Lucky Phuket delivery man survives mega smash

[webfact]

Lucky Phuket delivery man survives mega smash
Eakkapop Thongtub


The Isuzu truck was buried under the six-wheeler.

PHUKET: -- A delivery man was lucky to survive after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his truck and crashed at high speed into the back of a six-wheeler truck on the main Thepkasattri Rd this morning (January 14).

At 6.30am, Thalang police were called to the accident which took place in front of the Shell station near Blue Canyon on the southbound side of Thepkasattri Rd, causing morning traffic congestion.

Pongsak Inthong, 25, was at the wheel of the Isuzu truck, en route to deliver sausages to local convenience stores when, police believe, he fell asleep at the wheel.

The Isuzu was severely damaged but Mr Pongsak amazingly only suffered minor injuries to his face. He was taken to Thalang hospital after receiving first aid at the scene.

Mr Pongsak told police, “I was in a hurry to deliver the sausages. I did not see the tail lights of the six-wheeler.”

The driver of the six-wheeler was not injured, though the crash did damage the rear of his vehicle.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/lucky-phuket-delivery-man-survives-mega-smash-50544.php


-- Phuket News 2015-01-14

[inzman]

What a moron, Darwin didn't win on this one.

[JOC]

Darwinism at its finest.....................................

Edit; inzman two great minds at work!! You beat me by 10 secs!!

Edited January 14, 2015 by JOC

[trainman34014]

Evil spirits sent him to sleep.....but his amulets saved him !

[simon43]

I saw his van being removed after the crash and thought that no way could anyone survive the complete destruction of the vehicle cab..

Perhaps he is a midget?

[NeverSure]

If you look at the cab where he was sitting, it pretty much retained its shape. The steering column telescopes to collapse and he would have had an airbag.

Those things are engineered so that the front end is a crumple zone to absorb shock, and the cab is designed to retain shape. That engineering saved his life.

[bangkokheat]

they like to stay up and party till the wee huors then turn up for work pissed and or sleepy

[Soupdragon]

they like to stay up and party till the wee huors then turn up for work pissed and or sleepy

You forgot to add they turn up late and then have to drive like idiots to get the job done on time.

[seancbk]

I saw his van being removed after the crash and thought that no way could anyone survive the complete destruction of the vehicle cab..

Perhaps he is a midget?

Perhaps he fell asleep and was laying in the passenger seat?

[Briggsy]

Good advert for Isuzu too.

[ChiangmaiRob]

If you look at the cab where he was sitting, it pretty much retained its shape. The steering column telescopes to collapse and he would have had an airbag.

Those things are engineered so that the front end is a crumple zone to absorb shock, and the cab is designed to retain shape. That engineering saved his life.

The crumple zone only works on a full front on crash and if you hit the back of a truck without a bumper bar you pretty much have the bed of the truck in your face as the front of your vehicle goes underneath the truck. Not all vehicles have the luxury of airbags and I'm guessing as this is a works truck, they would probably have bought the cheapest version without the extra cost airbags. Even with airbags, if you have the bed of a truck coming into your cab, the airbags will only give you very limited protection.

[ChiangmaiRob]

If you look at the cab where he was sitting, it pretty much retained its shape. The steering column telescopes to collapse and he would have had an airbag.

Those things are engineered so that the front end is a crumple zone to absorb shock, and the cab is designed to retain shape. That engineering saved his life.

The driver sits on the right side not the left. If you look at the photo in the link, the drivers side is pretty much destroyed above bonnet level so this guy is a very lucky man!

[Moonlover]

I think that this could be one of those rare accidents in which not wearing a seatbelt saved his life. I suspect that the driver was thrown sideways, away from the danger zone by the initial impact. Whatever he’s a very lucky guy.

[joboss]

I saw his van being removed after the crash and thought that no way could anyone survive the complete destruction of the vehicle cab..

Perhaps he is a midget?

He was laying down having a sleep. That's why he didn't see the tail lights.

[Mudcrab]

If you look at the cab where he was sitting, it pretty much retained its shape. The steering column telescopes to collapse and he would have had an airbag.

Those things are engineered so that the front end is a crumple zone to absorb shock, and the cab is designed to retain shape. That engineering saved his life.

The driver sits on the right side not the left. If you look at the photo in the link, the drivers side is pretty much destroyed above bonnet level so this guy is a very lucky man!

And yet the drivers seat is untouched. Maybe he did have his seatbelt on and the crash was at a far lower speed than implied. Either way it seems engineering overcame stupidity and one less fatality to add to the stats.

[Moonlover]

I’ve had a much closer look at these two photos. Everything I see suggests that this is not a straightforward ‘tailgate’ accident. It’s a side impact. All the damage is down the side of the vehicle, not the front and also take a look at nearside wheels in the accident scene photo. The front one is distorted sideways and the rear tyre has been knocked off its rim. This is classic side impact damage.

And there’s another mystery. How did the truck end up at 90 deg to the direction of travel? I don’t think a little (by comparison) delivery van could have done that to 6 wheeler. Nothing here suggests to me that the van ran into the back of the truck. Anything but!

Edited January 15, 2015 by Moonlover

[rickirs]

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If you look at the cab where he was sitting, it pretty much retained its shape. The steering column telescopes to collapse and he would have had an airbag.

Those things are engineered so that the front end is a crumple zone to absorb shock, and the cab is designed to retain shape. That engineering saved his life.

Good observation as you cannot see in the picture the right side of the van where the driver would have sat and where the van went under the delivery truck.

[ChrisY1]

I'm beginning to think many Thai drivers have vision problems......they're always crashing into the rear of trucks!!

[LivinginKata]

I'm beginning to think many Thai drivers have vision problems......they're always crashing into the rear of trucks!!

A lot have a staying awake problem - lack of sleep or ingestion of some sort of intoxicant.

[Moonlover]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I'm beginning to think many Thai drivers have vision problems......they're always crashing into the rear of trucks!!

A lot have a staying awake problem - lack of sleep or ingestion of some sort of intoxicant.

Once again, as so often on this forum, I see a lot of jumping to conclusions without a shred of evidence to support it.

[Lokie]

Just another day in paradise...

The Knob should be charged with attempted murder!

Imagine you was in front of the ar$hole on your scooter or in a car?

[LivinginKata]

A lot have a staying awake problem - lack of sleep or ingestion of some sort of intoxicant.

Once again, as so often on this forum, I see a lot of jumping to conclusions without a shred of evidence to support it.

The news report states " police believe, he fell asleep at the wheel."

[Moonlover]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

A lot have a staying awake problem - lack of sleep or ingestion of some sort of intoxicant.

Once again, as so often on this forum, I see a lot of jumping to conclusions without a shred of evidence to support it.

The news report states " police believe, he fell asleep at the wheel."

"The police believe he fell asleep at the wheel" is NOT proof. In fact it is very difficult to prove that someone fell asleep at the wheel. I am still not convinced that this was a simple case of 'van hits back of truck'. The physical evidence as I can see it, convinces me otherwise. But I guess we'll never know the truth.