Tourists Please Assume Nothing When You Cross The Street

[Enoon]

You are not in Kansas any more.

Well if Kansas City is anything to go by there seems to be a whole industry surrounding suing for pedestrian accidents. "At Schmitt Mulhern, LLC our pedestrian accident attorneys ..."

I get a little freaked out by what I see here

I guess getting out into the big bad world is quite eye-opening. The problem isn't so much what you see here, but what you were blind to back in Farang Utopia : "Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not cloudy all day," but adults have to be reminded to be careful crossing the street.

Pedestrian Accidents

Kansas City is one of many of the nation's largest cities with large numbers of pedestrians. Unfortunately, when a pedestrian encounters a vehicle, the results can be catastrophic. At Schmitt Mulhern, LLC our pedestrian accident attorneys are dedicated to helping victims of pedestrian/vehicle accidents in Missouri and Kansas City get the full damages they deserve for costs associated with their injuries.

Statistics indicate that in 2011, pedestrians were involved in more than 1/10 of all fatal traffic accidents. In fact, nearly 1,400 pedestrians were injured, and 75 lost their lives. These are sobering statistics; considering the weight and size of a car, truck, or SUV, those who choose to walk to their destinations have little protection when struck by a drunk, distracted, or otherwise negligent driver. Our personal injury lawyers are dedicated to providing victims exceptional legal guidance and support, giving clients the personal attention they deserve.

http://www.injuryattorneysm.com/practice-areas/personal-injury/pedestrian-accidents

I'm sure that you are aware that when the OP spoke of Kansas he was quoting from "The Wizard of Oz" by Frank L Baum, and that he was referring, obliquely and to what he believes is a knowing readership, to the "differentness" of Thailand to things in the developed world.

No doubt there are traffic accidents involving pedestrians in the Kansas City (although Dorothy was from rural Kansas not the City.)

Perhaps you could provide us with statistics from Khon Khaen, Korat or another city in Thailand so we can see how they compare per head of population?

Please forgive my dullness if I mistook your post for a serious comment if what you intended was actually irony.

[Johnnie99]

The truth about walking in Thailand, biking in Thailand, motorbiking in Thailand, motor carring in Thailand, is that there are no rules. It's that simple. They do whatever they want, when they want. Expect anything. ANYTHING. That being said, here's a couple of tips you must follow in order to survive travel in Thailand: First, you drive defensively. You walk defensively, bike defensively, motorbike defensively, drive your car defensively, do everything defensively. Protect yourself first, all the time, every time. They do not care about themselves, nor do they care about you. The end.

This is the land of narcissists, egotists, and abusers. Get it through your head. The sooner you get it through your head the better off you're going to be.

For pedestrians, as I've already mentioned, forget about the rules. Walk at your own risk. And when you do, whether you obey the rules or not, you must obey or disobey defensively. A little trick to help you get through a crosswalk... Simply make sure the drivers see you, and when they do, before you pass by them wai to them. They respect that. once you wai to them, and have their full attention, you are less likely to have any problems.

But for the most part they don't follow any rules, so you should never expect them to. Expect them to do something really stupid, and they usually do.

Splendid fellow.

[thailandusauk]

So lucky we are to have rocket scientist on this board :-)

[slipperylobster]

You might add that they prefer to hit you, rather than honk their horn so you can get out of their way. They think honking at you is impolite.

Edited January 9, 2015 by slipperylobster

[JLCrab]

Or to put it simply: You can be right and dead at the same time.

[Jdiddy]

Same line of thinking should be applied in western countries, just because its the law to stop for your tunnel-visioned off with the fairies zombie-brain, it dosnt mean people will always stop

[In Search of Space]

After pushing the button at one of Pattaya's pedestrian controlled panda crossings do not expect it to work. None do, they are all broken or have been switched off. A totally corrupt local administration that spent millions in installing these state if the art crossings only to never use them.

But they got their cut from the installation cost, so "job done", sadly there's no money in the maintenance

[Keesters]

"After pushing the button at one of Pattaya's pedestrian controlled panda crossings do not expect it to work."

Same in NYC and most cities in America. It's only there as a "placebo" to give you a feeling of power & control.

If those buttons actually worked in pedestrian-dense Midtown Manhattan, cars would never get a green light...

But they can be set so that they only stop traffic every, whatever is deemed appropriate, minutes in heavily pedestrianized areas, giving fair go to both pedestrian and vehicle.

Or does Manhattan not know that?

Edited January 9, 2015 by Keesters

[daveAustin]

How's about this statement for a life-saver: Do not visit Thailand?

[Blackfish64]

"Do not visit Thailand" isn't a bad idea. But I live in the country, don't have to work unless I want to, so it's not bad for me. I simply need to remember to be oh so careful when I go out on the road. Barring that, chom nok chom mai.

[SiSePuede419]

"But they can be set so that they only stop traffic every ??? minutes in heavily pedestrian areas, giving fair go to both pedestrian and vehicle."

Synchronization of traffic lights is a highly complex system, involving advanced mathematics.

