Train bus crash kills two, injures over 30

[Rickyoz]

Several board members ask why the train didn't brake, it was probably traveling at a speed of 80 - 100kph, if the brakes were applied immediately it saw the bus, it would have taken at least 1.4 -1.6 km to pull up. The train weighs probably about 400 tonnes, and the bus, about 4. This is why the train has right of way, it cannot swerve off the line, it cannot brake quickly, bus can do both. It appears that the sun may have been in bus drivers eyes, he is probably on a tight schedule, so has to keep up a certain average speed. Not an excuse for the bus driver, but probably the causes of the collision. My sympathy for all involved, including the train driver, who would have seen it coming, and been unable to do anything to avoid it.

D.

[torpedo1970]

just a short while ago

"Prayuth Promises Punishment for Not Maintaining Transport Safety"

and we are waiting in great anticipation ......... NOT

[taony]

The blame lies on the lack of a functioning crossing control. The train cannot stop in time, even if it sees something ahead. The bus driver should have done a better job, but we don;t know what he saw. A train is big, but its silhouette at a 90 degree angle is quite small. And it is often very difficult to judge the speed and distance of the train in those circumstances. Add to that the conditions on the ground, like the sun and foliage, and we do not know what exactly the driver saw, and how "stupid" he was.

The blame in this accident, and most all, lays fully on the Thai government.

[spiritrace]

I always made sure I had enough speed to get over the tracks if the engine dies. If the driver had done that he would have just barely made it.

[Bangkok Barry]

My very simple advise to stop this shit.....Bus companies KNOW about unmanned crossings..........Incredibly dangerous places...

Tour buses have a CREW........Crew member gets out........Looks left and right.......Even has a stick to plant on the rails to feel/hear a train.........HE/SHE tells driver it is OK to cross.....So simple....

He'd have to get off his phone though, wouldn't he. Falang ask too mutt.

[wvavin]

I am not being rude but could not help but keep thinking whether Thais are really that stupid or careless that accident like this is totally avoidable and yet it happened.

[Tonawatchee]

Thainess adjustment sessions would have prevented this.

[flyingdoc]

So avoidable!

[swerver]

No flashing lights at the crossing. No drop down gates. Okayyyy, but you telling me the bus drive can't see that big <deleted> train coming at him???? Sorry, but I seriously hope the bus driver was one of those who were killed.

He not only could see the train coming down the track, he also couldn't hear the repeated train whistle blowing. There is no improvement of Thai bus drivers and Thai many wheels, as many as 22-wheels, truck drivers until the Minister of Thai Government Transportation promulgate a LAW that all bus and truck drivers must be graduates of Ministry of Transport . Approved bus and truck driver school before they can apply for a bus or truck driver license.

And when the DL is issued instead of fingerprints a copy of the retina of their eyes must be taken. Fingerprints can be manipulated with sandpaper, retina of the eyes CANNOT be tempered with, so it stops false DL when the bus and truck driver DL has been taken away by the court. In addition the DL photo must show holder of the DL with glasses if s/he used glasses to pass the depth perception test. Not as the game is now, they use their glasses to pass the depth perception test and then put the glasses back in their pocket or handbag. and they drive WITHOUT their glasses many o f them can't see past the front end of their vehicle, I know several Thais like that. A Thai acquaintance will NOT let his wife drive when they go on a long trip visiting family. He says, "I don't want her to wipe out the whole family".

[atyclb]

it seems that rather than look intelligently at the videos, many TV members can't wait to engage in the blame game.

firstly it is disrespectful to those who were injured, lost their lives or are bereaved, secondly it is the most asinine way of analysing a collision.

if you were to actually spend time driving on the roads here you would be able to apportion the blame in most accidents without even seeing a video. theyre so predictable you wouldnt be able to get good odds betting on them. i usually see 5-10 crash worthy incidents every time i drive to town.

If you think driving experience is down to it bear two things in mind - the bus driver was probably quite experienced....it beggars belief how many expats drive on the roads of Thailand and learn absolutely nothing.so does that put him in the same category as you? It would appear you are in the blame game which would indicate you know absolutely nothing about analysing videos or collisions.

