Bizarre fatal road incident in East Pattaya

[webfact]

Bizarre fatal road incident in East Pattaya



PATTAYA: -- A 43-year-old pick-up driver was killed as he opened the driver door and was struck by a passing truck in East Pattaya on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Highway 36 on the Rayong-bound carriageway in the Kao Mae Gaew area in the Eastern outskirts of Pattaya, just after midday.

The dead man was named as Khun Somai aged 43 and had travelled to the area to eat in a restaurant with his wife, Khun Nupin aged 40, who told Police that they parked on the side of the road close to the restaurant and as her Husband opened his door, he was struck by the approaching truck, driven by Khun Suckdarchai aged 53.

The truck driver was on his way back to Rayong after delivering items to the Laem Chabang Port and he claimed to be rushing as he was running behind schedule.

Full story: http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/219206/bizarre-fatal-road-incident-in-east-pattaya/


-- Pattaya One 2015-11-25

[MaxLee]

"The truck driver was on his way back to Rayong after delivering items to the Laem Chabang Port and he claimed to be rushing as he was running behind schedule."

A good excuse, worth 500-1000 Baht and next time don't get caught again, wanna bet??

[ukrules]

Every now and again I need to swerve to avoid some idiot who swings his door wide open and steps out in front of my car.

I'm very conscious about putting myself in danger on the road (I simply won't do it) so I will check my mirrors before making the swerve.

I only ever make that move if it's safe for ME to do so. If it's not safe for me then do the emergency stop but will continue 'driving in a straight line'.

Look before you leap....

Edited November 24, 2015 by ukrules

[trogers]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

[ezzra]

The scrooge of every motorcycle nightmare, drivers opening their doors without looking back...

[Pungdo]

My daughter and I nearly got cleaned up on the bike in our own village last week by a woman flinging her door open without looking, Thais never think, or look, before doing anything.

It didn't take me long living here to adopt a theory of "What is the unexpected" at home, is the "To be expected" here.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Pungdo

[lovelomsak]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

This is a right hand drive country to hit the driver exiting the car have to be passing on the right I would suspect.

[arithai12]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

I read it differently: the guy in the parked car opened the door in front of an approaching truck.

As for overtaking, I do not know exactly what the book says in Thailand, but in my country overtaking on the left is legal in urban areas.

[giddyup]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

Since when is the drivers door on the left? Unless he was driving an American or European LHD import.

[oneday]

Not bizarre at all, just SOP; opening a car door on a busy road before looking.

[duckmandon]

Why is it bizarre? Nothing in this country is bizarre. Thais do not have the focus to even think about opening a car door. They just do everything without thinking. So here it is normal. I have seen this happen many times but usually it's the poor motorbike rider that comes off second best. If they learnt how to park off the roads then that may help cut down on this type of thing happening.

[i claudius]

Nothing unusual here , Thai driver opens door straight into oncoming traffic , just like Thai drivers that pull out in front of you without looking or thinking , nothing going on in the brain except ,well nothing going on .full stop , please do not take this as me saying i do not like Thai people or Thailand ,its just a shame that for so many of them "the lights are on but nobody is home"

[HarrySeaman]

The scrooge of every motorcycle nightmare, drivers opening their doors without looking back...

In the first two months driving a motorcycle in Pattaya the doors of parked cars were flung open in front of me twice. I stopped driving in the left lane of Pattaya's four lane roads like 3rd road.

The third time it was one of those cursed tour buses. I wasn't in the left hand lane but the door nearly reached me at the left edge of the center lane.

Never forget that Thai drivers may know the laws and rules of the road but they don't care. Secure in the knowledge of another reincarnation to fix all the things they do wrong in this life they simply go about doing what ever they want to do when they want to do it and however they want to do it and screw anyone else.

[darren84310]

The scrooge of every motorcycle nightmare, drivers opening their doors without looking back...

However, if you have any idea how to ride a motorcycle, then you won't go within a meter or so of a parked car unless you are literally crawling along.... You should expect the worst.... one reason I try to avoid motorcycle taxis... they are continuously going past parked vehicles at speed, even when there is plenty of room to avoid being within 4/5 feet of them.... Braindead to all the possibilities.

[Ulic]

From what is reported it is not the truck drivers fault. You have to check to make sure it is

clear to open your door. No oncoming cyclists, no scooters, no cars and definitely no

trucks. Swing open your door and step out into traffic with no thought of what is coming is

at your peril. Remember bikes and scooters by law are supposed to ride tight to the left

side of the road unless they are making a turn. Make sure it is safe to open the car door.

Many times I have had to slam on the brakes to make a panic stop or swerve right at

great peril of being hit from behind because of an idiot car driver swinging open his door

oblivious to traffic.

[KhunBENQ]

I just checked an article in Thai.

http://www.dailynews.co.th/regional/362944

Believe or not, but the silver colored pickup truck seen in the picture IS the car of the victim! (reg 5471).

So much for better understanding of "park on the side"

As the door/mirror are intact:

he has "simply" stepped/walked on the lane and then hit by the truck.

