Deadly roads: The fight to make island roads safe

PHUKET: Despite the devastating death toll during the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ annual road-safety campaign – reaching seven this year, more than triple last year’s total – the number of fatalities from road accidents on the island have gradually declined throughout the last seven years, confirmed the Thai Road Safety Network (RSN).

The number of road deaths has reduced from about 200 in 2008 to just over 100 in 2014, explained Wiwat Seetamanotch, the deputy chair of RSN and an executive adviser to the National Institute of Emergency Medicine.

Despite efforts to reduce accidents, Thailand annually has an average of more than 26,000 traffic-accident deaths and remains, on a per capita basis, home to the second most dangerous roads in the world behind Namibia.

In comparison, Thailand’s fatality rate is 15 times higher than the UK, which has a similar population but only yields about 1700 deaths annually.

“There are three main factors leading to these fatal crashes: roads, vehicles and drivers,” said Mr Wiwat. “We are doing our best to tackle the core problems festering in each factor in an effort to see a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths in the next five years.”

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Deadly-roads-fight-make-island-roads-safe/62840?desktopversion#ad-image-0

-- Phuket Gazette 2016-01-09

Vehicles don't kill, irresponsible and reckless driving do.

Vehicles don't kill, irresponsible and reckless driving do.

Irresponsible and reckless drivers who have no fear of the law. A few hundred baht and they are free to commit the infraction again. The odds of getting caught are pretty low. The penalties are low also.

If it's a "fight", then, it's a pretty one-sided fight.

There was a time when it was believed that human error accounted for 80% of crashes. Sadly it appears that the statistic is somewhat out of date as the latest research from the UK seems to indicate that 90% is the norm.

All too often we insist on blaming external factors. However, the reality is that it’s often us – the driver - at fault. In fact, it’s estimated that 95 per cent of crashes are actually due to human error.

The first area to consider is the skill the driver has in controlling the vehicle. While most drivers have reasonable driving skills, and are able to make the vehicle go where they want it to without colliding with anything else, this is generally only the case when they have enough time and they are concentrating on the task. Whether or not a driver has had professional driver training/lessons, or was taught by family or friends, once the psychomotor skills associated with driving such as pressing the brake, finding the biting point of the clutch and using the steering wheel are mastered, driving a vehicle becomes relatively easy. Loss of control will always feature in a crash but it is rarely the root cause.

The second area to consider is how drivers interpret and adhere to the rules of the road. Irrespective of how well read they are, most drivers are aware of and understand the greater majority of the rules ( certainly the speed limits ) and procedures but they don’t always follow them. After all when learning to drive many of us are taught how to follow the rules to pass the test, the question is, what weren’t you taught during your lessons? Were you taught about being considerate to others and how to avoid feeling road rage? Did your instructor teach you all about time management or dealing with and managing fatigue? By learning to effectively manage factors like these, we can become safer, better road users.

The third area to consider: the reason and context of the journey. When you’re stuck in traffic or waiting for that green light, do you ever wonder why the driver in the next car is on that piece of road at that moment in time and what pressures they may be affected by? It could be a familiar journey for them and they may have become complacent, losing focus on the driving task. It could be an unfamiliar journey in an unknown town and they may even feel anxious, trying hard to fit in with and assess the traffic flow, gathering and processing high volumes of information and making quick decisions. The driver may also feel under pressure to drive in a particular way, such as the obligation they may feel to arrive on time, perhaps to catch a plane or maybe a job interview or even the peer pressure of a passenger in a similar situation. Whatever situation we find ourselves in on the road, we use a lot more than the basic car control skills we developed when we were learning to drive. After all, stopping a car should be easy; we’ve been able to stop the car since day one of our driving lessons. So why do so many of us nip through on orange and why do so many drivers end up using the rear bumper of the vehicle in front to stop? Is it due to their poor car control skills or something far more dangerous?

This leads us on to the fourth, final and probably most important area to consider: attitude, beliefs and the way we choose to live our lives. Everyone has a set of values and motivations that guide us through life. These same things also influence and drive certain behaviours when we’re behind the wheel. If you’re a methodical, laid back and relaxed person, you’re likely to drive differently to an impulsive, bungee-jumping adrenaline junky. We all have personality traits that are conducive to safe driving and those which perhaps are not. It is up to us to be honest, to recognize which is which and crucially, do something about it.

Edited January 9, 201610 yr by Felt 35

Making roads safe in Thailand...

...a totally lost and hopeless cause. It just won't happen anytime in the near future.

Road safety could dramatically improve if random member of Thaivisa was put in charge with mandate to hire and fire those collecting police salary. He or she would need bodyguards....

