Phuket road fatality numbers grow on day two of safety campaign

[webfact]

Road fatality numbers grow on day two of safety campaign
Phuket Gazette


DDPM statistics revealed that the island saw 10 further road accidents, resulting in 9 injuries and two deaths on the second day of the road-safety campaign. Photo: Cherng Talay Police

PHUKET: -- More road fatalities have been added to the tally of the already tarnished zero-deaths goal of this year’s ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road-safety campaign.

As day two drew to a close, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket Office statistics revealed that the island saw 10 further road accidents, resulting in 9 injuries and the deaths of Appasara Suriyakanjana, 19), and Jielin Deng, 62, who died in two separate incidents.

The death of Aeksalayut Inrith, 28, who was killed just hours into day three of the campaign, brought the total number of road fatalities to four within the first 50 hours of the 168-hour campaign.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Road-fatality-numbers-grow-day-two-roadsaftey/62772?desktopversion


-- Phuket Gazette 2015-12-31

[kingalfred]

Surprise Surprise..Not!

[cardinalblue]

ZERO speeding offenses given...pretty much sums it up why Thailand leads the world in poor driving statistics....

Until Thai police are trained to enforce moving violations, there will be zero improvement...

More nasal inhalers needed in the meantime.....

[emilymat]

Not beingflippant, but it appears those nose inhalers in the other thread are not doing the job. Confirms they are a gimmick.

[NamKangMan]

ZERO speeding offenses given...pretty much sums it up why Thailand leads the world in poor driving statistics....

Until Thai police are trained to enforce moving violations, there will be zero improvement...

More nasal inhalers needed in the meantime.....

And the accident stats for Phuket are the worst of any province in Thailand.

So, basically, Phuket has the most dangerous road in the world.

[CarolJadzia]

The silly thing is the 'ZERO' quote. Without that the reduction in road fatalities compared to previous years is at least progress in the right direction.

Although Enforcement will only ever work to a point and only where enforced.

Better training required.

[springheeled jack]

they will never get a zero its not possible but it is possible to get the figures down by advertising the fact that alcohol and speeding don't go together and as I have stated before tv coverage is essential .

[CarolJadzia]

Alcohol yes. But speeding is a cop-out, easy target when there is a lack of proper investigation.

Yes speed is often a 'contributory factor', but it is rarely the sole cause.

In fact when you look at the data from the UK where these things are measured the stats say that it is normal everyday people doing normal everyday things including driving within the speed limit that kill the majority of pedestrians that die in road accidents on UK roads. I would expect the same causes would be found in Thailand as well.

People target speeding at it is an easy one to pick, but targeting the wrong things will not improve the situation.

If speed was the problem in Thailand then it would be the 'Big Bikes' that are suffering the highest death rates. But the opposite is true. By far the majority of reported motorcycle fatalities are small bike riders. I estimate about 90% the average scooter style small bikes often will not be fast enough to brake the speed limit!

[khwaibah]

Now at 104 killed. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/104-killed-in-road-accidents-on-first-two-New-Year-30275960.html

[Beats56]

Do think these.people that die read or listen to the news. I think not. Reminds of a song "race into the night we got one life to live let's get over with" so sad and a waste of a life.

[duckmandon]

Not beingflippant, but it appears those nose inhalers in the other thread are not doing the job. Confirms they are a gimmick.

Yes they are causing more accidents. They take their hands off the steering wheel so they can use them.

[xylophone]

Safety Campaign.....What a joke!

I estimate that the percentage of motorbike drivers not wearing crash helmets in Patong these days is around 60 to 65%, so that is a great place to start with a safety campaign, BUT no chance.

I have watched the police on their motorbikes quite happily sit in a traffic queue, alongside motorbike drivers not wearing helmets and do nothing about it; yesterday saw a police guy pull into a gas station to fill his motorbike up and watched a huge percentage of motorbike drivers pull into this place without helmets on and no action taken; the same goes with police two up on their motorbikes when passing, or being passed by motorbike drivers without helmets, as they do nothing about it.

When you can't get the very basics right, when you are too lazy to implement the law, when you need a bribe to do so, then nothing is going to change – – laziness and corruption will undermine yet another safety campaign, as if we didn't already know.

[CarolJadzia]

Safety Campaign.....What a joke!

I estimate that the percentage of motorbike drivers not wearing crash helmets in Patong these days is around 60 to 65%, so that is a great place to start with a safety campaign, BUT no chance.

I have watched the police on their motorbikes quite happily sit in a traffic queue, alongside motorbike drivers not wearing helmets and do nothing about it; yesterday saw a police guy pull into a gas station to fill his motorbike up and watched a huge percentage of motorbike drivers pull into this place without helmets on and no action taken; the same goes with police two up on their motorbikes when passing, or being passed by motorbike drivers without helmets, as they do nothing about it.

When you can't get the very basics right, when you are too lazy to implement the law, when you need a bribe to do so, then nothing is going to change – – laziness and corruption will undermine yet another safety campaign, as if we didn't already know.

This constant assumption that the reason for lack of policing is down to idleness is more often a reflection of someones Correspondence Bias rather than the real situation.

I know some serving police officers and they are far from idle. Low paid with inadequate support and remuneration but no more idle that anyone else.

You assume people do not wear helmets because they cannot be bothered when in fact it is often that Thais simply do not see the point. The believe in reincarnation and that their lives are mapped, their time of death is beyond their control so what point is there to worrying about it and wearing protective equipment?

Then there is the issues with status and a wish to avoid confrontation.

Confronting someone and causing an issue when you know the person will take their helmet back off once out of site often is not worth the challenge in the first place.

