Officials mull measures to reduce road accidents in Koh Samui

[CaptainWindsock]

13 hours ago, phetphet said:

What is the official right of way on that roundabout? Always seems like a "take your chancer" to me.

 

Good question.  The rest of the world will give way to traffic already on a roundabout.  This one near the lake in Chaweng even has a small sign on the approach of one the roads saying give way. I think the road markings might infer that you should give way to traffic already on the roundabout.  But many Thais will stop whilst on the roundabout to give way to new traffic and many Thais approaching the roundabout will drive straight onto it as they believe they have a right of way. What a mess.

The last time I looked at the Thai version of the highway code it was all in Thai so couldn't understand a thing. That's my problem not a Thai problem.  Can anybody on this forum who can properly read Thai tell us what the Thai Highway code says for roundabouts. 

 

[Aj Mick]

On 25 August 2016 at 4:17 AM, Gulfsailor said:

First thing to do is explain to both tourist and most expats is that certain road rules in Thailand are NOT the same as in Europe or Britain. Certain right of way rules at junctions are opposite. Every single time I nearly had an accident on a junction was with a foreigner, in most cases British or Australian. They think the rules are the same as back home. Well, they are not! 

 

In general Thai road rules are pretty much the same as in other countries. It is enforcement that differs, being somewhat lax and inconsistent, focusing on a few easily policed things things when there is any enforcement. It relays on motorcyclists sans helmet, current registration or licence obligingly stopping to pay the fee for a waiver for the rest of the day. What does differ from other countries is driving habits.

[CarolJadzia]

On 25/08/2016 at 2:14 AM, Lung Mike said:

The main issue is the total lack of proactive enforcement by the Thai police. Nobody cares about the rules because the police never ever does anything even remotely resembling actual policing. The sporadic helmet checks at the end of each month in front of the police boxes are not going to solve anything, apart from the police men's personal bank balances.

 

It is a shame that fundamental attribution error leads to the assumption that all the Police Officers on the island are just corrupt time wasters only looking for tea money. I can assure you my friends take a far more professional approach to their work than just the "sporadic helmet checks". 

As I suggested the idea of checking tourist competency to my friends in the Royal Thai Police as a way trying to address the high accident rate on the island two years ago, it is with interest that I now see this, one proposal of many I submited, coming to the surface. 

 

The Police Officers run regular check points on the island as well as responding to the many daily accidents, having to deal with road traffic accidents on a daily basis is traumatic, I saw what it did to my father and his work colleagues from many years served in the UK Ambulance Service. It's far from an easy job and one I would not wish on anybody. 

 

But just expecting enforcers to look after everyone's safety is a sad reflection on the current state of play in world road safety. One that there is now serious momentum to challenge. People at the highest levels of both road and workplace safety are now realising that the "Command and Control" Enforcement approach to safety, often known as "Zero Harm" is flawed and will not address the problem. Nowhere has or will achieve zero accidents, the approach is flawed. After years of ever increasing laws we now find "Hypercompliance"  ( Discussed here: http://aeasseincludes.asse.org/professionalsafety/pastissues/061/07/F2_0716.pdf )

to be a growing issue. So just saying more enforcement will fix the problem is simply not going to work.

 

The UN and WHO are backing the "Decade of Action for Road Safety", this has seen millions of dollars poured into the blinkered enforcement of helmets and seat belts as the only answer to Thailand's Road Safety ills. Five years in and it has failed to make any significant impact. You cannot enforce safety on a system.

 

The Thai driving test does need improvement, but the whole concept of issuing driver's licence after a test pass has limitations. Thailand's Driving and Riding tests are minimal, conducted to a poor standard and do not require any on road, interactive training to pass. Many drivers and riders have not even passed it. However if they have grown up on Thailand's roads, they have all acquired experience of how other Thai road users ride and drive. 

 

On the other hand the tourists have not. They come to the island with no concept of how Thai road users operate. Many having never had any training or riding experience, hire a scooter or even a big bike with just their passport as deposit. Borrow a loan helmet that offers no real protection and then not wearing it anyway. No other protective kit either. Then riding the bikes road the island like on a race track. It is no wonder there are so many accidents. 

 

The OP is about trying to do something about this that does not just require expecting others to enforce safety. I hope that they pursue it as a step in the right direction. 

  

 

 

[CarolJadzia]

On 26/08/2016 at 3:13 PM, phetphet said:

BTW. What is the official right of way on that roundabout? Always seems like a "take your chancer" to me.

 

 

[cumgranosalum]

On August 28, 2016 at 9:16 AM, CarolJadzia said:

 

 

Official on a roundabout is give way to traffic on the right

however on all other roads it is give way to traffic on the left.

 

So on an inappropriately marked or defined roundabout, the traffic tends to go by "original instinct" rather than the letter of the law.

 

It might help if they bothered t set up the design and mark the lanes correctly - there is no lane mrking , give way signs or anything at this junction.

[CarolJadzia]

5 hours ago, cumgranosalum said:

Official on a roundabout is give way to traffic on the right

however on all other roads it is give way to traffic on the left.

 

So on an inappropriately marked or defined roundabout, the traffic tends to go by "original instinct" rather than the letter of the law.

 

It might help if they bothered t set up the design and mark the lanes correctly - there is no lane mrking , give way signs or anything at this junction.

 

Do agree that there could be far better signage. I understand that there originally was better signs and road markings. What is left of the stop lines are still visible, just worn out. But at the same time, the other near by junctions are not marked clearly either, but that could be addressed as well, if people wanted to actually address the situation!

The other issue with clearer markings is that people will still break the rules, larger vehicles will still think they have a right of way anyway. Road users will assume that they have to give way to the left as at other junctions. Also of course "Mai pen rai" and "Sabai sabai"