May he be smarter in his next life.

Edited November 25, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[dennis123]

Similar to motorbikes that pass a parking car and swing to the right without realizing that I'm driving on the right side and approaching with say 80km/hr vs their 20-30km/hr. It's not like I can go further to the right when there's traffic coming towards me so often the only solution is full on the breaks and hope it go's well. Stupid people.

Like many I wait for a car to pass before I swing my door open to step out, you must have pretty much of a death wish if you don't so maybe that's the bizarre part of the story?

Guy doesn't even park properly on the side of the road while there's plenty of space, causing dangerous situations for anyone else driving there.

Edited November 25, 2015 by dennis123

[billphillips]

The pick up driver seems to have stepped out of his badly parked truck, closed the door and then stood or walked right into the traffic flow.

The self-admitted "in a hurry" truck driver failed to see or anticipate any of these actions and struck the jaywalking victim.

Little hope for the vast majority here in amazing Thailand. Better luck in the afterlife. RIP

[bluebluewater]

Dollars to donuts that the "victim" just parked that pickup where he damned well pleased and was close to the restaurant so that he would not have far to walk - no thought of safety for himself or others - and strolled into traffic without looking. The other driver did not help things by being in a hurry.

Thai people do not park. They just stop driving.

Edited November 25, 2015 by bluebluewater

[Wombat6]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

I read it differently: the guy in the parked car opened the door in front of an approaching truck.

As for overtaking, I do not know exactly what the book says in Thailand, but in my country overtaking on the left is legal in urban areas.

You are in Thailand.....not your country. Your Countries road rules do not apply here

[SOTIRIOS]

............senseless.....

...not bizarre.....

[redbrick]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

.

Or when dead guy's car is parked on a wrong (opposite) side of the road, against driving direction - many Thai drivers like this kind of driving/parking

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[teelac5]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

This is a right hand drive country to hit the driver exiting the car have to be passing on the right I would suspect.

Trogers is exactly right. If you look at the picture the car had pulled up on the hard shoulder or motorbike lane of a 3 lane carriageway. he's opened his drivers side car door, on the right, and has been taken out by a truck driving on the inside lane probably overtaking on the left as the vehicles in the other lanes were probably driving slowly and refuse to pull over into the slow lane, which is of course the norm in the LOS.

[onemorechang]

Every now and again I need to swerve to avoid some idiot who swings his door wide open and steps out in front of my car.

I'm very conscious about putting myself in danger on the road (I simply won't do it) so I will check my mirrors before making the swerve.

I only ever make that move if it's safe for ME to do so. If it's not safe for me then do the emergency stop but will continue 'driving in a straight line'.

Look before you leap....

Had a idiot do this to me last week whilst on my bike, he double parked at the Family Mart Chayapuk 2, he just swung the door wide open on his pick up, !!!!!!!!

good job i was going slow.

Amazing drivers of Thailand.

RIP to the guy.

[northernphil]

The scrooge of every motorcycle nightmare, drivers opening their doors without looking back...

What has Scrooge got to do with it he only appears at xmas.

[KhunBENQ]

I read it differently: the guy in the parked car opened the door in front of an approaching truck.

As for overtaking, I do not know exactly what the book says in Thailand, but in my country overtaking on the left is legal in urban areas.

Passing/overtaking on the left is perfectly allowed on roads with more than one lane in the same direction.

Its also allowed when a driver in front indicates a right turn/U-turn.

Both are in the books and contained in misc. questions of the theory test for driving license.

[whaleboneman]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

I read it differently: the guy in the parked car opened the door in front of an approaching truck.

As for overtaking, I do not know exactly what the book says in Thailand, but in my country overtaking on the left is legal in urban areas.

You are in Thailand.....not your country. Your Countries road rules do not apply here

You are in Thailand...there are no road rules.

[jacko45k]

Driver rushing and hit door of parked car.

Can only happen when one is overtaking on the left.

What? He was parked......

Parking on a major highway is crazy, in fact having a restaurant there is in itself a hazard. Hwy 36 was built many years ago and is very poorly designed and badly lit. There are no slip-roads, for example, for Rayong direction to exit West at junctions with 3240 and 331 Hwys, making many consider dangerous U-Turns, the traffic heading the other way gets into an argy-bargy battle to get onto Bangkok bound Hwy 7.

[cloghead]

^^^ HUH??? ^^^

There certainly is an exit (slip) road off of # 36 onto #331 south & north

Got a big old sign too--Sattahip (south) & Chasongsao (north)...

Edited November 26, 2015 by cloghead

[Alration]

Trogers is exactly right. If you look at the picture the car had pulled up on the hard shoulder or motorbike lane of a 3 lane carriageway. he's opened his drivers side car door, on the right, and has been taken out by a truck driving on the inside lane probably overtaking on the left as the vehicles in the other lanes were probably driving slowly and refuse to pull over into the slow lane, which is of course the norm in the LOS.

There's a lot of "probablys" in your LOS bashing comment meaning that there's a pretty good chance that you're probably wrong and blaming the truck driver without any evidence.