The stupid assumption is that the motorcycle deaths will somehow dramatically improve just because people start wearing helmets. Yes of course helmet use will help but it is far more complex that simply saying it's illegal. Many helmets in Thailand are actually sub-standard and offer limited or no protection to the rider. Often helmets are left undone so will come off when needed. With a lack of emergency services and fast response times often the nature of a motorcycle related accident is that there are multiple complex injuries that can also be life threatening. Data in the UK has shown that helmets do save lives, but in turn lead to survivors having to deal with more complex life changing injuries and in the UK "The NHS sets a target that 75% of life-threatening calls are responded to within eight minutes." Now maybe if you are lucky enough to have an accident near a decent hospital in Thailand or one of the big tourist destinations you may get a quick response time, hopefully the volunteer responder has had the sufficient training to deal with your particular injuries. It is unlikely that he will be a fully qualified paramedic or first responder doctor and there is no chance of a rescue helicopter flying you to hospital.

The only way for riders to stay safe is to avoid the accidents in the first place, not make assumptions that PPE will somehow protect them from injury.

Thairoadcraft.wordpress.com

[xylophone]

Safety Campaign.....What a joke!

I estimate that the percentage of motorbike drivers not wearing crash helmets in Patong these days is around 60 to 65%, so that is a great place to start with a safety campaign, BUT no chance.

I have watched the police on their motorbikes quite happily sit in a traffic queue, alongside motorbike drivers not wearing helmets and do nothing about it; yesterday saw a police guy pull into a gas station to fill his motorbike up and watched a huge percentage of motorbike drivers pull into this place without helmets on and no action taken; the same goes with police two up on their motorbikes when passing, or being passed by motorbike drivers without helmets, as they do nothing about it.

When you can't get the very basics right, when you are too lazy to implement the law, when you need a bribe to do so, then nothing is going to change – – laziness and corruption will undermine yet another safety campaign, as if we didn't already know.

This constant assumption that the reason for lack of policing is down to idleness is more often a reflection of someones Correspondence Bias rather than the real situation.

I know some serving police officers and they are far from idle. Low paid with inadequate support and remuneration but no more idle that anyone else.

You assume people do not wear helmets because they cannot be bothered when in fact it is often that Thais simply do not see the point. The believe in reincarnation and that their lives are mapped, their time of death is beyond their control so what point is there to worrying about it and wearing protective equipment?

Then there is the issues with status and a wish to avoid confrontation.

Confronting someone and causing an issue when you know the person will take their helmet back off once out of site often is not worth the challenge in the first place.

The stupid assumption is that the motorcycle deaths will somehow dramatically improve just because people start wearing helmets. Yes of course helmet use will help but it is far more complex that simply saying it's illegal. Many helmets in Thailand are actually sub-standard and offer limited or no protection to the rider. Often helmets are left undone so will come off when needed. With a lack of emergency services and fast response times often the nature of a motorcycle related accident is that there are multiple complex injuries that can also be life threatening. Data in the UK has shown that helmets do save lives, but in turn lead to survivors having to deal with more complex life changing injuries and in the UK "The NHS sets a target that 75% of life-threatening calls are responded to within eight minutes." Now maybe if you are lucky enough to have an accident near a decent hospital in Thailand or one of the big tourist destinations you may get a quick response time, hopefully the volunteer responder has had the sufficient training to deal with your particular injuries. It is unlikely that he will be a fully qualified paramedic or first responder doctor and there is no chance of a rescue helicopter flying you to hospital.

The only way for riders to stay safe is to avoid the accidents in the first place, not make assumptions that PPE will somehow protect them from injury.

Thairoadcraft.wordpress.com

Sorry to have to tell you this, but you've missed the point...................

That being that the police are there to enforce and uphold the law, and the law states that motorcycle riders must wear crash helmets (and these must be fastened).

If they are not wearing a crash helmet, they should be dealt with accordingly by the police.

No amount of ranting and raving about correspondence bias, reincarnation, status and confrontation will change that fact.

[CarolJadzia]

Sorry to have to tell you this, but you've missed the point...................

That being that the police are there to enforce and uphold the law, and the law states that motorcycle riders must wear crash helmets (and these must be fastened).

If they are not wearing a crash helmet, they should be dealt with accordingly by the police.

No amount of ranting and raving about correspondence bias, reincarnation, status and confrontation will change that fact.

You honestly think that after over 20 years since the helmet law was introduced that Enforcement is actually working?

I think it is you who have missed the point!

[xylophone]

Sorry to have to tell you this, but you've missed the point...................

That being that the police are there to enforce and uphold the law, and the law states that motorcycle riders must wear crash helmets (and these must be fastened).

If they are not wearing a crash helmet, they should be dealt with accordingly by the police.

No amount of ranting and raving about correspondence bias, reincarnation, status and confrontation will change that fact.

You honestly think that after over 20 years since the helmet law was introduced that Enforcement is actually working?

I think it is you who have missed the point!

But that is my point...........it's not working because it isn't enforced!!!!!!

The police don't enforce it so it doesn't work, not too hard is it!

[chercheur888]

ZERO speeding offenses given...pretty much sums it up why Thailand leads the world in poor driving statistics....

Until Thai police are trained to enforce moving violations, there will be zero improvement...

More nasal inhalers needed in the meantime.....

And the accident stats for Phuket are the worst of any province in Thailand.

So, basically, Phuket has the most dangerous road in the world.

"Chiang Mai had the highest number of accidents during the four days between Dec 29 and Jan 1 while Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Rai, Songkhla and Pathum Thani reported the most fatalities, according to statistics from the Road Safety Direction Center."