Four killed, one injured in trucks’ collision in Mae Sot

[jaywalker]

26 minutes ago, berybert said:

Air brakes on trucks. Brakes fail brakes lock on.

Brakes worn out, and or melted to mush, they don't work.

 

I've been in two vehicles when my brakes failed.

 

One was my fault, in a 1978 Chevy Monte Carlo, about 4:00 AM, in the rain...it needed a new brake booster & master cylinder.

 

Scared me half to death! I slammed it into low gear and stomped the parking/emergency brake.

 

I went slip-sliding all over the place, but (amazingly) never did hit anything.

 

2nd time I was in a one ton company F350 truck with a large (maybe 10 foot) trailer behind it, standard shift.

 

I went bouncing thru the ditch to keep from hitting the car in front of me, slammed it into low gear & somehow brought it to a stop.

 

I was about 18 both times.

 

Since those two incidents, I have replaced HUNDREDS of brake pads & shoes, rotors, drums, you name it on air and hydraulic sytems.

 

Brake cylinders, brake calipers, master cylinders, brake boosters, you name it.

 

I was born with a wrench in my teeth instead of a silver spoon.

 

My point is that brakes matter.

 

I was once asked to inspect 70 RTA HMMWV (Hummer) trucks on their way for a UN mission in Sudan.

 

Half had leaking brake calipers and almost no brake fluid in the master cylinders. The other half had their steering linkage about to fall apart, and or major fluid leaks from the fuel tanks to the oil pan.

 

I put together a one page report for each truck & turned it in to a full RTA colonel, who smiled & said thanks.

 

A week later they had the UN inspectors there, who saw the nice new white paint jobs, new seats in them and new tires on them.

 

They looked pretty good from the outside.

 

Every one of them was a rolling death-trap.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2017 by jaywalker

[Usual Suspect]

All HGV drivers know to assess the hill, & down-shift accordingly..you go down the hill at about the same rate your truck would come up it..BUT.. This is Thailand, & Thai drivers simply do not have the patience to crawl down a hill fully loaded in a safe & controlled manner.

 Oh no, simply go down maybe 1 or 2 gears & ride the brakes all the way down..as they have done at each hill for the last hour,

 the result of this laziness is seen weekly, The excuses..? (Thai way, someone/something else was at fault).

 So many sadly pay the price for their impatience.. RiP.

[jaywalker]

4 hours ago, nuananddon said:

I've driven that road many times and every time there's people, who just have no patience and just got to pass on blind curves and hills. They ought to rename that highway either "THE DAREDEVILS ROAD" or "THE IDIOTS ALLEY". One good thing is they're in the process of widening it all the way from Tak to Mae Sot

Yeah I went thru there in a minivan once. 

 

It was like the driver thought he was James Bond or Michael Shumacher.

 

Scared me to death & I ain't scared of much!

[jaywalker]

4 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Have to say that road is the worst I've driven here. It's not so much the inclines or the bends, but there are few passing places, you get stuck in long line of traffic, idiots overtaking blind, and oncoming traffic cornering slightly over the centre line. I was relieved when I got up it.

At least you were driving, as opposed to some maniacal mini-van driver like when I went thru there.

[NeoDinosaw]

3 hours ago, Usual Suspect said:

All HGV drivers know to assess the hill, & down-shift accordingly..you go down the hill at about the same rate your truck would come up it..BUT.. This is Thailand, & Thai drivers simply do not have the patience to crawl down a hill fully loaded in a safe & controlled manner.

 Oh no, simply go down maybe 1 or 2 gears & ride the brakes all the way down..as they have done at each hill for the last hour,

 the result of this laziness is seen weekly, The excuses..? (Thai way, someone/something else was at fault).

 So many sadly pay the price for their impatience.. RiP.

I have been on the Tak -Mae Sot road  many many times, mainly in the old days soon after it was opened. A couple of years ago I was on a trip with a group of students. We came to a major down hill section; the driver might have changed down a gear (I was not paying too much attention) but he was constantly slowing the bus down by pumping brakes, then letting it go again time after time.  Eventually we came off the road into the sand pit which it there for that precise purpose.  

 

Thai drivers will not change down through 2 or 3 gears to be safe. Why not ?  Is it because they know that this will consume more fuel ?

[dcnx]

9 hours ago, jaywalker said:

I've driven some huge rigs, at night, in the rain when I was in the military.

 

I'd get a different truck & trailer every time I turned around.

 

The FIRST thing I'd do, was test the brakes in a safe area & I was in my early 20's.

 

I recall being 8 or 9 years old, with my Dad in Kentucky (very hilly, about like the Mae Sot area), going downhill in a 1976 Lincoln Continental & he told me he had dropped it out of "D" into 2nd so he could keep his foot off the brakes. I never forgot that lesson.

 

I'm just surprised the driver made it to be 64 years old.

