One child dies, 25 injured in school bus crash in Chiang Rai

[Doc46]

When is the Government start getting there act together and enforce periodic safety inspections every 6 months like in most countries .Some states in Australia a Government vehicle MUST have a safety inspection every 3 months or 1000 k whichever is sooner.. ALL Bus and coach drivers must also complete periodic training to keep their DRIVER CPC,,,,ability.

If the government enforced this I would think that there would be not many Vans,Took Tooks,Buses and Coaches on the roads and not many Drivers would pass a safety and driving test,,,,,,,,Cous this is only My opinion,,,,,Maybe one should organise a Petition and take this up to the PM

[JOC]

According to Thai language news - the hired coach approached the traffic lights much too fast and then swerved violently to avoid hitting other traffic. In doing so the driver completely lost control and the coach overturned on top of a local school mini bus that was taking children home from the loca school. The dead and seriously injured were in the mini bus - not in the coach which was from Lampang. The driver of the coach has been arrested for reckless driving. Our heartfelt sympathy for all those bereaved and injured.

So it was not brake-failure but brain-failure!!

Imagine the horror of the poor schoolkids in the mini bus!!

[ravip]

Until the slander, and libel laws are removed. And self examination of society. Nothing will ever change in this third world

The 1st world - THE perfect.

Everything is so perfect the whiners from there are heading to the dirty 3rd world and whining there 'heads' off.

Ohhh this 3rd world... what can we do with you?

[robertthebruce]

Until the slander, and libel laws are removed. And self examination of society. Nothing will ever change in this third world

The 1st world - THE perfect.

Everything is so perfect the whiners from there are heading to the dirty 3rd world and whining there 'heads' off.

Ohhh this 3rd world... what can we do with you?

The 1st World is not PERFECT..

But this kind of thing happens everyday, and it can be avoided, by proper training and education..

its not rocket science...

[JOC]

Until the slander, and libel laws are removed. And self examination of society. Nothing will ever change in this third world

The 1st world - THE perfect.

Everything is so perfect the whiners from there are heading to the dirty 3rd world and whining there 'heads' off.

Ohhh this 3rd world... what can we do with you?

Another one, who has sold his soul!!

[Torrens54]

Terribly sad.

Our deepest sympathy to all the victims and their families.

[shrimpythailand]

so no emergency brake? would think that maybe rear ending a car or three would have been safer than making a sudden turn sharp enough to flip the bus over might have been safer.... of course going too fast and not being able to stop is a problem and that is a big tour bus....

pumping on the brakes and pulling the emergency handle while trying to stop and rear ending a few cars has to be safer than a huge turn and flipping the bus on it's side... hmmm haven't been in that situation myself tho...

and "blaster hospitalized" <deleted> ? that must be the pick up truck rescue guys right?

[ravip]

Until the slander, and libel laws are removed. And self examination of society. Nothing will ever change in this third world

The 1st world - THE perfect.

Everything is so perfect the whiners from there are heading to the dirty 3rd world and whining there 'heads' off.

Ohhh this 3rd world... what can we do with you?

Another one, who has sold his soul!!

I pity you - do you know what a soul is?

[Jim walker]

Brake failure have I heard this before in Thailand regarding a bus or a truck, or was that before all the new stringent bus regulations came into force. RIP to the poor little student who died at the beginning of their life.

[janpoo]

Remove the transport minister. And find somebody, who takes safety seriously. But. T.I.T.

Remove the PM. Happiness to the Thai people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mikemac]

"But the bus developed brake failure..."

Translation: The bus company was too cheap to care how many kilometers were driven since the last time the brakes were inspected and replaced. Unfortunately, in Thailand, human lives come at a cheaper price than responsible and enforced vehicle safety regulations.

Another scenario...If the bus was approaching an intersection, it should not have been going fast enough to cause it to flip over, even if the brakes failed.

This looks like a total disregard for safety from top to bottom.

RIP to the victim whose death would have been prevented if anyone involved with the transportation industry gave a damn about lives more than they did about profits or getting to the destination as fast a possible so they could catch a cold beer and sleep for the rest of the day.

Funny, but every year I take my Isuzu pickup in to be checked before I can re-register it, and the first thing they do is check the brakes. Buses that carry passengers should be checked at least every three months. Not as if it costs that much.

RIP to the child who died, needlessly.

[daveAustin]

Do what I do....Dont allow your children on any bus trips with the school and let the Thai parents know why you are stopping your child.