Secondly I probably have more experience of driving in Thailand than most TV members - the difference being that I take and intelligent, analytical view of road safety, regardless of what country I'm driving in.

without criticism or blame or finger pointing, my simple question to you; if the driver was quite experienced why did he proceed to cross the track if he obviously failed to CONFIRM the train was not approaching or approaching at a safe distance??

[elgordo38]

Another unguarded crossing , great job SRT and a dead bus driver at fault. RIP.

Watching the video it seems he deliberately stopped on the train track. I see the government states the traffic barrier was not operational yet. Makes one wonder if it ever was. Sounds like another government "getting off the hook" answer.

[SOTIRIOS]

.........it says 2 in the headline....3 in the story....

....regardless....this is.......sick.......sick........sick.......

[elgordo38]

No flashing lights at the crossing. No drop down gates. Okayyyy, but you telling me the bus drive can't see that big <deleted> train coming at him???? Sorry, but I seriously hope the bus driver was one of those who were killed.

He was. If he hadn't stopped on the tracks to look both ways he might still be alive today.

[elgordo38]

My very simple advise to stop this shit.....Bus companies KNOW about unmanned crossings..........Incredibly dangerous places...

Tour buses have a CREW........Crew member gets out........Looks left and right.......Even has a stick to plant on the rails to feel/hear a train.........HE/SHE tells driver it is OK to cross.....So simple....

WOW your really talking high tech now. I think the deal breaker is the time to stop the bus and go through the motions with the stick.

[elgordo38]

Can't wait for the high speed train to be operational.

Lets also hope that the crossings will all have functional barriers as well.

[elgordo38]

My very simple advise to stop this shit.....Bus companies KNOW about unmanned crossings..........Incredibly dangerous places...

Tour buses have a CREW........Crew member gets out........Looks left and right.......Even has a stick to plant on the rails to feel/hear a train.........HE/SHE tells driver it is OK to cross.....So simple....

Cannot krab, assistant sleeping in his bed. Better invest in more lights on the bus and airbrush so the train can see bus coming.

Did the train horn by the way?

Years ago at home we had a lot of small country crossings with no barriers but the train always blew his whistle well ahead of crossing. So your question of whether the train blew his whistle is a good one.

[ALFREDO]

The train weighs probably about 400 tonnes, and the bus, about 4.

https://www.iru.org/cms-filesystem-action?file=mix-publications/NEA-Bus2007.pdf

Have to correct that. In above LINK the Buses are only one level and that is empty without passengers,

13 - 16.Tons already.

A fully loaded Double deck Bus is about 18 - 20+ Tons.

Edited April 4, 2016 by ALFREDO

[cumgranosalum]

The train weighs probably about 400 tonnes, and the bus, about 4.

https://www.iru.org/cms-filesystem-action?file=mix-publications/NEA-Bus2007.pdf

Have to correct that. In above LINK the Buses are only one level and that is empty without passengers,

13 - 16.Tons already.

A fully loaded Double deck Bus is about 18 - 20+ Tons.

Yes your bus weight of 4 ton is way off...... Where are you getting your figures? I'm calculkating the train to be between 60 and 100 tons.

Edited April 4, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[cumgranosalum]

I live near a crossing. Horns are blasted by the train every time.

No sign of that here though.....and the bus driver couldn't see...I'm now 90 % sure of that.

Passengers screamed...he stopped and just before impact he tried to engage reverse.

[apetley]

I live near a crossing. Horns are blasted by the train every time.

No sign of that here though.....and the bus driver couldn't see...I'm now 90 % sure of that.

Passengers screamed...he stopped and just before impact he tried to engage reverse.

What makes you so sure the bus driver couldn't see?

[joboss]

What happened in the bus before the crash?

It's one of these crazy dangerous double-deckers and some of the passengers should well have seen the disaster coming?

Yelling, shouting?

If I watch the video it looks to me:

First attempt to avoid the crash: full throttle, see the big exhaust cloud!

Then quickly realized: too late, full break.

