Slow Down Samui

[webfact]

Slow Down Samui

 

 

KOH SAMUI: -- Thailand’s roads have the second highest death rate in the world behind war-torn Libya. Over 14,000 people died on Thai roads in 2012 according to a 2015 report by the World Health Organisation.

 

This staggering statistic highlights how the local government and police authorities have struggled to take impactful measures to enforce changes in road safety. The lack of signs, traffic lights and police presence means that there is still a large amount of reckless driving and an average of 1-2 deaths per day on Ko Samui.

 

With these statistics in mind, locals as well as tourists need to take more responsibility for their own safety, unfortunately this is often an afterthought to getting into an accident. Schools have a big role to play in their communities to raise awareness and help influence drivers to keep to speed limits and wear helmets. This is especially true considering that riding on 2 wheels makes up 70% of roadside fatalities.

 

On Saturday 30th March from 10am to 12pm Lamai International School (LIS) will be raising awareness for road safety at the Lad Koh viewpoint between Lamai and Chaweng. Students will be handing out information pamphlets, free helmets and cold beverages to members of the public to encourage drivers to be mindful of speed limits and the risks involved on Ko Samui’s roads.

 

 

If you or anyone you might know would like to help increase road safety on Ko Samui, LIS will be accepting helmet donations and selling Slow Down Samui t-shirts designed by the students. All money and helmets donated will be re-invested into future campaigns for road safety and injured victims of road accidents.

 

Source: http://www.samuitimes.com/slow-down-samui/

 

-- © Copyright Samui Times 2017-03-20

[graemeaylward]

Well done students for taking the initiative! Maybe the police, insurance companies and government should be assisting you by producing television public service advertisements, and visits to schools. Schools should also enforce " No helmet, no riding on school property" rules for students and staff alike! Apparently on UK television at the moment their is a clever advert which depicts the fact that using a mobile phone whilst driving is twice as dangerous as "drink driving" Good luck Samui, I hope you can save a few people's lives.

[darksidedog]

It is a little sad that such an initiative comes from a school, not Central or even local government.

However, anything that can try to cut the devastating road death toll, is to be welcomed.

Good luck kids.

[jerojero]

Government priorities are screwed. Submarines before police reform. Defamation laws before penalties for drivers. Corrupt Elites.

[robertthebruce]

38 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

Well done students for taking the initiative! Maybe the police, insurance companies and government should be assisting you by producing television public service advertisements, and visits to schools. Schools should also enforce " No helmet, no riding on school property" rules for students and staff alike! Apparently on UK television at the moment their is a clever advert which depicts the fact that using a mobile phone whilst driving is twice as dangerous as "drink driving" Good luck Samui, I hope you can save a few people's lives.

 

As for the UK ,not clever enough , it should be, if caught driving  on your Mobile, you should loose your Licence....., countless deaths because of Selfish People driving while on the mobile....

 

as for driving in Thailand....I gave it up, I want to LIVE....., and not be a Stastic....

[Bsd]

51 minutes ago, robertthebruce said:

 

As for the UK ,not clever enough , it should be, if caught driving  on your Mobile, you should loose your Licence....., countless deaths because of Selfish People driving while on the mobile....

The UK is moving (has moved to?) 6 points for using a phone while driving.  So in your first 2 years it is instant loss of licence, for everyone else you have to do it twice.

[robertson468]

The main responsibility lies with the Local Authority, including the RTP.  The amount of times you see children riding motor bikes without helmets is a scandal.  The Schools and Police should be monitoring this and if they see a helmetless rider coming in/out of School, they should confiscate the bike until they put on a helmet and the parents should be fined for their child breaking the law.  I also wonder how many underage children are riding motor bikes?  An indication of the inefficiency of the Local Authority is the traffic lights in Bophut have been out of commission for several months and there appears to be no attempt to either repair them, or give instructions to the local Police to man this junction, which has devolved in to chaos at times with traffic trying to merge on to the main ring road.  It would appear that the Bophut Fresh Market appears to take priority for policing, which is rediculous as that point has less conflicting traffic.  I would also say that the road traffic signage on the Island leaves much to be desired.  Sadly, until the National Authority, Local Authority, Police, Schools and Parents take ownership of the abysmally poor traffic discipline the carnage will continue ad infinitum with the loss of many young  (and not so young) lives.

[notmyself]

4 hours ago, graemeaylward said:

Well done students for taking the initiative!

 lol

[cardinalblue]

The students should be following the lead of gov officials and gov programs and not the other way around...

 

very telling where the blame lies for driving in thailand....

 

what's next? Lemonade stands and bake cookie sales?

 

one can applaud the kids but the problem is systemic and that is where the change needs to start...

 

little league fundraising for a serious issue?

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, jerojero said:

Government priorities are screwed. Submarines before police reform. Defamation laws before penalties for drivers. Corrupt Elites.

Been that way since time immemorial. Yes your assessment is bang on. We need to get back to working in a collective manner rather than this individualism fueled by greed and status. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

Students will be handing out free helmets......Made in hobby class from papier mache?

[BlackWolf]

What about fixing the roads  around the island: After the rainy season there are big holes in the surface in every roads here. The roads in Samui must be the worst roads in Thailand

[Carlos Primeros]

Well, according to my calendar the 30th of March is a Thursday and not a Saturday.... So when will it be now?

Cheers, Carlos

[bobthebuilder1651]

Absolute waste of time, you will never change the attitude of Thai people, self, self, self, I am right Farang always at fault!!

[carmine]

1 hour ago, bobthebuilder1651 said:

Absolute waste of time, you will never change the attitude of Thai people, self, self, self, I am right Farang always at fault!!

In reality it is a waste of time.  More so due to the general attitude and a lack of will on the part of those that should be implementing stricter control.  

[evadgib]

Everything tried to date has failed, including lethargy by the community to even bother to upload dashcam footage which in turn has lead to FB pages set up to highlight the problem barely scratching the surface.

[maewang99]

we need to slow down.  and not drink alcohol.

 

 

it's not any more nuanced than that.  

?
 

Edited March 24, 2017 by maewang99