What part of Kentucky are you from? I have family scattered all over there. 

[jaywalker]

11 minutes ago, dcnx said:

What part of Kentucky are you from? I have family scattered all over there. 

I'm from Florida.

 

Had a (now diseased) cousin in Jellico, KY though.

[metisdead]

Offensive posts and replies have been removed.  Please remember this topic is about an incident in Thailand, please stay on topic. 

[Get Real]

10 hours ago, Pigdog747 said:

Every week we see another accident due to brake failure, In most case I would say the cause is one of 2 things, 1/ brake fade because he didn't gear properly and road his brakes down the grade,  2/ Maintenance, brakes not properly adjusted or worn out and the driver would have known this. The cause should be verified by a mechanic and the truck owner and driver charged if maintenance related and not with just a small slap on the wrist, but where it hurts, in the pocket book. The owner, 100,000 Baht and the second occurrence  1,000,000 Baht and so on.

 

Are you a mechanic and a scientist in one single individual???

[sammieuk1]

This is a terrifying road in the daylight in a car yet alone in a old poorly maintained truck its full of never ending road works and rock blasting several times a day .

I remember seeing many trucks conned off though brake problems its not a road I want to go on again .    

[optad]

The phrase "brake failure" is an attempt to absolve personal responsibility. 

 

The issue of diminished responsibility is a cultural abnegation of the individual entrusted with rights, privileges and roles with associated consequences in their miscarriage,  in response to a collective whole.  

 

Wasntme. The freedom to.... take and point.

[outsider]

The most popular stupid excuses in Thailand for accidents: Brakes. Weather. Sudden loss of control.

[Confuscious]

My car is checked at the dealer every 5,000 kms and the prescribed checks at the dealer.

I went with my car to the dealer to do the prescribed checkup of 20,000 km (brakes, timing belt, gearbox and pont oil check, suspension check, etc.) 1 month before the incident.
 

1 week before the brake failure, my car was checked at the Toyota station for the car tax department.
No remarks.

PS.: I can show the checkup files as said above.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Rimmer

[Rimmer]

A baiting flame and reply have been removed

[Ace of Pop]

So take all your reports to the Transport Department Falsified Pass you paid for.Heads will roll even here.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[selftaopath]

On 3/17/2017 at 4:45 AM, Mook23 said:

Oops... bad hill! Bad brakes... 

Do Thais know a/b downshifting? 

[selftaopath]

On 3/17/2017 at 8:01 AM, jaywalker said:

I've driven some huge rigs, at night, in the rain when I was in the military.

 

I'd get a different truck & trailer every time I turned around.

 

The FIRST thing I'd do, was test the brakes in a safe area & I was in my early 20's.

 

I recall being 8 or 9 years old, with my Dad in Kentucky (very hilly, about like the Mae Sot area), going downhill in a 1976 Lincoln Continental & he told me he had dropped it out of "D" into 2nd so he could keep his foot off the brakes. I never forgot that lesson.

 

I'm just surprised the driver made it to be 64 years old.

Or perhaps this was his first outing. Around here Thais just get in vehicles and go... they never are taught or learn rules of the road. Hell many don't even know what the yellow lines, traffic lights mean.

[Dave67]

 ",,.........was heard to cry out as his brakes failed coming down a hill............"

 

I wonder who heard him , Must have had some voice if he was heard above the sound of an out of control lorry engine

[Thongkorn]

It's not brake fail.Its brake fade, an inexperienced or bad driver goes down hills to fast. useing his brakes to much, The brakes get hot and do not have the same impact as when the breaks are cold or moderately hot. Attitude is a big factor. In to much of a rush or just plain aggressive driving.

[Confuscious]

In most Western countries, a double brake system with individual brakes (if 1 brake fails, the 3 others keep working normally) is required in every vehicle.
This was introduced because of the accidents due to a brake failure in single brake system.
Accidents due to a brake failure, are as far as I know, not existing anymore.
I wonder why the Government doesn't require a double brake system in Thailand.
At least in Public transport and heavy transport.
Cars and trucks are more powerful than a few years ago, but the design of the cars did not change in Thailand.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Confuscious
Grammar

[Thongkorn]

When wagon brakes fail they come on.

[wprime]

On 20/03/2017 at 1:57 PM, Confuscious said:

My car is checked at the dealer every 5,000 kms and the prescribed checks at the dealer.

I went with my car to the dealer to do the prescribed checkup of 20,000 km (brakes, timing belt, gearbox and pont oil check, suspension check, etc.) 1 month before the incident.
 

1 week before the brake failure, my car was checked at the Toyota station for the car tax department.
No remarks.

PS.: I can show the checkup files as said above.

I had a similar thing with a Toyota Fortuner. Brakes ended up with no pressure, had them "fixed" at Toyota, a few hours later same problem.