Man, 20, dies as sports bike slams head-on into pickup at high speed

[RedQualia]

I ride a Yamaha MT09. Dunno what top speed might be,  but it will do 0-100KPH in about 2.5-2.6 seconds (top speed in first gear is 115KPH) -- about the same as the Kawasaki ZX10R. My Ninja 650 topped out at about 70KPH in first gear, but was every bit as much fun. Yamaha 150 - about 15.x horsepower. Ninja 650 - either 64 or 71 horsepower, depending on how it's measured. A stock MT09 has about 115 horsepower, but mine isn't stock, and I'm guessing produces about 130-135 horsepower. A new ZX10R is reported as producing 204 horsepower, though older ones appear to have produced a bit more. My top speed =might= be about 250KPH. The ZX10R is something over 300KPH, I believe.

 

These things said, instant acceleration is nice, but there aren't many places in Thailand where one could begin to approach the top speed of such bikes, much less "safely."

 

Seems clear to me, at least, that the motorcyclist was at fault. This =is= Thailand, after all, and best not forget that there will be old guys pulling out into traffic slowly without looking, kids without helmets going the right way or the wrong way, 3=5 up on underpowered motorbikes, little old ladies on motorbikes crossing multiple lanes to "merge" into traffic on the other side of the road without looking, ice cream trikes with umbrellas going the wrong way on the side of the road,  young guys drinking soda from plastic  bags while talking on their mobiles and suddenly deciding to cross three lanes of traffic to make a right turn, and etc and etc and etc.

 

Big bikes are fine, and inherently no more dangerous than smaller ones. In fact, I'm sure they're even safer than the smaller ones, since they have enough power to get you out of trouble now and again when the smaller ones don't.

 

But if you forget where you are, and how the roads and drivers and traffic are here, then there's no one to blame but yourself. Your fault, regardless of the vehicle in question, and regardless of what the other driver may have been doing,  and no matter if you're going 5KH or 50KPH or 150KPH.

 

RIP to the motorcyclist here, and I hope he has better luck in the next life.

Edited May 23, 2017 by RedQualia

[smedly]

9 minutes ago, RedQualia said:

I ride a Yamaha MT09. Dunno what top speed might be,  but it will do 0-100KPH in about 2.5-2.6 seconds (top speed in first gear is 115KPH) -- about the same as the Kawasaki ZX10R. My Ninja 650 topped out at about 70KPH in first gear, but was every bit as much fun. Yamaha 150 - about 15.x horsepower. Ninja 650 - either 64 or 71 horsepower, depending on how it's measured. A stock MT09 has about 115 horsepower, but mine isn't stock, and I'm guessing produces about 130-135 horsepower. A new ZX10R is reported as producing 204 horsepower, though older ones appear to have produced a bit more. My top speed =might= be about 250KPH. The ZX10R is something over 300KPH, I believe.

 

These things said, instant acceleration is nice, but there aren't many places in Thailand where one could begin to approach the top speed of such bikes, much less "safely."

 

Seems clear to me, at least, that the motorcyclist was at fault. This =is= Thailand, after all, and best not forget that there will be old guys pulling out into traffic slowly without looking, kids without helmets going the right way or the wrong way, 3=5 up on underpowered motorbikes, little old ladies on motorbikes crossing multiple lanes to "marge" into traffic on the other side of the road without looking, ice cream trikes with umbrellas going the wrong way on the side of the road,  young guys drinking soda from plastic  bags while talking on their mobiles and suddenly deciding to cross three lanes of traffic to make a right turn, and etc and etc and etc.

 

Big bikes are fine, and inherently no more dangerous than smaller ones. In fact, I'm sure they're even safer than the smaller ones, since they have enough power to get you out of trouble now and again when the smaller ones don't.

 

But if you forget where you are, and how the roads and drivers and traffic are here, then there's no one to blame but yourself, regardless of the vehicle in question and no matter if you're going 50KPH or 150KPH.