Drivers here have to somehow be taught to use common sense, patience, and reason when driving. A friend of mine was driving recently on the highway in a minivan. They were following behind another mini van. Both were going 130kph. Obviously an unsafe speed on any Thai road. A pickup truck made a U-turn directly in front of the mini van, that was driving in front of theirs. He did not appear to have looked for oncoming traffic at all, did not yield, did not stop, and the mini van slammed directly into the pickup. No time to react. There were 5 or 6 people in the back of the pickup. The entire pickup truck was thrown about 30 meters in the air, and landed on the other side of the highway on the shoulder. My guess is that all the people in the pickup were killed as well as the driver of the minivan, and many were badly injured. All of this could have been prevented if the idiot in the pickup truck would have simply looked, and yielded to oncoming traffic.

My question is this. How on earth do you drive a pickup truck, with a half dozen people in the back, directly into oncoming traffic, without looking first? Who would do that? What this guy on a suicide mission? Was he simply so dim it did not occur to him he was turning onto an opposing lane of fast moving highway traffic? Was he sleepwalking? Was he simply having a brain fart? Have you ever made a U-turn on a major highway and not looked at all to see if there was oncoming traffic? I mean, was there any thought process taking place within the dead driver, at all? Think of all of the families that were affected by the sheer stupidity of this driver.

That was on the mainland. On Samui, the roads are the most dangerous on the planet. I doubt there is another spot that is worse. The local police are incompetent, ineffective, indifferent, and unskilled. The government does not care, at all, despite their protestations to the contrary. If they did care, they would do more. Jawboning is not a solution. Only action proves that you care about a problem. A friend of mine, who used to work for Samui Rescue for years, says they average 60 road deaths a month on Samui! The government does everything in its power to keep this figure covered up, and manipulates the numbers more than Obama manipulates the unemployment figures. Why is there not a worldwide boycott of Koh Samui based on the traffic issues?

Edited January 10, 201610 yr by spidermike007

“There are three main factors leading to these fatal crashes: roads, vehicles and drivers,” said Mr Wiwat. “We are doing our best to tackle the core problems festering in each factor in an effort to see a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths in the next five years.”

No !!!

You are not doing your best. Police enforcement you did not mention. To make the vehicles safer can't be a problem. Just rule out how it has to be put uit into law and force the police to check. (start with the double deckers as you stated without any delay!)

Now we come to drivers: According to my knowledge MANY drivers bought their license years ago and from there learning by doing not knowing international or national rules. Driving schools have to be implemented with a fixed numbers of learning hours (not less than 30)

Drunk driving is still no crime I suppose. Speeding doesn't cost much.

So, it's up to you PM to make a change: as long police can participates in any tickets there will be no real change. Drunk driving has to be considered as a crime. Prison and seizing vehicles and/or licenses is a good way to tackle that problem. Speeding cameras also.

You are the PM and are entitled to use "section 44". Why you are so reluctant? Use your power and make Thailand moves forward as you promised.

Font edited.

LK

<snip>

My question is this. How on earth do you drive a pickup truck, with a half dozen people in the back, directly into oncoming traffic, without looking first? Who would do that? What this guy on a suicide mission? Was he simply so dim it did not occur to him he was turning onto an opposing lane of fast moving highway traffic? Was he sleepwalking? Was he simply having a brain fart? Have you ever made a U-turn on a major highway and not looked at all to see if there was oncoming traffic? I mean, was there any thought process taking place within the dead driver, at all? Think of all of the families that were affected by the sheer stupidity of this driver.

Could be booze, drugs, bad driving. I'll add another one - the mai pen rai attitude, as in everything will be Ok, why worry, drive on.

I saw this a lot in Muslim countries I worked in. Motor bikes blindly drive straight onto the main without a look left or right. I asked one of my local staff about this. He just told me 'Inshallah' - it's god's will whether you live or die.

Not quite the same thinking as Buddhism, but similar idea.

Edited January 10, 201610 yr by LivinginKata

When a whole nation turns left onto a main road from a side soi without looking, riding a motorbike, the whole effort is doomed until you fix that one specific problem.

Drivers here have to somehow be taught to use common sense, patience, and reason when driving. A friend of mine was driving recently on the highway in a minivan. They were following behind another mini van. Both were going 130kph. Obviously an unsafe speed on any Thai road. A pickup truck made a U-turn directly in front of the mini van, that was driving in front of theirs. He did not appear to have looked for oncoming traffic at all, did not yield, did not stop, and the mini van slammed directly into the pickup. No time to react. There were 5 or 6 people in the back of the pickup. The entire pickup truck was thrown about 30 meters in the air, and landed on the other side of the highway on the shoulder. My guess is that all the people in the pickup were killed as well as the driver of the minivan, and many were badly injured. All of this could have been prevented if the idiot in the pickup truck would have simply looked, and yielded to oncoming traffic.

