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Land Transport urges vans to strictly comply with traffic laws for the safety of passengers

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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Department of Land Transport urges vans to strictly comply with traffic laws for the safety of passengers

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BANGKOK, 9 March 2016 (NNT) - The Department of Land Transport has reminded vans to strictly comply with traffic laws for the safety of their passengers.

Director-General of the Department of Land Transport Sanit Promwong revealed that his department has hired the Institute of Transportation of Chulalongkorn University to conduct safety studies on vans used as buses, taking into consideration factors such as the structural integrity of the vehicles, readiness of safety equipment, fuel installation systems and the nature of services. The study is expected to be completed by September this year.

Vans currently are allowed an operational lifespan of 10 years with checkups due every 2 years during that duration. In addition, a new policy by the National Council for Peace and Order and the Department of Land Transport to allow for private vans to be registered as transportation vehicles has added 2,149 passenger vans.

All passenger vans are urged to strictly follow regulations such as adhering to the route, charging fares appropriately and adhering to the maximum capacity of passengers per vehicle. By the end of 2016, all vans will have a GPS navigation system installed to track the safety adherence of vans.

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NongKhaiKid Ruby Member

NongKhaiKid

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I'm sure the vans are listening but it's the drivers that are the problem so instead of urging use all the power at your disposal to force the drivers to comply and hammer those who don't.

You could try asking the BIB to get tough too but that would be wasted breath.

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Cuchulainn Gold Member

Cuchulainn

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..........taking into consideration factors such as the structural integrity of the vehicles, readiness of safety equipment, fuel installation systems and the nature of services......

I see drivers' competence, courtesy and consideration don't get a mention. I bet we'll see another crash next week...................

and the week after

and the week after

and the week after

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Dublin Senior Member

Dublin

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What a waste of time and money, its rarely the condition of the van (brakes excluded there always to blame when doing 70 in the rain) the drivers are the issue. The Director-General of the Department of Land Transport needs to have these guys have a special licence for operating bus's stringent testing and exams run by an international company if needs be, then have the buses MOT annually.

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maewang99 Senior Member

maewang99

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they should have some kind of simulator where drivers are placed in traffic situations with constantly shifting outs, and at certain times when there are only 1 or 2 such outs they need to take one or they crash. then grade on how they did. on "out" of course being a sharp left, sharp right or emergency stop to avoid a head on. if a driver isn't good at tracking those outs instantly they have no chance if they are suddenly presented with a bad situation to react quick enough. but they don't do this, and they should at least for these vans drivers where the passengers have no control but lives are at risk when it is a dingbat or dumwit driving, not to mention it's not only the van and it's occupants that are in danger with this vehicles as they can go quite fast. and the test should last for at least an hour so that it is stressful.

Edited by maewang99
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Emster23 Gold Member

Emster23

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I doubt drivers solely to blame. Owners of vans no doubt want to maximize profit, so want maximum number of runs per day, have no concern for safety of passengers or driver's schedules, and if they aren't on the vans don't give it a second thought.

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Usual Suspect Explorer Member

Usual Suspect

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What the hell's the point behind 'urging' minivan drivers to slow down & take care..that bit of their mental hard-drive crashed (no pun intended) as soon as they 1st took to driving these things.

Again it has been said on here countless times that out on the roads of this nation there is no enforcement of driving laws, no restrictions, so from a minivan drivers point of view it's a case of drive like crazy, possible bonus from the owner/company & as for the passengers?..they are just cargo, or worse still simple ballast to help the van stick to the road around bends! TiT.

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Benmart Platinum Member

Benmart

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Urges = weak willed, scared, lazy, complacent, careless, thoughtless, powerless, clueless, inept...oh wait, it's 1800 hours and time to watch happiness TV on local channels.

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lujanit Gold Member

lujanit

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If the DLT were to monitor the GPS in each van the DLT would be able to tell exactly where and when it is speeding and pass that info to the BIB. Each time caught send a ticket to the owner and asking who was the driver. I know owners are rarely the drivers but the message would soon get through. Easy money. Then again owners/drivers would soon learn how to disable the GPS.

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bheard Senior Member

bheard

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"Director-General of the Department of Land Transport Sanit Promwong revealed that his department has hired the Institute of Transportation of Chulalongkorn University to conduct safety studies on vans used as buses, taking into consideration factors such as the structural integrity of the vehicles, readiness of safety equipment, fuel installation systems and the nature of services. The study is expected to be completed by September this year."

The vans are designed and built by reputable companies. No real need to study them in that way.

What is the real and urgent need is to study ways to fix the mentality of the idiots behind the wheel.

Also at fault are the owners - on the rare occasions that I use them I usually find the seat belts are tied securely away so that they are totally unusable.

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nong38 Platinum Member

nong38

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They could sort out the problem if they could get off the backsides and draw up rules, spot checks for adherance but there does seem to much of will.

All vehicles should be quick checked after each run for fluid levels, tyre and tyre pressures etc. Weekly should be on the ramp for a visual check inside and out, that should not be too difficult.

More thorough checks every month including seat belts and fuel system.

Make wearing seat belts compulsory where fitted, speed limiter fitted, drivers tested for fitness to operate the van and re tests periodically. Thailand does love paperwork so get on with it!

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KIWIBATCH Advanced Member

KIWIBATCH

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I "urge" the Land Transport staff to get of the <deleted> and get out into the real world.....

ie...appoint some inspectors from within the Land Transport offices (plenty of them currently doing nothing all day just pushing paper)...have them take rides in these vans without wearing official uniforms.....quietly observe the drivers performance (and check whether the driver has in fact a drivers licence)...without drawing attention to themselves inspect the insides of the vans for unbolted seats...plastic chairs....no seatbelts.

Slam dunk the driver with a "No drive notice"...and order the van off the road immediately should any of the above be apparent/observed.

My guess would be that half the minivan death traps would be off the road in no time....

will this happen.....NO....not in a thousand years....

I am one of many...I refuse to travel in them...I did a visa run once...driver was hitting 140kph.....fully (over) loaded van...no seatbelts...and two plastic chairs rushed into the van at the last minute to accommodate the number of folk wanting a visa run on that day

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z42 Advanced Member

z42

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Limiters is the only way to stop these imbeciles behind the wheel driving these vans like they've nicked them. Educating them is a non starter, fining them is a window for corruption and inaction, but simply making them (the vans) functional and safe enough enough to do the job they're designed to do is all that should be required.

And I must wonder what the rationale is for strapping the seatbelts away is for. Surely that in itself is enough for taking them off the road if / when they crash and people are hurt

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thaihome Platinum Member

thaihome

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In my opinion still the most deadliest form of transport in Thailand - done several visa-runs to Cambodia, 130 -140km / hour insane.....

Certainly agree many drivers are very unsafe. But curious if once you found yourself in a situation that you felt unsafe, did you politely ask driver to slowdown ? Did you ask him to stop and let you out if he refused? If you politely make an issue of this you would be amazed at the results. There is no reason that anywhere in the world you have to put your life at risk unless you make the choice to do so.

TH

Edited by thaihome
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