It would be interesting to find out who owns all these buses. I am sure, like the trains in the Uk, they will be leased out by 1 or 2 companies. Who are the big bosses of these companies.

Do what I do, move your child out of Thailand.

[mikemac]

The chances of it being a real brake failure must be around 1%. The chances of the driver going too fast in order to be able to brake in time, or other such dangerous driving, are far, far higher.

I did many, many trips between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai in my car from 2005 - 2009. Lost count how many crashed buses I saw and how many idiots driving buses overtook me on blind corners, at high speed.

One crash I saw about 60km north of CM claimed 19 lives. Caused by high speed they say. Witnesses said there were two identical buses and they seemed to be racing !

[swbcare]

Sad that the poor child die by a drivers brain failure.

[noitom]

Condolences to the parents and family of the dead Thai child. Dpn't these Thai school buses or any buses have emergency brakes? Gears to downshift? Seat belts? Regular maintenance checks? Who are the operations managers and owners of this bus company? Why is the driver the only one being "detained?"

[bridge2bridge]

More lack of Maintenance in Thailand.

Causes another death.

When will the Authorities wake up?

And if the brakes failed, you CAN NOT blame the driver.

Rest in Peace little one.

[Nemesis7]

SO sad.RIP the little one and I sincerely hope there are no more causalities.

[Si Thea01]

RIP little one.

Sadly your dead could have been avoided with a simple maintenance of the bus.

It is always sad when someone dies through negligence of others. But before we start throwing stones, remember, it is only the word of the driver that there was brake failure. If he was approaching an intersection one has to ask a number of questions before we start assuming it was lack of maintenance. It appears that the bus had been travelling some distance before the crash occurred, yet no mention of prior problems or brake failure, only given at the scene as the cause.

Just look at the number of heavy vehicle and bus crashes where brake failure has been given as a reason for the cause. Never any mention of the driver's actions or reactions prior to the crashes other then they swerved and it happened.

It should be asked.

1. Had the driver done a routine safety check of the bus prior to leaving its depot?

2. If not, why not?

3. Did the driver notice anything unusual with the braking system during the journey and prior to the crash?

4. How fast was the bus travelling as it came toward the intersection?

5. Had the driver gone down through the gears to reduce speed?

6. When was the last occasion, during the journey, had the driver applied the brakes?

7. At the time did he notice anything unusual?

8. Did the driver attempt to engage the emergency brake?

9. How long had the driver been awake?

10.How long had he been driving for on that day?

11.Had drugs or alcohol played any role? (No mention in media report)

If these can be answered satisfactorily, and any other questions that may arise from the answers given, then one may possibly, if the bus is mechanically examined, and if found unsafe and not mechanically sound, attribute the incident to lack of maintenance, not before.

With the driver being charged with reckless driving, this is normal for such an incident but now someone has died the charge should be upgraded to reckless driving occasioning death.

RIP young one and a speedy recovery to the injured.

[Si Thea01]

Remove the transport minister. And find somebody, who takes safety seriously. But. T.I.T.

Remove the PM. Happiness to the Thai people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What sort of idiotic statement is this? Stick with the topic, he has nothing to do with the incident but then people like you tend to blame him for anything and everything.

[catweazle]

Driver fined for reckless driving and then? As usual, no investigation into the bus providing company, charging them with neglect and manslaughter for not servicing their vehicls properly, charging the driver for failed security checks, etc...?

I can understand the people who think that Thailand still is a 3rd world country. The facade isn't, but the brains of its people along with how they handle live threatening problems certainly are.

Let's hope the parents of the unfortunate child will sue the parties involved along with a good lawyer that helps them pro-bono and that justice will be served.

RIP to the little one and sincerest condolences to family and friends.

Edited December 28, 2014 by catweazle

[riclag]

All pedestion vehicles need to have Governor not to exceed 70 kmh. These idiot so-called drivers just love to drive like their going to a fire somewhere. Brake failure my Ass.

I drove semi's for 20 years. The company I worked for govern the speed accelerators at 85 kph. Hmmmm know wonder why we missed some of our early pick ups lol. Yes the companies should be held responsible,but its the government that's suppose to watch over the companies and yet the government can't even watch over themselves.Every six years or so the military has to step in to clean house. I'm afraid there's no easy solution .Maybe if the vehicle manufactures were given to follow strict guidelines similar to the airlines it could save a few accidents but then again this is Thailand. isn't it ?

Edited December 28, 2014 by riclag

[slipperylobster]

The only thing learned will be how to count even higher.