 

RIP to the motorcyclist here, and I hope he has better luck in the next life.

yes the point really is not so much the bike size but the riders ability to ride it safely, and I feel more secure riding my big bike than I do riding a scooter, a scooter is ok for around the city streets but get on an open road and you become very exposed - keeping well over to the left is a good idea away from the faster moving traffic, on a big bike you don't have that problem

[gk10002000]

How do you pull out and have a head on?  Usually when you pull out, unless you parked facing the wrong way, you would be now traveling in the same prevailing direction as any traffic behind you. Was it a narrow road and they overlapped a bit? 

[rosst]

21 hours ago, impulse said:

 

You may be right seeing the damage to the scooter and the pickup indicating a high speed collision.  But given that the wreckage is in the wrong lane and the pickup driver claims he was pulling out into traffic and didn't see the scooter, I don't think Valentino Rossi (whoever that is- gotta admit I don't follow racing) could have dodged that bullet either.  I've seen a lot of interviews with race car drivers that admit the most hazardous driving they do is on the streets where the idiots roam.

 

I'm more disturbed by the number of local drivers (2 and 4 wheel) that pull out into traffic and then (and only maybe at that) look to see if the lane is clear.

 

“Mr Kittiphiiboon said that he was pulling out from the side of the road to head towards Chao Fa West Rd when the motorbike slammed into the front of his pickup at high speed,” Col narong said.

Police said they had yet to confirm Mr Kittiphiboon’s version of events with CCTV cameras in the area.

 

A view shared by myself but the dark clothing and speed are both contributing factors.  As someone who used to roadrace on the track, let me pass on a quote from the greatest rider I ever met " There are old riders and bold riders but no old bold riders". 

[biker Bob]

16 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

 

C/mon dude, don't exaggerate now...

Kawa 650 twin - incredible acceleration...

Maybe not incredible, but fast enough for most people.

[Sigma6]

Make your own judgement:

 

 

[manarak]

23 hours ago, SS1 said:

I saw the video of this and the 4sshole in the pickup crossed a double yellow line before the bike it him. He should be thrown in jail for murder. But 500 baht fine probably as usual, and the carnage continues... 

enforcing double lines is totally unrealistic in Thailand, they seem to draw them everywhere in total disregard for the needs of the traffic.

 

motorcycle rider was going way too fast and he crossed the double line too and was on the wrong side of the road at impact.

 

considering the traffic in Thailand, the motorcycle driver's behavior was quite irresponsible and reckless, practically gambling that nothing unexpected would happen in front of him.

one of the most important rules that will keep drivers alive in Thailand is to look ahead and to reduce speed immediately when seeing anything that might interfere.

 

also, I can't feel entirely sorry for the motorcycle driver. somehow this is a better outcome than someone with an irrational risk-taking behavior becoming company CEO, bank director or worse, a politician.

Western societies' problems are amplified by the protection society provides to people unfit to make decisions.

 

Edited May 24, 2017 by manarak

[LivinginKata]

Thanks for the video link. Bike going way too fast. Should have easily slipped inside lane to pass, but going too fast ... dead

[PremiumLane]

On 5/23/2017 at 10:17 AM, KarenBravo said:

Most large bikes have twin head-lights nowadays. Still, I get your point.

So do a lot of scooters now, that is the problem, they just see headlights and think scooter

[Mrjlh]

Although the truck was driving very slowly when pulling out (some would call him a water buffalo), he did clear the far left lane and was more than halfway into his correct lane.  That being said, the biker was driving too fast and was clearly driving on the wrong side of the divider if not on it before the collision. Had the biker been driving at or near the speed limit and in the correct lane he could have avoided this accident and been alive. TMHO.

[oldlakey]

6 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

So do a lot of scooters now, that is the problem, they just see headlights and think scooter

Can't see much improvement until the majority learn to have respect for the presence of other road users whatever their size

[pee paub]

I've had people pull out in front of me like this on almost every ride. You have to hit the brakes and make a split second decision; is he finally going to see me and stop (pass him on the right), or will he continue and I pass him on the left? Ninja chose wrong. He also chose wrong when he decided to drive at that speed. I love liter bikes but they can reach speeds very much too fast for Thailand's driving conditions.

[kkerry]

Motorcycle was driving at a ridiculous speed for that road.

