Police hand out free crash helmets in effort to save motorcyclists at New Year

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Police hand out free crash helmets in effort to save motorcyclists at New Year

 

Picture: Sanook

 

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: -- Prachuap highway police were out in force yesterday handing out free crash helmets in a bid to save the lives of motorcyclists come New Year.

 

Rather than fining people for not having a helmet they dished out 200 new ones in a campaign sponsored by the Toyota head office in the province, another local company and the family of a police officer, reports Sanook.

 

Prajuab Khiri Khan highway police are busy doing their best to educate the public - and motorcyclists in particular - in good habits on the roads.

 

Pansa Amaraphitak of the highway force said that motorcyclists represented the highest number of deaths from road accident.

 

It was not just their refusal to wear crash helmets, he said, but ignoring the rules of the road, going against the traffic flow, cutting in front of other traffic suddenly and drink driving that contributed to the bad statistics.

 

He said that wearing a helmet won't save you if you speed and ignore traffic laws but a helmet in conjunction with obeying the rules was what was needed.

 

Police reiterated that they will be out in force all along Petchkasem Road in the province as the long New Year holidays progress. Checkpoints will be set up to ensure that traffic rules are being obeyed, they said.

 

Source: Sanook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-12-21

[berybert]

Cant be bad, break the law and get a free gift.

[z42]

555 ridiculous. I don't know what is worse, giving out gifts for people who break the law, or the desperately poor quality of the helmets. This is a time where only a double facepalm emoji is needed.....

[Sphere]

Hope they also did it on the other side of the road, when the sunlight was right for a good pic......

[colinneil]

Handing out free helmets !! Great idea !!

Only thing now is to get people to use them.

Recently my wife was using the motorbike to go to work, helmet in the basket.

Put your helmet on i said, but darling it will spoil my hair.

[craigt3365]

If they want to save motorcyclists, enforce the laws.  I see scooter drivers every day with no helmets, no lights, driving erratically, down the sidewalks, wrong way on the street, etc, etc, etc.

[Rhys]

What no BELLS or HJC  even REAL?

[DoctorG]

33 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

If they want to save motorcyclists, enforce the laws.  I see scooter drivers every day with no helmets, no lights, driving erratically, down the sidewalks, wrong way on the street, etc, etc, etc.

Half the riders you see doing this are probably police

[Don Mega]

Have the cheap nasty helmets been tested, I doubt they make any difference at all.

[Wiggy]

Look out for a load of crappy helmets being sold soon.

[anthobkk]

These helmets are useless, I did break one with my own fist just to check if it was ok. It should be mandatory to wear certified helmets that can at least save your life. Also they should educate people about the consequences of a small motorbike crash without any safety equipment (helmet, gloves, pants and jacket)

[licka]

1 hour ago, Don Mega said:

Have the cheap nasty helmets been tested, I doubt they make any difference at all.

They will make unusual hanging flower pots 

[jeffandgop]

Meanwhile a flood of crash helmets are offered for sale on eBay

[Pdaz]

The root of the problem is the " handing out of driving licences " Rather than comprehensive in-depth training and testing to a high international standard.

[mcfish]

A lot of these riders can't afford shoes let alone a new helmet tested at a western standard.
The quality looks dodgy but anything has to better than human skin!


Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[Songlaw]

In a land where the 'appearance' of propriety still serves as sufficient proxy for actual propriety in most cases, this is to be expected. If by some stretch these soup bowls happen to get used for any period of time (maybe people will think they look cool?), it is at least a way to 'gently introduce' behaviour modification, if followed by some consistent efforts at enforcement. What someone might want to do, is market a helmet that is constructed similarly to the better bicycle helmets (let Thailand have its own approval rating system based on certain realities), but with more extensive coverage (3/4 coverage in the biker vernacular), in recognition that a perfect solution (Full coverage Bell, Shoe, Arai, Real, etc.) is likely not feasible here for a variety of 'ad nauseam' reasons, some of which are quite valid. The goals we seek, whatever they may be, must be approached from a de facto position of compromise. That is one of life's inescapable realities. Shoot for what you can reasonably hope to attain, rather than what you think your position warrants, given the realities of the situation with which you are dealing. Make these helmets insanely affordable (If ever there was justification for subsidies...) and for the love of dog, flood the market with kid-sizes. Sizes-plural. Ultimately, screw the adults, as they should be allowed to make their own choices, regardless of whether we like or agree with the consequences. But the kids must be protected and permitted, to the highest degree plausible, to reach their maximum potential if there is going to be any hope for the future of this nation, and they who are rapidly aging within it. End of nonjudgmental rant.

[JSPS]

They can pass them out again at Songkran after they take them off the bodies. 

[NoshowJones]

I can see the sales of motorbike baskets going up. 

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

If they want to save motorcyclists, enforce the laws.  I see scooter drivers every day with no helmets, no lights, driving erratically, down the sidewalks, wrong way on the street, etc, etc, etc.

But I thought there was another crackdown on motorbikes riding on the sidewalk. Oh, wait.

[NoshowJones]

54 minutes ago, Pdaz said:

The root of the problem is the " handing out of driving licences " Rather than comprehensive in-depth training and testing to a high international standard.

Having motorbike licences or not makes no difference, up country here there are loads of motorbikes with underage riders and no number plates, and I would bet the vast majority of adult riders do not have a licence either.

[NoshowJones]

29 minutes ago, JSPS said:

They can pass them out again at Songkran after they take them off the bodies. 

You mean the drunken riders will actually be wearing them?

[NoshowJones]

I can see the sales of motorbike baskets going up. 

[thhMan]

I feel better now when I drive and see someone riding a scooter against traffic AND wearing a helmet...

Never mind if I have to swerve and create an accident

[marko kok prong]

Will the young guys with noisy exhausts who tear up the street at 80/90km use them,no.

[PJPom]

I'm going to stick my neck out and applaud this move, at least someone is doing something positive. The reality is that nothing will change attitudes, I have actually seen a young chap drive through the police check, stop, walk back to friend and give him his helmet, he then rides through and off they go, Police looked and did nothing.

Those of you who have been here for years just say TIT, you are right.

[lupin]

deleted

[louse1953]

Anybody given a free helmet should be fined double if caught without one.Get the money back they missed out on the 1st time.

[Pdaz]

50 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Having motorbike licences or not makes no difference, up country here there are loads of motorbikes with underage riders and no number plates, and I would bet the vast majority of adult riders do not have a licence either.

 

Of course there needs to be enforcement too.  If nobody is checking whether riders have a licence or are old enough then the point is moot.

[louse1953]

1 hour ago, mcfish said:

A lot of these riders can't afford shoes let alone a new helmet tested at a western standard.
The quality looks dodgy but anything has to better than human skin!


Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk
 

They have the money,just proritise differently.

[louse1953]

26 minutes ago, PJPom said:

I'm going to stick my neck out and applaud this move, at least someone is doing something positive. The reality is that nothing will change attitudes, I have actually seen a young chap drive through the police check, stop, walk back to friend and give him his helmet, he then rides through and off they go, Police looked and did nothing.

Those of you who have been here for years just say TIT, you are right.

 

26 minutes ago, PJPom said:

I'm going to stick my neck out and applaud this move, at least someone is doing something positive. The reality is that nothing will change attitudes, I have actually seen a young chap drive through the police check, stop, walk back to friend and give him his helmet, he then rides through and off they go, Police looked and did nothing.

Those of you who have been here for years just say TIT, you are right.

Years ago i pushed my bike through a road block,smiles all round.