Pattaya tunnel: motorbikes and speedsters openly disobeying the law

[tropo]

7 hours ago, digbeth said:

 

The law preventing motorcycle from using tunnels and overpass was from an age where the mopeds of the '60s would be lucky if it could push pass 40. 

 

but you do see some idiots that ride slowly about 30kph clogging up the road and filtering through traffic unsafely  

 We're not talking about mopeds, which have pedals and tiny motors, but small motorcycles in the 100 - 150cc range. That covers the majority of motorcycles in Pattaya.

 

80kph (minimum) is near the top end of the speed range for most small automatic motorcycles (which makes up the majority of motorcycles on the roads here), whereas it's (80kph) only at the mid-range (or low) for most cars. At 80kph most small automatic motorcycles don't have any accelerative capacity, whereas cars do. That's a very unsafe situation - 100's of small motorcycles riding along at near top speed next to cars capable of double that speed. Also, please note, these small motorcycles do not handle very well at these speeds. 

 

This regulation is actually doing motorcyclists a big favour. I'll be quite happy to stay out of there.

 

 

 

 

 

[digbeth]

While I agree that the testing standards for motorcycles in this country is quite lacking, resulting that riders are unable to brake in an emergency or know have lane discipline and is able to ride safely, a 110cc honda wave is able to out accelerate most cars on the road to 90kph quite easily, but the majority of the riders don't and doesn't have the necessary skills to conduct themselves safely on the roads, and thus excluded from riding in tunnels and overpass bridges and expressway where there are no hard shoulders and such.

 

Is it fair that we hold a whole section of the road using population in lower regards?

 

I ride motorcycles myself, and next year with the introduction of toll for the highway 7 extension all the way to Pattaya, I'd be a lot inconvenienced by no longer being able to (illegally) ride on the highway 7 to Chonburi. But I still agree with motorcycles bans on expressways and motorways for now. Bridges and Underpass.... in Bangkok on some overpass, the police see sense to not prosecute motorcycles riders.

 

What Thailand needs is another licence category for motorcycles riders, high power 'big bikes' definitely

Edited August 30, 2017 by digbeth

[smedly]

3 hours ago, tropo said:

 We're not talking about mopeds, which have pedals and tiny motors, but small motorcycles in the 100 - 150cc range. That covers the majority of motorcycles in Pattaya.

 

80kph (minimum) is near the top end of the speed range for most small automatic motorcycles (which makes up the majority of motorcycles on the roads here), whereas it's (80kph) only at the mid-range (or low) for most cars. At 80kph most small automatic motorcycles don't have any accelerative capacity, whereas cars do. That's a very unsafe situation - 100's of small motorcycles riding along at near top speed next to cars capable of double that speed. Also, please note, these small motorcycles do not handle very well at these speeds. 

 

This regulation is actually doing motorcyclists a big favour. I'll be quite happy to stay out of there.

 

 

 

 

 

totally agree but if you consider that there are 2x things wrong here - not allowing motorbikes and 80kmph is way too fast and should be more like 50-60kmph which would make your well made point........pointless

 

I have a MB that does 110kmph in 1st gear with 5 more to go and consider 80kph in that tunnel way to fast for "all" traffic in a country with the worse road accident death rate in the world, in fact the speed limit within the city limits of Pattaya should be strongly enforced at 50kmh or less especially on race track roads like beach road and 2nd road were you  have very heavy pedestrian activity were people are having to run a deadly gauntlet to cross the road

[smedly]

2 hours ago, digbeth said:

While I agree that the testing standards for motorcycles in this country is quite lacking, resulting that riders are unable to brake in an emergency or know have lane discipline and is able to ride safely, a 110cc honda wave is able to out accelerate most cars on the road to 90kph quite easily, but the majority of the riders don't and doesn't have the necessary skills to conduct themselves safely on the roads, and thus excluded from riding in tunnels and overpass bridges and expressway where there are no hard shoulders and such.

 

Is it fair that we hold a whole section of the road using population in lower regards?

 

I ride motorcycles myself, and next year with the introduction of toll for the highway 7 extension all the way to Pattaya, I'd be a lot inconvenienced by no longer being able to (illegally) ride on the highway 7 to Chonburi. But I still agree with motorcycles bans on expressways and motorways for now. Bridges and Underpass.... in Bangkok on some overpass, the police see sense to not prosecute motorcycles riders.

