Emergency ward full to overflowing - this time it is young students in Thai road carnage

[14Stevie]

3 hours ago, biplanebluey said:

6 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

injuries were caused by having a load of kids in the back of a pickup truck with no seat belts. have i cracked the case?

NO------- The accident was caused as something happened to the driver. She might have been travelling too fast----not paying attention-----falling asleep----etc

Not wishing to take any sides here but given the amount of kids in the back of an unsuitable vehicle (i.e. numbers of passengers against safe standard accommodation) Williamgeorgeallen I believe  was simply stating that the reasons why the injuries were caused was due to the amount of kids and lack of use of seatbelts. This is said notwithstanding that the human consequences were as a result of the accident being either driver fault or mechanical error.

Put another way, if there were safe numbers in the vehicle with suitable use of seatbelts would the injuries have been so numerous and to the extent they actually were?

Either way I wish all the kids a speedy recovery

[SiSePuede419]

Emergency ward full to overflowing 

 

Because there's only one in the entire Country ?

[optad]

1 minute ago, maximillian said:

 

At least some sense of humor you have.

 

Perhaps not always filtering topics with age. . 

[louse1953]

10 hours ago, chiang mai said:

The pickup doesn't appear to have a puncture, why investigate that possibility!

 

Some of the very worst drivers in Thailand are the people who drive school buses/trucks, they charge around at high speed as though they were exempt from all driving laws and as if they are on a mission from Budha. But I understand it's quite lucrative work for anyone who has the right vehicle, trouble is there's no testing or regulation of the drivers.

You understand wrong.It is done as a community service,half price,compared to to the regular songtaew.In my area anyway.I rekon you only need a drivers licence to drive a ute.

[FredNL]

Seatbelts anyone ???

[lemonjelly]

Not easy controlling an old pick up loaded with kids and simultaneously farting about with smartphone..... that's my suspicion anyway


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[The Deerhunter]

12 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

"The director of one of the schools involved said that a full investigation was underway to see if the accident was caused by the driver nodding off or possibly a puncture."

 

So, they've already ruled out excessive speed and inattention to driving?

Well, we do not know the facts in this sad case but here is how the psychology seems to work so often in LOS.    It has to be something that the driver can not be blamed for deliberately doing..  Speed & inattention are conscious, deliberate or willful  and therefore are no-no's.  Puncture or nodding off?  Now you are onto it.  Face must be saved, even if all the evidence points to a culpable conscious or willfully careless action.  There are lots of what in the west would be called "acts of God" in Thailand; tragedies being blamed on circumstances that seem contrived to avoid anyone being held to blame.  It seems to be a national preoccupation, if not an obsession to make sure so many people are never held responsible for anything bad, careless or stupid that they do.  This is not Kansas (or anywhere in America), Dorothy.   Not enough lawyers & insurance policies!

[Psimbo]

Some extremely crass comments here- do people actually think before they post?

[Torrens54]

12 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

injuries were caused by having a load of kids in the back of a pickup truck with no seat belts. have i cracked the case?

Absolute Imbeciles ! 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm.....every day is road carnage day in Thailand.....someone is killed every 20 mins....3 every hour......70 every day..... on it goes relentlessly........stupidly dangerously.....

[Chris Lawrence]

so they didn't have their seat belts on? or maybe sleep apnoea? Anything but the obvious; speed restrictions needed for this type of transport with school kids.

 

[damo]

In the headlines today, forgotten about tomorrow. 

 

36.2 fatalities per 100.000 citizens per year. Amongst the worst in the world. The roads aren't that bad either. Could it be attitudes?

 

BTW Australia was 5.4 

USA 10.6 and the UK 2.9

 

Sad thing is there are no genuine road safety initiatives. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

[chiang mai]

9 hours ago, louse1953 said:

You understand wrong.It is done as a community service,half price,compared to to the regular songtaew.In my area anyway.I rekon you only need a drivers licence to drive a ute.

 

I didn't know that, I stand corrected.

[jacko45k]

Imagine the horror of driving a truck and having a load of kindergarden kids dumped into your path!

[Grubster]

On 12/7/2016 at 10:06 AM, chiang mai said:

The pickup doesn't appear to have a puncture, why investigate that possibility!