My question is this. How on earth do you drive a pickup truck, with a half dozen people in the back, directly into oncoming traffic, without looking first? Who would do that? What this guy on a suicide mission? Was he simply so dim it did not occur to him he was turning onto an opposing lane of fast moving highway traffic? Was he sleepwalking? Was he simply having a brain fart? Have you ever made a U-turn on a major highway and not looked at all to see if there was oncoming traffic? I mean, was there any thought process taking place within the dead driver, at all? Think of all of the families that were affected by the sheer stupidity of this driver.

That was on the mainland. On Samui, the roads are the most dangerous on the planet. I doubt there is another spot that is worse. The local police are incompetent, ineffective, indifferent, and unskilled. The government does not care, at all, despite their protestations to the contrary. If they did care, they would do more. Jawboning is not a solution. Only action proves that you care about a problem. A friend of mine, who used to work for Samui Rescue for years, says they average 60 road deaths a month on Samui! The government does everything in its power to keep this figure covered up, and manipulates the numbers more than Obama manipulates the unemployment figures. Why is there not a worldwide boycott of Koh Samui based on the traffic issues?

Mike

What on earth were your friends doing allowing the driver of the minivan they were in, drive at 130km????

I always make the driver of any vehicle I am in to slow down to a safe speed. I am constantly amazed that tourists put up with this standard of driving.

In Phuket yesterday I watched in the mirror of my bike as a taxi pulled out and started to overtake on a blind corner and met a vehicle coming the otherway with frantic braking and evasion.

The taxi roared past me and the Euro couple in the back still were chatting to each other as nothing had happened when I caught up with them in traffic at Kathu.

In Jamaica, I took the keys off a taxi driver who had been drinking and made him sit in the back seat while I drove the 70km to Negril.

Don't put your life at risk, rap them sharply on the shoulder and tell them to slow down forcefully.

26.000 death on the roads every year. Unbelievable. unexeptable. Prayut bringing back happyness to the Thai? Not to those and their families.

“There are three main factors leading to these fatal crashes: roads, vehicles and drivers,” said Mr Wiwat. “We are doing our best to tackle the core problems festering in each factor in an effort to see a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths in the next five years.”

No !!!

You are not doing your best. Police enforcement you did not mention. To make the vehicles safer can't be a problem. Just rule out how it has to be put uit into law and force the police to check. (start with the double deckers as you stated without any delay!)

Now we come to drivers: According to my knowledge MANY drivers bought their license years ago and from there learning by doing not knowing international or national rules. Driving schools have to be implemented with a fixed numbers of learning hours (not less than 30)

Drunk driving is still no crime I suppose. Speeding doesn't cost much.

So, it's up to you PM to make a change: as long police can participates in any tickets there will be no real change. Drunk driving has to be considered as a crime. Prison and seizing vehicles and/or licenses is a good way to tackle that problem. Speeding cameras also.

You are the PM and are entitled to use "section 44". Why you are so reluctant? Use your power and make Thailand moves forward as you promised.

Font edited.

LK

I cannot argue with much of what you said. But, the thing you are misunderstanding is that he is not interested in moving the country forward, in deed. Only in word. There is no intention, volition, will or actions, that back up his hollow words. Yes, he might have the power to do something. Maybe. If he cared. But, in the 20 months he has been in power, he has changed so little. He has moved the country forward only in word. What has really changed? The LM laws have been enforced without discrimination. The Facebook "like" arrests are up. Arrests in general are up. But, are they arrests of the corrupt, the real criminals, the powerful? No, they are common people who are showing resistance to the fascist leader. So, what has improved? How many ministers have been brought up on charges? How many of the elite, corrupt and powerful have been brought down? What has really changed?

Do you really think traffic fatalities are something that keeps this guy up at night? I don't. Do you really think he cares about the common Thai, much less expats living here, or tourists visiting here? I don't. His behavior has shown that he cares very little. He continues to demonstrate that on a daily basis, with his lack of action.

“There are three main factors leading to these fatal crashes: roads, vehicles and drivers,” said Mr Wiwat. “We are doing our best to tackle the core problems festering in each factor in an effort to see a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths in the next five years.”

No !!!