 

What Thailand needs is another licence category for motorcycles riders, high power 'big bikes' definitely

most driving skills are learned in or on the vehicle through experience - you cannot teach everything on a driving course only the basics about road use and the operation of the vehicle, do you honestly believe that someone that passes their test in the UK suddenly becomes a competent driver ?  They are far from it, it is then up to them to adhere to traffic laws and drive safely and more importantly up to the police to enforce the law - the latter being key and most important and is severely lacking in Thailand.

 

Yes there are advance driving courses that some people undertake for various reasons

 

I have said this many times - ask a Thai driver after they have had an accident - did they know they were doing something wrong ?   90% of them will say "yes", and why is that ? - because they can

[tropo]

23 minutes ago, smedly said:

totally agree but if you consider that there are 2x things wrong here - not allowing motorbikes and 80kmph is way too fast and should be more like 50-60kmph which would make your well made point........pointless

 

I have a MB that does 110kmph in 1st gear with 5 more to go and consider 80kph in that tunnel way to fast for "all" traffic in a country with the worse road accident death rate in the world, in fact the speed limit within the city limits of Pattaya should be strongly enforced at 50kmh or less especially on race track roads like beach road and 2nd road were you  have very heavy pedestrian activity were people are having to run a deadly gauntlet to cross the road

I agree that 80kph is a ridiculously high speed limit for a tunnel in Pattaya and I was surprised to see that. I don't think these small automatic motorcycles are safe anywhere at 80kph, let alone in a tunnel. I usually ride around at 20 - 40 kph everywhere, but some roads, such as Sukhumvit I have to speed up or be run over.

 

Perhaps they will eventually see the folly of 80kph and reduce it... after a number of people have been killed.

[tropo]

23 minutes ago, smedly said:

most driving skills are learned in or on the vehicle through experience - you cannot teach everything on a driving course only the basics about road use and the operation of the vehicle, do you honestly believe that someone that passes their test in the UK suddenly becomes a competent driver ?  They are far from it, it is then up to them to adhere to traffic laws and drive safely and more importantly up to the police to enforce the law - the latter being key and most important and is severely lacking in Thailand.

 

Yes there are advance driving courses that some people undertake for various reasons

 

I have said this many times - ask a Thai driver after they have had an accident - did they know they were doing something wrong ?   90% of them will say "yes", and why is that ? - because they can

You're 100% correct there. Using Australia as an example, back in the 70's and 80's most roads were speedways... but now most people drive slowly as it's hard to avoid huge speeding fines, or fines for crashing red lights etc etc... 

 

People didn't just wake up one day and decide to reduce their speed.

 

Road safety has little to do with drivers and everything to do with enforcement of the road rules. Traffic enforcement has to hit the back pocket HARD, or it's a waste of time. Even that's not enough - they have to start taking licenses away from repeat offenders and even putting them in jail for serious offenses. Now they even confiscate cars - permanently for certain offenders.

 

That's not going to happen anytime soon in Thailand.

Edited August 30, 2017 by tropo

[balo]

I saw a farang on his bike disobeying the law yesterday, so not only Thais, TIT and nobody cares, 

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, sjonburi said:

 

Because they contribute to 80% of road fatalities. 

Yes but are they likely to make accidents in the tunnel more than say cement trucks?

I didn't notice any 'stay in lane' signs in the tunnel. and cars switching lanes under there to pass.

[jacko45k]

On 8/29/2017 at 5:20 PM, impulse said:

If only someone would invent some way to take pictures of the license plates of speeding vehicles and those that drive where they're not supposed to be...

 

I guess you are being ironic as this is common technology, but I noticed a vehicle where the licence plate had been partially painted over the other day, quite obviously deliberately. Faded ones are commonplace.

[DD13]

4 hours ago, balo said:

I saw a farang on his bike disobeying the law yesterday, so not only Thais, TIT and nobody cares, 

He should be captured, strung up, and flogged

muscling-in on Thainess....

 

When will the first pics of someone riding/driving the wrong way in the tunnel be posted???

[Orac]

Not seen any flooding pics this morning - I assume it survived the rain earlier?

[johng]

Not seen any flooding pics this morning - I assume it survived the rain earlier?

A mere shower
Wait for the real rain.

[Orac]

A mere shower
Wait for the real rain.

