In the Event of a Traffic Accident. Procedure

[Mudcrab]

Just do what you would do back home......the laws are very similar.

Render assistance without putting yourself in danger.

Call insurance and/or police/rescue.

Ignore the rubbish posted by the bar stool commentators.

[ozyjon]

Thai procedure in the event of an accident

as my girlfriend stated, because i was not Thai,,,,

drive away fast,,,, but usually call the insurance company

and be silent.

[richard_smith237]

Thai procedure in the event of an accident

as my girlfriend stated, because i was not Thai,,,,

drive away fast,,,, but usually call the insurance company

and be silent.

Quote: Mudcrab: Ignore the rubbish posted by the bar stool commentators.

[Heng]

IMO foreigners should always have first class/tier insurance. Call them, give them your location if you can, and lock yourself in your car like an old white lady in an American ghetto. Your insurance rep. will do all the talking for you.

[Tomtomtom69]

Sometimes you should intentionally block cars from taking gaps you know they can't make. Don't trust the locals to make that decision for you.

That's what I always do. When stuck in traffic if I see motorcycles changing lanes by pulling in front of my car I look in my side mirrors to make sure no other motorcycles/scooters are coming and I move up as close as possible to the vehicle in front to block them. Then they are forced to cut in front of another vehicle but at least it's not mine.

[Tomtomtom69]

Can't help you with driving accidents, but if you're ever a passenger in a taxi that gets into any sort of accident, recommended procedure is to quickly toss whatever the fare is at that point, plus a generous tip, at the driver, and get the hell out of there, putting as much distance between you and the taxi as you can in as short a time as you can. Other cars involved in the accident, once they see a farang is the passenger, will go out of their way to try to shake you down for damages. Thai logic? "If the farang had never come to Thailand and taken the cab, the accident wouldn't have happened."

I supose if you or nobody else is hurt then whats the point in sticking around!! But what your saying is a joke right? or pessimism? because your not speaking from first hand experience are you?

Listen to wise advice my friend.

Seriously...there is too much chance that you will be blamed or held responsible for the accident based on their Thai logic that says:

The taxi cab driver was involved in an accident BECAUSE you, the foreigner, told him to go there and or take the route where the accident happened.

In other words, to their logic, the accident would not have happened if you had not instructed the driver to take you in that direction...where the accident happened ...while many Thai people will agree with that logic ....while someone should pay and better a rich foreigner than a poor Thai person.

Believe me, you do not want to stay around and "Chance" being Subjected to that particular kind of Thai mentality.

If the cab driver does not think like that then there is a good chance the other Thai people involved in the accident will be thinking the foreigner is responsible because all of them will not be readily accepting blame for the accident and want to avoid any responsibility so someone will be blamed and or held responsible or held partially responsible.

Stay around and see what happens.

I have been involved in 4 minor accidents when in a taxi cab over the 28 years that I have been here while 3 of the drivers said nothing as I paid the meter fare with extra because I was not about to wait for the small change....and off I walked.

But 1 of them did try to keep me from exiting the cab insisting that the accident was my responsibility ...maybe not my fault ..but my responsibility.

I threw the 100 baht on the front seat while I had to forcefully get away from his grip on my shirt and quickly exit the cab with him cursing after me.

Meantime if you did stay around and the police showed up then matters could turn even worse for you while all too many of the police would see your involvement there at the scene of the accident as a means to make some money off of you ..some how, some way...and not to be doubted....but not all Police officers ...but all too many.

Take your chances....

Cheers

The whole concept of someone else driving for you is that THEY take the full blame for any accident they get into.

The only time in recent memory where I have been a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone else that got into an accident was actually in Myanmar, a country where you would more likely expect the logic mentioned above to hold true. I was travelling from Mandalay to Muse and somewhere along one of the switchbacks heading down into a valley our car tried to pass on the right (as one does in Myanmar, as they drive on the right) but a truck heading in the opposite direction wanted to pass on the left because otherwise he wouldn't have made it up the almost 180 degree turn. We were hit causing our rear bumper to come loose, even though it was my driver's fault - he should have let the truck go first. Truck driver gets cursed out by my driver, but within moments he pulls out a brick of cash, probably $200-300 worth. The truck driver could see I, a foreigner was there. Yet he didn't try to blame me, a half asleep passenger for the accident and WE got compensated! Obviously because as the logic goes the BIGGER vehicle is ALWAYS at fault.