 

Some of the very worst drivers in Thailand are the people who drive school buses/trucks, they charge around at high speed as though they were exempt from all driving laws and as if they are on a mission from Budha. But I understand it's quite lucrative work for anyone who has the right vehicle, trouble is there's no testing or regulation of the drivers.

There must be a flat tire on the other side or why would they mention it.

[zaphod reborn]

On 12/7/2016 at 1:21 PM, williamgeorgeallen said:

injuries were caused by having a load of kids in the back of a pickup truck with no seat belts. have i cracked the case?

 

True, but that's not a cause of the accident, and that is what needs to be investigated.  There's no issue about the lack of safety precautions for the poor kids packed into the bed of the truck.

[sambum]

22 hours ago, berybert said:

As the driver of a vehicle  it is your responsibility to make sure it is road worthy. This includes checking the wheel nuts are not loose or anything relatively simple.

Passing the buck is a very easy game. If the truck driver behind had also been driving a defective vehicle there could have been 20 dead kids laying in the road.

Your response.  Not my problem.

  On 12/7/2016 at 4:06 PM, biplanebluey said:

NO------- The accident was caused as something happened to the driver. She might have been travelling too fast----not paying attention-----falling asleep----etc

I was responding to the above post by biplanebluey which states quite categorically that:- 

"The accident was caused as something happened to the driver." (i.e. it was the driver's fault.) I am not passing the buck, but without knowing all the facts, how can that be said? I am not saying that it WASN'T the driver's fault, and simple checks on a vehicle before commencing a journey would no doubt prevent many accidents, but how many people check their wheel nuts every time they commence a journey? They may have been checked, and came loose, or some other mechanical failure occurred - a puncture to the tyre that can not be seen, perhaps? I would agree that in many cases such accidents are caused by human error (especially in Thailand where driving standards are notoriously bad), but there is also the possibility of mechanical failure of some kind, (as quoted by the driver) a "wobble" which caused the vehicle to go out of her control. Until the cause of that is proved or disproved,  you can not categorically state that it was the driver's fault . You have already assumed (without any proof) that she was driving a defective vehicle, but I thought that even in this country, you are innocent until proven guilty - right?  And I don't see the point in your last comment!

Edited December 8, 2016 by sambum

[williamgeorgeallen]

4 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

 

True, but that's not a cause of the accident, and that is what needs to be investigated.  There's no issue about the lack of safety precautions for the poor kids packed into the bed of the truck.

i never guessed the cause of the accident. there is no point doing that as it is impossible to tell from what evidence we have been given. the driver may not have even been at fault. the fact is these inured kids would have been better off if they were transported in a more appropriate vehicle.

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 7/12/2559 at 4:06 PM, biplanebluey said:

NO------- The accident was caused as something happened to the driver. She might have been travelling too fast----not paying attention-----falling asleep----etc

i never guessed the cause of the accident. there is no point doing that as it is impossible to tell from what evidence we have been given. the driver may not have even been at fault. the fact is these inured kids would have been better off if they were transported in a more appropriate vehicle.

[Fookhaht]

In our province these song-thaew drivers, who carry thousands of kids to and from our schools, are the absolute worst drivers on the road.  They regularly run red lights, fail to stop at rail crossings, overload their vehicles, speed between stops, and move over into already-occupied lanes with no deference to other drivers or to the safety of their passengers.  

 

Reprehensible behavior. 

[diehard60]

This is like I have been saying all along:

1. Thai drivers (both young and old) have no driving edicate.

2. Thai drivers Do not get any driver education at all.

3.Thai drivers have no respect for others.

4.Thai drivers have no respect for the Thai police

5.Thai drivers have no respect for them selves

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

On 12/7/2016 at 2:48 PM, Ratcher said:

Just another day of the same same in Thailand. They never ever learn. I feel sorry for the kids. The parents should ensure in future a proper driver is deployed. Women drivers here are just as bad as the men.

Of the drivers you can see (due to the blacked ut windows) the women are more likely to be on the phone...

[sambum]

On 12/9/2016 at 4:49 PM, diehard60 said:

This is like I have been saying all along:

1. Thai drivers (both young and old) have no driving edicate.

2. Thai drivers Do not get any driver education at all.

3.Thai drivers have no respect for others.

4.Thai drivers have no respect for the Thai police

5.Thai drivers have no respect for them selves

 

"driving edicate." Don't know what it means, but a lovely word!