[smedly]

2 hours ago, Mrjlh said:

Although the truck was driving very slowly when pulling out (some would call him a water buffalo), he did clear the far left lane and was more than halfway into his correct lane.  That being said, the biker was driving too fast and was clearly driving on the wrong side of the divider if not on it before the collision. Had the biker been driving at or near the speed limit and in the correct lane he could have avoided this accident and been alive. TMHO.

here's what I think

 

- Bike was going far too fast (cause of the accident) that part of the road looks like a sub 40kmh speed limit

 

why did the truck pull out apart from the fact the bike was speeding, a number of possibilities 

 

- bike was possibly obscured from view of the pickup by another slow moving or double parked vehicle in front of the bike which was some distance up the road moving very fast.

- bike moves across to overtake said slow moving vehicle from a long way back (vehicle could even have been parking double parked or turning left) and possibly not even crossing double yellow at that point but by then the pickup was already pulling out on what seemed to be a clear safe road.

- fast approaching (150kph+) bike sees pickup and tries to go even further across the road crossing double yellow to avoid (what you see in the short cctv)

- no chance to avoid and bang

 

and I am a bike rider but I am not sure what amount of blame is with the truck driver, possibly none at all, the bottom line is that the bike was going far too fast for that part of the road

[smedly]

48 minutes ago, pee paub said:

I've had people pull out in front of me like this on almost every ride. You have to hit the brakes and make a split second decision; is he finally going to see me and stop (pass him on the right), or will he continue and I pass him on the left? Ninja chose wrong. He also chose wrong when he decided to drive at that speed. I love liter bikes but they can reach speeds very much too fast for Thailand's driving conditions.

agree with most of your post but the speed is very much in the control of the rider who also needs to consider the road conditions - from what I can see this bike was going far too fast for that road and surroundings - from what I can see I would be doing no more than 50kph if even that and I ride a bike that can do 300kph classed as a "superbike", you can end up super dead if you fail to follow a few simple rules for self preservation, this guy broke the fundamental one, riding at a lunatic speed on that road 

[Happy Grumpy]

On 5/23/2017 at 9:20 AM, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

You see it everyday - every kid on a bike thinks he's Valentino Rossi zooming through Bangkok (or anywhere in the LOS).  Very sad and it will never change.

And some posters want the motorways and tollways opened up for bike riders.

 

 

This guys was obviously flying, if he was riding under the speed limit he would have been able to react or the driver could have seen him coming and either pulled out safely or waiting for him to pass.

 

Either way the bike rider breaking the speed limit (by quite some amount by the looks of things - on a liter bike in jeans and a t-shirt ) is the person responsible for this accident. 

[smedly]

1 minute ago, Happy Grumpy said:

And some posters want the motorways and tollways opened up for bike riders.

 

 

 

absolutely why not, much safer and a more direct way to tour the country on a "big" bike, as it stand you have to take roads like the one on this topic were you are open to many more dangers

[pee paub]

9 minutes ago, smedly said:

agree with most of your post but the speed is very much in the control of the rider who also needs to consider the road conditions - from what I can see this bike was going far too fast for that road and surroundings - from what I can see I would be doing no more than 50kph if even that and I ride a bike that can do 300kph classed as a "superbike", you can end up super dead if you fail to follow a few simple rules for self preservation, this guy broke the fundamental one, riding at a lunatic speed on that road 

I agree, hence my "He also chose wrong when he decided to drive at that speed." statement.

[gk10002000]

Looking at the picture, I think I understand what happened.  Thais drive on the left side of the road.  Fine.  But it looks like the pickup and other vehicles are parked on the right side of the road.  That should not be allowed on a two way street.  They are parking on the wrong side of the street.  So as the pickup "pulled out" he was technically driving on the wrong side of the road until he crosses over to the left side lane.  And when he first parked he was also driving on the wrong side of the road while he parked his car. 

[jing jing]

Sad to see this type of accident happen again, RIP to the young man and condolences to his loved ones.

 

In my opinion, based on over 40 years of riding high performance street bikes and almost 15 years of motorcycling in the Kingdom - given prevailing Thai road conditions and local driving habits - any sportbike over 250cc displacement is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Nevermind liter bikes - most 600cc sportbikes available today are capable of reaching 160kph in little more than 10 seconds with just a twist of the wrist.  Some folks will say all that power need not be used - all that is needed is a bit of wrist control - but in the real world that's not how it works.  That feeling of rapid acceleration is too seductive, even intoxicating, and very hard for anyone, let alone young or novice riders to resist.  This is not a video game, and the margin for error on a high performance sportbike is razor thin.