If I remember correctly, Bill Gates got his start writing some of the synchronization software for Seattle. When he was in high school.

New York City probably let my cousin Vinny fix things up...

[aronp1]

"After pushing the button at one of Pattaya's pedestrian controlled panda crossings do not expect it to work."

Same in NYC and most cities in America. It's only there as a "placebo" to give you a feeling of power & control.

If those buttons actually worked in pedestrian-dense Midtown Manhattan, cars would never get a green light...

The button is not meant to change the traffic light, but to turn on the walk sign when the light turn red. I know, here it doesn't really matter anyway.

[Keesters]

"But they can be set so that they only stop traffic every ??? minutes in heavily pedestrian areas, giving fair go to both pedestrian and vehicle."

Synchronization of traffic lights is a highly complex system, involving advanced mathematics.

If I remember correctly, Bill Gates got his start writing some of the synchronization software for Seattle. When he was in high school.

New York City probably let my cousin Vinny fix things up...

You seem to be having problem in quoting posts correctly. If you are going to quote me please do so properly.

The only time I've used one of the newly installed pedestrian crossings in Pattaya I tried to cross back but was delayed for some minutes waiting for the lights to allow me. It would seem that Pattaya has better but now broken or turned off crossing system than Manhattan.

[nithisa78]

Glad you feel better. I don't know what USA you live in or why you didn't stay there. Or when you're there if your head is under a pillow. The rules for crossing the street, they're the same the world over.

It would be a good policy in Topeka, Junction City, or anywhere else, don't assume anything, period. It is assumptions that have made you not feel well. LIke you assume the world works any better than you do. It doesn't and your fake appearance of concern, go bury it with the rest of your thoughts.

You wake up in the morning, your first thought, what will you find fault with today. Go get a tissue and wipe your eyes. Life is good, try it some time.

[Keesters]

"After pushing the button at one of Pattaya's pedestrian controlled panda crossings do not expect it to work."

Same in NYC and most cities in America. It's only there as a "placebo" to give you a feeling of power & control.

If those buttons actually worked in pedestrian-dense Midtown Manhattan, cars would never get a green light...

The button is not meant to change the traffic light, but to turn on the walk sign when the light turn red. I know, here it doesn't really matter anyway.

What is it then that turns the traffic light red?

[ebcal]

Good to remind people of this. And I would extend this to all of your personal safety. Having grown up in other environments, sometimes we forget that we take for granted many aspects of our safety. And this can lead to dangerous risks in places like Thailand that dont have as many safety regulations, or at least not followed.

Just think about all you take for granted. When you are walking on the street and walk over a some hole that may be covered, most may walk on the covering and assume it is secure and will not collapse. But, one is taking some level of assumption on this. Or if you use a shower water heater, one is assuming that the person installing it knew the electrical guidelines and installed and grounded it safely, but in Thailand you cant take this for granted. Or you swim in a pool and assume the pool lighting is safe. Or if you buy food somewhere, you usually assume it is safe from chemicals, or some acceptable level of hygiene, (which one can clearly see does not exist when street vendors wash dishes in dirty water on the street) or when you are driving and make assumptions that someone stopped is smart enough to see you coming, so will not step out, pull out right in front of you, again you are making an assumption on the intelligence of the other driver or pedestrian. When you are watching fireworks, you assume people would be smart enough to be aiming them upwards and not shooting them sideways at people, again an assumption that is often not true. Or if you stay in a hotel, you assume some level of safety in terms of fire safety, and evacuation means, but one should probably check things out to make sure of escape routes.

And you can go on and on about some safety that we just assume or take for granted, and you just should not assume these same things in other countries. Now of course, it is impossible to do something about many of these things and one would not be able to function at all and would be paralyzed by paranoia if you worried about everything, but at least being more aware of some of these things is a start. So, good that people realize they have to take a greater responsibility for their own personal safety in Thailand and other countries, likely much more so in the country they came from. More just a mindshift change to be a little more conscious and careful about your safety and take a few more precautions than you might likely do in your own country.

[robertthebruce]

Glad you feel better. I don't know what USA you live in or why you didn't stay there. Or when you're there if your head is under a pillow. The rules for crossing the street, they're the same the world over.

It would be a good policy in Topeka, Junction City, or anywhere else, don't assume anything, period. It is assumptions that have made you not feel well. LIke you assume the world works any better than you do. It doesn't and your fake appearance of concern, go bury it with the rest of your thoughts.

You wake up in the morning, your first thought, what will you find fault with today. Go get a tissue and wipe your eyes. Life is good, try it some time.

It took a while but there's always one...

[techboy]

I understand that kids do not know or care about traffic laws but to my knowledge the law here generally gives vehicular traffic the right of way over pedestrians. In any case Thailand is quite tame compared to say Singapore or Malaysia when it comes to getting across the road on foot safely. If you feel better fine but I cannot imagine someone simply confidently assuming right of way when crossing the road anywhere that they are not familiar with, nevermind when visiting a foreign country. Really. It goes without saying