You are not doing your best. Police enforcement you did not mention. To make the vehicles safer can't be a problem. Just rule out how it has to be put uit into law and force the police to check. (start with the double deckers as you stated without any delay!)

Now we come to drivers: According to my knowledge MANY drivers bought their license years ago and from there learning by doing not knowing international or national rules. Driving schools have to be implemented with a fixed numbers of learning hours (not less than 30)

Drunk driving is still no crime I suppose. Speeding doesn't cost much.

So, it's up to you PM to make a change: as long police can participates in any tickets there will be no real change. Drunk driving has to be considered as a crime. Prison and seizing vehicles and/or licenses is a good way to tackle that problem. Speeding cameras also.

You are the PM and are entitled to use "section 44". Why you are so reluctant? Use your power and make Thailand moves forward as you promised.

Font edited.

LK

I cannot argue with much of what you said. But, the thing you are misunderstanding is that he is not interested in moving the country forward, in deed. Only in word. There is no intention, volition, will or actions, that back up his hollow words. Yes, he might have the power to do something. Maybe. If he cared. But, in the 20 months he has been in power, he has changed so little. He has moved the country forward only in word. What has really changed? The LM laws have been enforced without discrimination. The Facebook "like" arrests are up. Arrests in general are up. But, are they arrests of the corrupt, the real criminals, the powerful? No, they are common people who are showing resistance to the fascist leader. So, what has improved? How many ministers have been brought up on charges? How many of the elite, corrupt and powerful have been brought down? What has really changed?

Do you really think traffic fatalities are something that keeps this guy up at night? I don't. Do you really think he cares about the common Thai, much less expats living here, or tourists visiting here? I don't. His behavior has shown that he cares very little. He continues to demonstrate that on a daily basis, with his lack of action.

I agree with you. My quote was more or less a CALL to do something

Yesserie----take away their licences but let them keep their vehicles and that should solve the problem. Gotta work, the higher ups say so.

A video in foreign language has been removed from view.

Making roads safe in Thailand...

...a totally lost and hopeless cause. It just won't happen anytime in the near future.

Speed bumps, every five meters

“There are three main factors leading to these fatal crashes: roads, vehicles and drivers,” said Mr Wiwat. “We are doing our best to tackle the core problems festering in each factor in an effort to see a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths in the next five years.”

No !!!

You are not doing your best. Police enforcement you did not mention. To make the vehicles safer can't be a problem. Just rule out how it has to be put uit into law and force the police to check. (start with the double deckers as you stated without any delay!)

Now we come to drivers: According to my knowledge MANY drivers bought their license years ago and from there learning by doing not knowing international or national rules. Driving schools have to be implemented with a fixed numbers of learning hours (not less than 30)

Drunk driving is still no crime I suppose. Speeding doesn't cost much.

So, it's up to you PM to make a change: as long police can participates in any tickets there will be no real change. Drunk driving has to be considered as a crime. Prison and seizing vehicles and/or licenses is a good way to tackle that problem. Speeding cameras also.

You are the PM and are entitled to use "section 44". Why you are so reluctant? Use your power and make Thailand moves forward as you promised.

Font edited.

LK

I cannot argue with much of what you said. But, the thing you are misunderstanding is that he is not interested in moving the country forward, in deed. Only in word. There is no intention, volition, will or actions, that back up his hollow words. Yes, he might have the power to do something. Maybe. If he cared. But, in the 20 months he has been in power, he has changed so little. He has moved the country forward only in word. What has really changed? The LM laws have been enforced without discrimination. The Facebook "like" arrests are up. Arrests in general are up. But, are they arrests of the corrupt, the real criminals, the powerful? No, they are common people who are showing resistance to the fascist leader. So, what has improved? How many ministers have been brought up on charges? How many of the elite, corrupt and powerful have been brought down? What has really changed?

Do you really think traffic fatalities are something that keeps this guy up at night? I don't. Do you really think he cares about the common Thai, much less expats living here, or tourists visiting here? I don't. His behavior has shown that he cares very little. He continues to demonstrate that on a daily basis, with his lack of action.

as a young worker (long ago) the boss I had....... and the aristocracy did not really want everyone to know as much as them and him, even if it increased production made the workplace better and safer......they and he got redundant......

Deaths due to road accidents is likely to be much higher as they only include those who die on the scene. I often wonder how much higher the horrific daily average of around 70 would be. I also do not believe there only just over 100 deaths on Phuket in 2014.

what i dont get is ,if you have 26 000 traffic deaths per annum,that is exactly 500 a week.a lot more than the 360 or so in the seven dangerous days..????

Complete waste of time, since the police are totally ineffective in enforcing the law.