 

Eventually a rider will give in to the temptation and find himself going way too fast for the conditions.  It happens before you know it.  Most local motorists' judgement is not calibrated for vehicles that go from a standstill to 100 kph in the blink of an eye.  All it takes is for one inattentive person to pull out from a cross street after it's too late to stop or change course, and boom:  Game over.

 

Maybe there should be a restriction that bikes over 250cc be sold only to those with at least ten years of licensed driving experience and no record of driving while intoxicated.  Not a perfect solution, but perhaps a good start?

Edited May 24, 2017 by jing jing

[smedly]

6 hours ago, jing jing said:

Sad to see this type of accident happen again, RIP to the young man and condolences to his loved ones.

 

In my opinion, based on over 40 years of riding high performance street bikes and almost 15 years of motorcycling in the Kingdom - given prevailing Thai road conditions and local driving habits - any sportbike over 250cc displacement is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Nevermind liter bikes - most 600cc sportbikes available today are capable of reaching 160kph in little more than 10 seconds with just a twist of the wrist.  Some folks will say all that power need not be used - all that is needed is a bit of wrist control - but in the real world that's not how it works.  That feeling of rapid acceleration is too seductive, even intoxicating, and very hard for anyone, let alone young or novice riders to resist.  This is not a video game, and the margin for error on a high performance sportbike is razor thin.

 

Eventually a rider will give in to the temptation and find himself going way too fast for the conditions.  It happens before you know it.  Most local motorists' judgement is not calibrated for vehicles that go from a standstill to 100 kph in the blink of an eye.  All it takes is for one inattentive person to pull out from a cross street after it's too late to stop or change course, and boom:  Game over.

 

Maybe there should be a restriction that bikes over 250cc be sold only to those with at least ten years of licensed driving experience and no record of driving while intoxicated.  Not a perfect solution, but perhaps a good start?

wow what a long post to say basically what everyone else here is saying, this person was riding something he probably shouldn't have been riding

[dick dasterdly]

On 5/23/2017 at 10:02 AM, NCC1701A said:

I ride a motorcycle all over Thailand.

 

What happens is Thai drivers, when they decide to look (which is rare), see a single headlight and assume your motorcycle is a scooter. They don't realize your are going 100 kilometers a hour on the highway and think they can just cut you off like they do with scooters.

 

this might be different as this Thai kids race around on surface streets late at night with no helmet and have no chance to react when you are going 120+KPH.

 

as you can see here Kawasaki beats all types of cars in the 1/4 mile. 

 

 

 

"and think they can just cut you off like they do with scooters."

 

Exactly.  Whilst riding my scooter yesterday along the main Chalong/Rawai road, I had an SUV pull out of a side-turning in front of me.  He obviously saw me as he stopped for a second - before then continuing to cross the road (presumably) deciding 'Its only a scooter, down to them to stop'!

 

I had to slam on the brakes to stop (just) in time, as I was stupid enough to think he'd stay stopped as he'd obviously seen me!

 

Fortunately, I had already slowed down a little as its always wise to anticipate this sort of idiot - and hopefully gave him a bit of a fright as I slightly exaggerated my fear by standing up on my scooter as I slammed on the brakes. 

 

Having said that, the 'bike in this incident does seem to be travelling way over the speed limit and its possible the pickup driver didn't have a chance to see him in time.

[YetAnother]

On 5/23/2017 at 10:13 AM, stevenl said:

The bike was probably riding faster than the pickup driver expected.

 

Other traffic here is simply not used to and geared to higher speeds

this even applies to bicycles; as an avid and high performing bicyclist i am often cut off by people who have never seen bicycles at high speed

[loong]

On ‎5‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 11:02 PM, gk10002000 said:

Looking at the picture, I think I understand what happened.  Thais drive on the left side of the road.  Fine.  But it looks like the pickup and other vehicles are parked on the right side of the road.  That should not be allowed on a two way street.  They are parking on the wrong side of the street.  So as the pickup "pulled out" he was technically driving on the wrong side of the road until he crosses over to the left side lane.  And when he first parked he was also driving on the wrong side of the road while he parked his car. 