There is also another difference between my situation and yours though. If I had abandoned my ride should the situation not have worked out as it did, it would have been difficult to find a way of travelling the remaining 350km to my destination, being in the middle of nowhere. You were in a cab, presumably in Bangkok (a huge city). Logically, if your cab driver gets into an accident there is no point in sticking around because with 106,000 cabs in Bangkok and counting, they are a dime a dozen here - just find another one. YOU had nothing to do with the accident hence have no business trying to sort it out with the driver. In fact, UNLESS you can speak Thai, your presence would have been more than useless anyway. Still, I can't believe that cab driver tried to prevent you from leaving. What a sick, twisted mentality some people have here, if your story isn't just a one off but is actually part of a pattern.

Fortunately, I have not been in that situation before. I was rear-ended once and the driver did pay me some compensation. While I should have called the insurance, it was such a tiny scratch and being a rental car, the excess would have cost way more than the additional 1200 Baht I paid to get the scratch re-painted.

[Tomtomtom69]

Can't help you with driving accidents, but if you're ever a passenger in a taxi that gets into any sort of accident, recommended procedure is to quickly toss whatever the fare is at that point, plus a generous tip, at the driver, and get the hell out of there, putting as much distance between you and the taxi as you can in as short a time as you can. Other cars involved in the accident, once they see a farang is the passenger, will go out of their way to try to shake you down for damages. Thai logic? "If the farang had never come to Thailand and taken the cab, the accident wouldn't have happened."

This post has me lost, what has an accident got to do with you if you are a passenger? What are these Thai people going to say that can make any policeman or court expect you to give them any money?

True. I have heard stories like Saastrajaa's numerous times but never heard an actual case of it holding true.

If you are stupid enough to fall for that logic, you are too stupid to be living in Thailand. A passenger doesn't pay for damages caused by a taxi driver's bad driving, stupidity or that of another driver. Let them sort it out themselves. Of course, he is right in saying that you should leave the cab as quickly as possible. With over 100,000 cabs driving in Bangkok alone, there is no such thing as a cab shortage here. Get out, 2 sec later you'll find another cab. Holds true in every part of the city.

[Tomtomtom69]

Can someone confirm that you should not move the car until the police arrive?

A few years ago a motorcycle slammed into the side of my car on a busy rode in the center of town. I had heard that you shouldn't move the car, so I didn't. The insurance guy came before the police, and he gave me all kinds of attitude telling how I had made things worse by slowing down traffic by not moving my car.

I'd really like to know what I should have done.

ACTUALLY, in EVERY single case of an accident I've seen here, even the tiniest little "fender benders" where you can barely make out any damage, the parties involved NEVER move their vehicles and DON'T care whether they are holding up traffic or not. It's Thailand - every man for himself. The land where someone will happily park their car in the left lane during rush hour at an intersection, never mind that dozens of vehicles are inconvenienced.

[Spaniel]

Can someone confirm that you should not move the car until the police arrive?

A few years ago a motorcycle slammed into the side of my car on a busy rode in the center of town. I had heard that you shouldn't move the car, so I didn't. The insurance guy came before the police, and he gave me all kinds of attitude telling how I had made things worse by slowing down traffic by not moving my car.

I'd really like to know what I should have done.

ACTUALLY, in EVERY single case of an accident I've seen here, even the tiniest little "fender benders" where you can barely make out any damage, the parties involved NEVER move their vehicles and DON'T care whether they are holding up traffic or not. It's Thailand - every man for himself. The land where someone will happily park their car in the left lane during rush hour at an intersection, never mind that dozens of vehicles are inconvenienced.

Not entirely true. Several years ago I was coming off the expressway exit ramp on to Sukhumvit near Soi 2. Traffic was moving very slow. Well the guy behind me wasn't paying attention and rolled into me putting a big crack in my rear bumper. No police were called and he admitted he was in the wrong. When we got to Sukhumvit we found a place to park, called our insurance companies and his adjuster gave me a report that I used to have my car repaired.

[wprime]

Can someone confirm that you should not move the car until the police arrive?

A few years ago a motorcycle slammed into the side of my car on a busy rode in the center of town. I had heard that you shouldn't move the car, so I didn't. The insurance guy came before the police, and he gave me all kinds of attitude telling how I had made things worse by slowing down traffic by not moving my car.

I'd really like to know what I should have done.

ACTUALLY, in EVERY single case of an accident I've seen here, even the tiniest little "fender benders" where you can barely make out any damage, the parties involved NEVER move their vehicles and DON'T care whether they are holding up traffic or not. It's Thailand - every man for himself. The land where someone will happily park their car in the left lane during rush hour at an intersection, never mind that dozens of vehicles are inconvenienced.