The following bus: no honk? no flashing?

Driver too busy to push aside the oncoming pickup.

The second pickup probably saw the disaster coming.

Anxiously snuggling to the left and stopping.

Bus reverse light come on before impact.

I think he would have been better to have kept the hammer down

as it was he was a sitting duck.

[joboss]

My very simple advise to stop this shit.....Bus companies KNOW about unmanned crossings..........Incredibly dangerous places...

Tour buses have a CREW........Crew member gets out........Looks left and right.......Even has a stick to plant on the rails to feel/hear a train.........HE/SHE tells driver it is OK to cross.....So simple....

Cannot krab, assistant sleeping in his bed. Better invest in more lights on the bus and airbrush so the train can see bus coming.

Did the train horn by the way?

Years ago at home we had a lot of small country crossings with no barriers but the train always blew his whistle well ahead of crossing. So your question of whether the train blew his whistle is a good one.

How r u going to hear the train whistle over the PA/Stereo?

[Artisi]

No flashing lights at the crossing. No drop down gates. Okayyyy, but you telling me the bus drive can't see that big <deleted> train coming at him???? Sorry, but I seriously hope the bus driver was one of those who were killed.

Would say the drivers view was completely obscured due to the very poor approach onto the rail system, sure it was the drivers fault - but an accident waiting to happen.

Just another for the daily tally of road deaths, maybe one day the government might get a little serious about road deaths and play less attention to bridge players, "pretties" at motor shows and pouncing about for media shoots.

[edwinchester]

I live near a crossing. Horns are blasted by the train every time.

No sign of that here though.....and the bus driver couldn't see...I'm now 90 % sure of that.

Passengers screamed...he stopped and just before impact he tried to engage reverse.

Not sure why you are so convinced he couldn't see.

I'd wager the driver didn't even look. He didn't want to wait for the first white pickup already on the crossing forcing it off the road so easy to imagine he didn't want to wait for the second car to cross either and forgot about a simple look to his left.

[joboss]

Several board members ask why the train didn't brake, it was probably traveling at a speed of 80 - 100kph, if the brakes were applied immediately it saw the bus, it would have taken at least 1.4 -1.6 km to pull up. The train weighs probably about 400 tonnes, and the bus, about 4. This is why the train has right of way, it cannot swerve off the line, it cannot brake quickly, bus can do both. It appears that the sun may have been in bus drivers eyes, he is probably on a tight schedule, so has to keep up a certain average speed. Not an excuse for the bus driver, but probably the causes of the collision. My sympathy for all involved, including the train driver, who would have seen it coming, and been unable to do anything to avoid it.

D.

?? Train takes 1.4 - 1.6 kph to stop. ?? Its a passenger train not a 7klm long,100000 tonnes iron ore train. Seems to stop pretty quick once its hit the bus. Bus weighs 4 tonne??

[oldsailor35]

The busdriver didn't see the train coming , guess he hadn't been to the busdriverscoars in Chonburi yet.

If you think the course will make any difference, think again.

[oldsailor35]

The stupidity of drivers in charge of public vehicles and responsible for the lives of others in Thailand is staggering, as is the degree of accidents caused by stupidity costing the lives of innocents.

A accident easily avoided simply by slowing down and looking left and right... again... the level of stupidity is absolutely staggering...

The driver was careful as he slowed right down to cross, just one small thing, he forgot to look left or right.

[oldsailor35]

Can't wait for the high speed train to be operational.

Driven by one of Yingluck's relatives.........

OMG You are so funny, and original with it !

[oldsailor35]

Last year on a trip from Ranong to Suratthani i drove over a crossing in the Ban Na Deom area. No signal or signs, did'nt even see the line until i was on it. Felt so sick had to stop and walk back to have a look, just then a very fast train came along, it was the mainline Bangkok to Malaysia.

[kannot]

I understand the bus driver is one of the dead.

No lights etc. at that crossing and the trains don't hang about, but only two trains a day.

I've seen that crossing in another train / vehicle argument (big truck), as always there's only one winner.

And here he is....................never learn, never will.