able to raise your foot and kick the motorcycle driver off the motorcycle.

It should be affective as most riders will not like this new law

Edited November 10, 2014 by realenglish1

[Estrada]

Before crossing at a zebra crossing in Thailand, look left, look right, look left again, look up, look down, look behind. It may be a one way street but in Thailand you can have 6 way traffic on a one way street.

The white lines on the zebra crossing are purely there so that the pools of blood from injured pedestrians can be seen easily at a distance by the rescue services.

General Prayuth recently announced that cars should give way to pedestrians on crossings but I have yet to see any affect.

[Sayonarax]

Not too many countries give priority to pedestrians at zebra crossings

Well, certainly not Asian countries, but definitely Europe and the UK, Australia, New Zealand.

In Australia, zebra crossings have a large zig-zag strip painted on the road before each crossing, so drivers have some warning.

US, Canada. Canada seriously so. I worked in Chicago and would take trips to Toronto often and amazed me how well obeyed they were at the crossings. If you just look like you are going to step onto the crossing the cars just stop.

That's because you can be sued for running some one over on a crossing. Plenty of Immigrants have got the shock of their life in Australia after being prosecuted from hitting people on crossings.. thinking they can just run you over.

[JacChang]

They have them to pretend Thailand has laws protecting pedestrians, that way tourists would not be afraid to come.

[namdocmai]

In Japan, if you hit a pedestrian or bicyclist, you are in a world of hurt. A professor was fired from my school because he hit a bicyclist.

Can anyone here with knowledge of the Thai laws tell us what will happen if one gets driven over at a zebra crossing? I guess the fresh Quality Tourists would like to know that before it's too late.

Also i would like to know what happens if i stop for the zebracrossing pedestrians but a Thai behind my drives into me. (even without being on the phone).

[tingtongtourist]

You guys got it wrong.the zebra crossings is there so if a farang ever hits a thai they can sue him :0)

[Ulic]

When riding my scooter if a pedestrian is in the crosswalk, I stop. If they are waiting to see if vehicles stop,

I do not stop. The last thing I want is the car behind me to hit me because I have stopped for a pedestrian.

The same goes for yellow lights. I have stopped for red lights only to have multiple cars wiz by me going

through the red light. As we all know just because the light turns green in front of you does not mean proceed.

You have to wait 3-4 seconds for the card running the red light to pass. That is just the way it is in the LOS.

[JacChang]

"Can anyone here with knowledge of the Thai laws tell us what will happen if one gets driven over at a zebra crossing?"

They immediately notify the construction workers to repaint the zebra crossing. Must look nice, clean, and shiny.

[masuk]

Before crossing at a zebra crossing in Thailand, look left, look right, look left again, look up, look down, look behind. It may be a one way street but in Thailand you can have 6 way traffic on a one way street.

The white lines on the zebra crossing are purely there so that the pools of blood from injured pedestrians can be seen easily at a distance by the rescue services.

General Prayuth recently announced that cars should give way to pedestrians on crossings but I have yet to see any affect.

The United Nations also has some document somewhere stating that pedestrians have right of way over vehicles.

However, I am not going to try to prove the legality of this.

I prefer the Italian method, which basically is to cross as a group, and the driver will stop, rather than damage the paintwork on his car.

[namdocmai]

"Can anyone here with knowledge of the Thai laws tell us what will happen if one gets driven over at a zebra crossing?"

They immediately notify the construction workers to repaint the zebra crossing. Must look nice, clean, and shiny.

Well most construction workers here are from Myanmar. I wonder if they have any insurances at all. They do drive cars/motorbikes though, even in our moobaan.

So if one of those guys drives into a farang i guess the farang will sure have to pay all his damage/hospital bills.

[ignis]

Remember asking the same question many years ago in France..

The answer was it is the best place for pedestrians to see if there are any cars coming and it is safe to cross...

It was NOT "Pedestrians have the right of way" just thought was same here..

​[...]

bullshit_nagy.jpg

Just found this........... Good read, looks like the Law changed in 2010

http://streetwise-france.com/travel-france-driving.htm

As I said I asked the question many years ago, I lived in France in the 70's

[Don Aleman]

Damn fool ! The Zebra marking are for ZEBRAS who apparently use them safely as I've never seen a Zebra involved in an accident.

[MauiSteveBKK]

Is it black with white stripes or white with black stripes? I wanna know.

[pjmansions]

have you ever tried using a roundabout in Thailand it's every man for himself they ignore or don't understand the stop and give way markings

daughter friend brought the Thai highway code she was using for her test all it consisted of was road signs and road marking pictures with their names it made no reference what the signs and markings mean and what you must do when you approach them

[Tchooptip]

These stripes are actually made for Zebras to cross. Time for a Thai culture course for you, OP.

P.S. Only Pony's are exceptions.

At least someone who knows Pffffff

[Si Thea01]

You are 100% correct. I have a disability and walk with the use of a cane. Was in the crossing at Big C, Loei about two month ago and almost half way across when this car approached. I put my hand out for him to slow but it was like waving a red flag at a bull.

The driver, who I couldn't see because of the dark tint, actually accelerated but fortunately for me I was able to stop but unfortunate for the driver, they copped the sharp end of my cane right along the right side of the car, which removed some of the paint. (black) Gutless bastard never had the guts to stop but it goes to show just how dangerous these zebra crossings are on the roads and in shopping centres.

[NoshowJones]

In Bangkok , occasionally drivers do stop as you use the crossing - but it never to be expected every driver has the time to be wasted stopping for somebody stupid enough to be in the middle of a busy road.. The buses on their tight schedules never do unless there is a passenger to pick up.

Local buses in Bangkok don't have schedules, the drivers are paid by the amount of journeys they do. Can you imagine a bus in Bangkok trying to work to a timetable?

[NoshowJones]

Not too many countries give priority to pedestrians at zebra crossings

Well, certainly not Asian countries, but definitely Europe and the UK, Australia, New Zealand.

In Australia, zebra crossings have a large zig-zag strip painted on the road before each crossing, so drivers have some warning.

The zig-zag markings indicate a no-parking area either side of the crossing.

SC

and also no overtaking, in the UK that is.

[masuk]

have you ever tried using a roundabout in Thailand it's every man for himself they ignore or don't understand the stop and give way markings

daughter friend brought the Thai highway code she was using for her test all it consisted of was road signs and road marking pictures with their names it made no reference what the signs and markings mean and what you must do when you approach them

The rule for roundabouts in most ASEAN countries is irrevocable!

give way to anything bigger than yourself, and watch out for cars/bikes short-cutting on a roundabout. (instead of doing a clockwise manoeuvre to go around, just cut across to your right)