Not entirely true. Several years ago I was coming off the expressway exit ramp on to Sukhumvit near Soi 2. Traffic was moving very slow. Well the guy behind me wasn't paying attention and rolled into me putting a big crack in my rear bumper. No police were called and he admitted he was in the wrong. When we got to Sukhumvit we found a place to park, called our insurance companies and his adjuster gave me a report that I used to have my car repaired.

It's the insurance company's suggestion that you don't move so they can gather evidence, there isn't a specific law requiring this (at least not for minor bumps). An insurer guy has told me that since I moved my car I will be automatically found at fault and fined (or I can conveniently sign a document which said I was at fault and pay a lesser amount) - this was found to be bull**** when we went to the police station.

My suggestion is take photos which show clearly the location of the accident and the position of the vehicles, then move them somewhere safe and out of the way.

[Tomtomtom69]

Can someone confirm that you should not move the car until the police arrive?

A few years ago a motorcycle slammed into the side of my car on a busy rode in the center of town. I had heard that you shouldn't move the car, so I didn't. The insurance guy came before the police, and he gave me all kinds of attitude telling how I had made things worse by slowing down traffic by not moving my car.

I'd really like to know what I should have done.

ACTUALLY, in EVERY single case of an accident I've seen here, even the tiniest little "fender benders" where you can barely make out any damage, the parties involved NEVER move their vehicles and DON'T care whether they are holding up traffic or not. It's Thailand - every man for himself. The land where someone will happily park their car in the left lane during rush hour at an intersection, never mind that dozens of vehicles are inconvenienced.

Not entirely true. Several years ago I was coming off the expressway exit ramp on to Sukhumvit near Soi 2. Traffic was moving very slow. Well the guy behind me wasn't paying attention and rolled into me putting a big crack in my rear bumper. No police were called and he admitted he was in the wrong. When we got to Sukhumvit we found a place to park, called our insurance companies and his adjuster gave me a report that I used to have my car repaired.

It's the insurance company's suggestion that you don't move so they can gather evidence, there isn't a specific law requiring this (at least not for minor bumps). An insurer guy has told me that since I moved my car I will be automatically found at fault and fined (or I can conveniently sign a document which said I was at fault and pay a lesser amount) - this was found to be bull**** when we went to the police station.

My suggestion is take photos which show clearly the location of the accident and the position of the vehicles, then move them somewhere safe and out of the way.

Spaniel. Fair enough - there are always exceptions. Until your story though, I hadn't seen one myself.

wprime. Good advice.

[raffo77]

a motorcycle ran into the side of my car. everyone else stopped to let me pass except the motorcycle, running fast on the hard shoulder.

to my surprise the insurance decides that i'm at fault. i refuse to accept this and take the matters to the nearest police station.

the police blame the motorcycle driver (who is also drunk and has no license....).

all this to say, if you're not satisfied with what the insurance decides, take it to the police.

from what i'm told the insurance evaluators will try to favor the "weaker" party and this makes motorcycles drivers even more reckless.

[stevenl]

a motorcycle ran into the side of my car. everyone else stopped to let me pass except the motorcycle, running fast on the hard shoulder.

to my surprise the insurance decides that i'm at fault. i refuse to accept this and take the matters to the nearest police station.

the police blame the motorcycle driver (who is also drunk and has no license....).

all this to say, if you're not satisfied with what the insurance decides, take it to the police.

from what i'm told the insurance evaluators will try to favor the "weaker" party and this makes motorcycles drivers even more reckless.

"from what i'm told the insurance evaluators will try to favor the "weaker" party and this makes motorcycles drivers even more reckless."

Insurance evaluators tend to favour their employer.

[raffo77]

a motorcycle ran into the side of my car. everyone else stopped to let me pass except the motorcycle, running fast on the hard shoulder.

to my surprise the insurance decides that i'm at fault. i refuse to accept this and take the matters to the nearest police station.

the police blame the motorcycle driver (who is also drunk and has no license....).

all this to say, if you're not satisfied with what the insurance decides, take it to the police.

from what i'm told the insurance evaluators will try to favor the "weaker" party and this makes motorcycles drivers even more reckless.

"from what i'm told the insurance evaluators will try to favor the "weaker" party and this makes motorcycles drivers even more reckless."

Insurance evaluators tend to favour their employer.

it was my insurance I called!

Edited May 27, 2016 by raffo77