Road flooded on soi 81 this morning so a bit more than a shower.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[YetAnother]

7 hours ago, smedly said:

did they know they were doing something wrong ?   90% of them will say "yes", and why is that ? - because they can

also have heard 'that law doesnt apply to me'

[petermik]

14 hours ago, tropo said:

 

 

Perhaps they will eventually see the folly of 80kph and reduce it... after a number of people have been killed.

They think "common sense/folly" is some sort of breakfast cereal here

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, digbeth said:

Is it fair that we hold a whole section of the road using population in lower regards?

When you consider that this particular 'whole section of the road using population' account for upward of 80% of any and all road traffic fatalities in the whole country, I am with tropo and it is best keep them all out of such a confined space. Unlike some other underpasses, there's absolutely no hard shoulder on either side of the two lanes in this one, so their penchant to 'shoot the gap' as opposed to slowing down when they see brake lights or simply encountering slower traffic is reduced to weaving down the center line which is a bigger recipe for disaster.

[tropo]

7 hours ago, balo said:

I saw a farang on his bike disobeying the law yesterday, so not only Thais, TIT and nobody cares, 

Yeah, but there is still a bigger chance the Farang will pay for his disobedience than the rest of them.

[tropo]

12 hours ago, digbeth said:

While I agree that the testing standards for motorcycles in this country is quite lacking, resulting that riders are unable to brake in an emergency or know have lane discipline and is able to ride safely, a 110cc honda wave is able to out accelerate most cars on the road to 90kph quite easily, but the majority of the riders don't and doesn't have the necessary skills to conduct themselves safely on the roads, and thus excluded from riding in tunnels and overpass bridges and expressway where there are no hard shoulders and such.

 

Is it fair that we hold a whole section of the road using population in lower regards?

 

I ride motorcycles myself, and next year with the introduction of toll for the highway 7 extension all the way to Pattaya, I'd be a lot inconvenienced by no longer being able to (illegally) ride on the highway 7 to Chonburi. But I still agree with motorcycles bans on expressways and motorways for now. Bridges and Underpass.... in Bangkok on some overpass, the police see sense to not prosecute motorcycles riders.

 

What Thailand needs is another licence category for motorcycles riders, high power 'big bikes' definitely

4

I think you missed my point. Irrespective of riding skills, small automatic motorcycles are not safe at these speeds. Having to deal with a whole bunch of them travelling at 80kph or higher in a confined space would be very dangerous. Even experienced riders should not be cruising on these motorcycles at 80kph. I've spent my entire adult life riding motorcycles, from superbikes in my youth to automatic scooters now. Experience tells me NOT to go that fast on them if I can avoid it. This tunnel would most likely force me to ride faster than I should for safety.

 

There is no way my 2 motorcycles can out accelerate most cars to 90kph and mine are just 2 average small automatic motorcycles. Some could, but most can't, and definitely not when approaching top speed. The load is a big factor on low-power motorcycles too. I'm usually 2-up which means mine are carrying 150kg in total (lucky my wife is light LOL). That really restricts acceleration and braking capacity at any speed.  

 

"Is it fair that we hold a whole section of the road using population in lower regards?"

 

In answer to this question: Yes!! Absolutely... or should they have a safety and skill test at the entrance to the tunnel?

 

[Rimmer]

A grammar police post and reply have been removed

[eeyang wah]

On 31/08/2017 at 7:57 AM, DD13 said:

When will the first pics of someone riding/driving the wrong way in the tunnel be posted???

Surely it's only a matter of time. I wonder if people will be mindless enough to park there. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. 

[digbeth]

1 hour ago, eeyang wah said:

Surely it's only a matter of time. I wonder if people will be mindless enough to park there. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. 

There had already been posts in Thai social media about rich kids parking their car in the middle of the tunnel to take a picture, in the middle of the night maybe but still.

 

Also noticed that the motorcycle gangs are noticing that they can get twice their money's worth if they rev their engine in the tunnel, and is now attracting lots of them at time

[fakename]

Why dont we have a contest; How long before the first tunnel crash? Winner gets a free pass to drive through the tunnel.

[bert bloggs]

Where can i get my badge to say i have driven through the tunnel ,did it both ways yesterday , what a bargain the tunnel was ,only 3 years to build ,i hope i live long enough to see the other two .

sorry i was a bit bored as there was not much on Thai visa today and the wife is off doing the marathon , woke me up at four o"bloody clock to say she was off and that she was leaving the house alarm on ,so dont open any doors before i switch it off .God i need a coffee