All car passengers now required to buckle up

Driving and riding in Hua Hin and Thailand, all topics on cars, pickups, bikes, boats, licenses, roads, and motoring in general.
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Bristolian
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Bristolian »

I think it's a great initiative but without enforcement it means very little. It's timed to reduce the death toll at Songkran but doesn't tackle enforcement of the law regarding motorcycle helmets and the figures prove that the majority of road deaths at Songkran will be motorcyclists.
I applaud the initiative but we have the wrong target group if the road deaths over Songkran are really going to be reduced.

Good start PM but enforcement of laws is the key.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Gregjam »

Another law to add to the plethora of existing laws, the enforcement of which is appaling at best. No doubt enforcement/extortion checks will abound as the end of the month approaches.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

HHTel wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:32 am This is deemed as a law 'for your safety'. So when will they take care of the 'safety' of the twenty or so people stood like sardines in the back of a pickup?
This is a valid point in respect of 'pick-up style' taxis, tuk tuks, songthaews and buses (back of a lorry type) in Thailand. I ensure people are buckled in anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for me.

What will happen when you have 3 adults in the back plus one baby? There's nothing about needing baby seats. Or just as bad, 2 adults and one baby - isn't it deemed dangerous to secure a small baby with a regular belt?

Clear as mud as usual, and probably down to BIB discretion when they think they can extract some cash.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Vital Spark »

I applaud this new law, as it may save many lives. Being born in the early sixties, I've got 'Clunk Click, Every Trip' engraved in my brain. I wouldn't dream of driving without wearing a seatbelt (wherever I am in the world). I insist that any passenger in my car wears one as I don't want rear seat passenger a) killing themselves by flying out of the car, or b) killing me by being thrown into the back of my seat. I had quite a rare experience the other week when getting a van from Bangkok to Nakhon Pathom. The driver insisted on all his passengers 'clunk clicking' before he drove off! Despite the moans and hrumphs from the passengers, he was quite firm about it. Well done him.

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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by StevePIraq »

No more people in the back of pick ups

"In line with the new safety measures, no passenger is allowed to ride in the luggage tray of a pickup truck while travelling.
Therefore, he hopes not to see people travelling in or throwing water at others from the trays of pickup trucks on the road during Songkran this year, Lt Gen Sansern said."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... from-april
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

This begs the question again about riding in the back of 'pick-up style' taxis, tuk tuks, songthaews and buses (back of a lorry type). A further question is the riding in those motorbike and side cars - surely, just as dangerous.

Personally, I find it amazing (not just in Thailand) that lawmakers make a law for public safety, but don't introduce it for a few days. IMHO if its a public safety issue anywhere in the world, such laws should be with immediate effect.

I wonder where this new law will leave the safari truck drivers in Kuiburi National Park.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by StevePIraq »

It is a good plan and good on the PM for "Trying" to get something done. Sadly in Ting Tong Land this may only be enforced for a few days at best.
How will small construction contractors cope, go out and purchase fleets of busses, where does the money come from.
How could this ever be enforced in Isaan where a large portion of the population are poor and must travel in the back of picks ups or they have to walk.
Are motorbikes with side cars actually legal? most are basically home made with no lights on the car side so surely not legal.
It is really hard for many Thais who have little money but it is essential to enforce laws to save lives. The population has to bite the bullet and start to advance.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Nereus »

And why do they not start with the thousands of school "buses" that take the next generation to and from school? Teach the whole generation to use seat belts and it will become automatic for the rest of their lives.
None of this BS about how old the vehicle is, or how poor the driver / owner is. They either comply or get off the road!

The same with the idiot parents that either allow their kids to ride to school without a licence or a helmet, or carry 2 or 3 little kids along with them on one motorbike. That to me is no different than riding around with a loaded gun.

And for the rose tinted glasses brigade, the whole of society pays in one way or another for the thousands killed on the road every year. :cuss:
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by HHTel »

This should be interesting.
The m/bikes with 'side cars', unless the sidecar is made by the m/bike company and therefore part of the package, or it has a safety certificate from the Land Transport Office, have always been illegal.

'Baht buses' which are pick-ups with a framework will technically be part of the new law.

Tuk-tuks are open vehicles with no seatbelts.

Let's see!
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

HHTel wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2017 11:41 am 'Baht buses' which are pick-ups with a framework will technically be part of the new law.
Do you mean they are catered for in the law, or will be illegal?
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by HHTel »

Well, they are pick-ups for sure. If classified as some other vehicle then they must have seat belts as will any vehicle carrying passengers.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

Yes, that's exactly what I thought :thumb:
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

One must also wonder how all of those military vehicles carrying troops, which are also used for school runs will cope.

Maybe not a very well thought out law.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by PeteC »

Big Boy wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2017 12:11 pm One must also wonder how all of those military vehicles carrying troops, which are also used for school runs will cope.

Maybe not a very well thought out law.
I think you're right. Unenforceable concerning baht buses, pick-up's and a host of other vehicle types. They've bitten off more than they can chew me thinks. Pete :cheers:
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by VincentD »

Enforceable maybe in Bangkok and other developed areas where alternative transport is readily available and the individual's disposable income is enough for that person to afford a loan on a car.

Won't happen in the provinces because there is no viable alternative.

Also, given the differences between a western country where vehicles depreciate very quickly and a person who is still in school can get a driving licence and actually drive to school, this will not happen anytime soon given that old cars here do not depreciate in the same way. Nor is there a similar amount of disposable income for the locals in the provinces to be able to afford them.

I don't disagree with the intent of the law, in fact I applaud it. I've been applying this rule to anyone who has the misfortune to catch a ride with me.

It's probably a knee-jerk reaction from those in their airconditioned benzes looking out at the masses and saying, Ah let's pass another silly suggestion and see if the boys in brown will be able to enforce it.

Good luck with that.
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