Be Careful Driving on the Roads in Chiang Mai. Video--Not for the Faint of Heart

[mesquite]

Again, not for the faint of heart. Motorbike driver gets creamed going the wrong way on an underpass on Ring Road 2.

Be careful, they say, but how do you prepare for something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&feature=player_embedded&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=ZJ-wazFuaMc

The link to the (Thai) news article is here

http://www.cmprice.com/forum/?content=detail&wb_type_id=18&topic_id=171751

Edited February 1, 2015 by mesquite

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Darwin award.

Still, rest in peace.

And how do you prepare for it: By not driving a motorbike yourself, but as fat a truck or SUV as you can find.

Edited February 1, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Greenside]

Tragic. Pity the poor car driver (as well as the bike rider, of course) - how do you live with an image like that final second or two must have been?

RIP.

[Ricardo]

Darwin award.

Still, rest in peace.

And how do you prepare for it: By not driving a motorbike yourself, but as fat a truck or SUV as you can find.

Or by driving a tank, perhaps ?

People do tend to give way at junctions, to tanks/APCs, IME.

[khwaibah]

Bangkok Post yesterday. 3 killed in pick up truck on the 1009 to Doi Inthanon

[TooPoopedToPop]

Carnage on the highways has been a fact of life here since the explosion in the number if vehicles in the 1980s.

The only way to avoid it is to stay off the roads.

[A1Str8]

What was he doing in the opposite lane?

[MrBrad]

What was he doing in the opposite lane?

Maybe he had a death wish. Suicide happens in ways other than falling off balconies. Too bad for the driver of the car, though; that nightmare will haunt for years.

[NE1]

Maybe when he took his motor bike test , " no entry / keep left " traffic signs were not in his test.

[longstebe]

He did well to avoid the other 2 cars that passed through.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Just 3 or 4 nights ago I had a similar incident when a motorbike with 2 young lads on it shot straight out of a side street to turn right, right in front of me. I managed to brake and swerve and avoid them, but it was quite literally by inches. I was maybe only doing about 50km an hour but it still had the potential of being very nasty. I was amazed at how quickly I managed to react, especially considering that they shot out from the side, and also how good brakes are on cars these days. Most people never get to test them like I did.

Two young kids, driving in a mind-numbingly stupid way could so easily have been killed and changed theirs and my life. In all of my years of driving in Thailand this was the closest escape I ever had. They had also managed to swerve slightly and avoid me, so they did exactly as you might expect and carried on down the road, hopefully scared shitless with a lesson learned.

As I said that was the closest I've had in avoiding a fatal accident, but not the closest I had in having an accident. 12 years or more ago I had a head on crash with a pickup that pulled out in front of me. But that is a different story. Unfortunately, my view is that having a bad accident in Thailand is more likely a case of 'when' than 'if'. No matter how well you drive the two incidents I had and the one in the video here were totally unavoidable .

[Chicog]

I once had a near miss with two kids in a car that shot straight across in front of me as I was going round a roundabout (traffic circle I think you Americans call it). Luckily, instinctive and sharp braking meant I just missed them taking off the front of my car. But the stupid idiots didn't realise how quickly the exit bent to the right, so as I continued round I found myself navigating debris and staring in the faces of two very frightened young men sitting in a slightly - well OK a lot - banged up motor facing in the opposite direction to the traffic..

Naturally I gave them a cheerful thumbs up and a gleeful smile as I went on my way.

Gotta love Karma.

[harleyclarkey]

He must have seen the two cars just ahead of the one he pranged into and realised he was going the wrong way???

RIP to the poor fella.........not a nice way to go.

[Gonzo the Face]

He probably passed the other cars ok because he was on the left side of the lanes....... to his misfortune he didn't realize that the correct side for him would have been over the dividing barrier...... Maybe here was also a problem at hand with pills or alcohol.

[Lee4Life]

Back in the home country we have these wrong way accidents every now and then, almost always at night and the drivers are almost always under the influence of alcohol.

[wprime]

He is bloody lucky there was video footage, if not, his family probably would've argued that the car rear ended the motorbike at high speed and he could've paying them compensation, or worse ended up in prison.

[NE1]

If it's a Farang driver he still might.

Edited February 2, 2015 by NE1

[Tywais]

The only way I can figure out how he got into that position is that he pulled out of BigC, turned right perhaps as a short cut, confusion, or incapacitated. Sad anyway he managed it.

[ammagic]

At a car wash last week waiting for my car. Little shop next door serving shots of alcohol. 3 guys were there drinking - one was so drunk someone else had to start his motorbike for him! The other two not quite as falling down drunk as he was but pretty inebriated both got into their p/u's & drove off. Our fellow travelers. I hate driving here.

[bitcoinbob]

rules of the road for thailand

1- do not drive at night if you do---- assume everyone has been drinking.

2-think thai -anything that can possibliy be done wrong will be done . do not expect a logical explanation ex no signals, no lights in heavy rain or fog, cars stopping for no reason

3- never tailgate. only country where you will see 6 car pile ups on a regular basis all because of tailgating.

4-constant constant scanning this country takes away from the pleasure of driving it is work here remember that.

[Mickeem]

This last weekend coincided with the end of month payday

That is why the roads were full of drunks on Fri Sat .. had a few near misses myself

[phrisco17]

It's work to actually drive a car. Most Thais do not drive the car, rather the car drives them. They just point it in a general direction. As for motor bike riders they are the most dangerous, inconsiderate and rude drivers along with the tuk tuk drivers!

[naboo]

The only way I can figure out how he got into that position is that he pulled out of BigC, turned right perhaps as a short cut, confusion, or incapacitated. Sad anyway he managed it.

I don't think its the Big C underpass, I think its the one by City Hall. Very odd junction layout but still hard to figure out how he ended up on the wrong side of the carriageway.

[TomYumpoochai]

I actuaĺly saw 4 bike crashes today in the space of 3 hours! Each 1 was caused by stupidity on the part of the rider. Theres no other way to discribe them other than retards....they simply do not think about what theyre doing.

Now along comes an apologist.......

[LawrenceN]

He must have seen the two cars just ahead of the one he pranged into and realised he was going the wrong way???

RIP to the poor fella.........not a nice way to go.

Maybe not. From his perspective, it must have looked like he was driving in the left lane. I note that in the Thai article, they gave the guy's address as very rural Fang District. Maybe he was a country bumpkin, unfamiliar with these underpasses and took off in the direction he wanted to go without a thought to the divided highway.

[slipperylobster]

What was he doing in the opposite lane?

Looked like a "cartwheel", then a backflip....

[HaleySabai]

The driver of the car must of had a near heart attack!

I don't know how many times Ive seen Chinese cruising in the wrong direction...wondering what the accident rate is with them in CM?

[arjunadawn]

Terrible, awful tragedy- for all involved- even the witnesses.

[bigwhitewarrior]

I wouldn't dream of driving in thailand .. I used to own a mitzubishi jeep with bull bars and still I wouldn't drive it here in thailand now way.. r.i.p.

[Berkshire]

If it's a Farang driver he still might.

Maybe the motorcycle rider was a farang....