Look at the video posted earlier. The cars were not parked there at the time, they were parked sometime after the accident.

The pick up driver was parked facing the correct way and did a U turn to go in the opposite direction.

The road appears to have 1 lane in the same direction as the motorbike was travelling and 2 the other direction.

The pick up had almost completed the manouvre and most of the vehicle was across the double yellow lines.

The motorbike was the wrong side of the double yellow lines, If it had been in the correct lane, the collision would not have happened.

I don't think that the pick up driver is to blame at all.

[gk10002000]

13 minutes ago, loong said:

Look at the video posted earlier. The cars were not parked there at the time, they were parked sometime after the accident.

The pick up driver was parked facing the correct way and did a U turn to go in the opposite direction.

The road appears to have 1 lane in the same direction as the motorbike was travelling and 2 the other direction.

The pick up had almost completed the manouvre and most of the vehicle was across the double yellow lines.

The motorbike was the wrong side of the double yellow lines, If it had been in the correct lane, the collision would not have happened.

I don't think that the pick up driver is to blame at all.

I didn't see the video before I posted.  So the pick up made a U turn as he pulled out eh?

[gk10002000]

OK I see the video now.  Speeding bike.  Guessing the biker moved over momentarily to the center and wrong lane because he saw the pickup truck making a very clearly illegal u turn trying to head in the other direction.  Speed a huge contributing factor from the biker, pickup truck illegal u turn.  Bad combination with deadly results

[Salerno]

Looks to me like he was coming out of a side road/driveway not doing a U turn.

[LivinginKata]

3 hours ago, Salerno said:

Looks to me like he was coming out of a side road/driveway not doing a U turn.

 

That's the way I see the video. No u-turn involved. And the pick-up had almost completed his exit from side road onto the main road. How was he to know that a speeding manic would appear at from nowhere. No doubt the pick-up will bear the costs and be charged. But the m/bike was at fault for speeding and inattention to the road ahead.

Edited May 26, 2017 by LivinginKata

[MaxYakov]

On 5/24/2017 at 4:55 PM, smedly said:

agree with most of your post but the speed is very much in the control of the rider who also needs to consider the road conditions - from what I can see this bike was going far too fast for that road and surroundings - from what I can see I would be doing no more than 50kph if even that and I ride a bike that can do 300kph classed as a "superbike", you can end up super dead if you fail to follow a few simple rules for self preservation, this guy broke the fundamental one, riding at a lunatic speed on that road 

Sorry, there's even a more fundamental rule: K=MV**2.

 

Meaning, riding and type of vehicle over...say...30kph with such a collision could easily be fatal without seat belts, vehicle crumple zones and air bags.

 

Have you seen any of those three on a two-wheeled vehicle? Yeah, he was probably speeding. I see motorbikes doing it all the time on my very dangerous, narrow soi and especially while passing slower (mainly four-wheeled) vehicles. This collision may have been survivable had he been in a well-equipped, modern automobile. At least, he probably would not have been going quite so fast (probably).

 

But, in my view, the real killer is the almost total lack of protection from an easily fatal, relatively low speed collision while on a motorbike / cycle / scooter. Starting in the 1930s, the Ford Motor Co started to address automobile safety issues [link] by installing safety glass into its vehicles. They and others have since introduced numerous innovations that save lives.

 

I see it all the time with muscle bikes on Sukhumvit Road in central Bangkok. At least they open it up on a stretch that its unlikely they're going to get collected by an errant vehicle, as apparently what happened here. If Thailand wants to lower its road death rate, get people off these relatively dangerous vehicles, especially the young ones (and older crazies as well) who crave acceleration and speed and treat Thailand roads as raceways.

 

Yeah, I know, it's not going to happen anytime soon...or, probably, ever.

 

</rant>

Edited June 2, 2017 by MaxYakov

[Ramen087]

Defensive Driving Meets Defensive Riding, Thai Style.

Edited June 3, 2017 by metisdead