How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

[Dannie Boy]

This should be made available in Thai and made compulsory reading in Thailand!!
https://www.thaienquirer.com/36933/opin ... education/

[HHTel]

Actually, that's not a Thai innovation. The rule is the same in the UK but we have learned, quite wrongly, to take a headlight flash as a permission to proceed. It's absolutely against the Highway Code.

What did I post, and what makes it right in Thailand and wrong in other places?
In Australia it is an invitation to the other bloke to procced first. It is a courtesy, definitely NOT something that you are likely see here!

In the state of New South Wales, headlight flashing by regular drivers (that is, not a police officer, etc.) for any reason is illegal, except in emergency purposes and immediately before overtaking.

[HHTel]

In the UK:

According to the RAC: “Headlight flashes should only be used to warn drivers of your presence on the road. ... Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users. “Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.”

[joelle]

Joelle wrote



I do not think the car was stupid it/he was obeying the law, you were in the wrong for hitting him.
More alarming you said your first accident in the UK How many did you have?

yes I know I was in the wong and the driver of the car was not stupid, mea culpa I should have been more alert, know about English behaviour and respect of the law (then, a long time ago !), but was 21, pregnant and in a hurry (although no excuse)
Had 2 more

Babies or accidents

answered to the question of the shocked person

[buksida]

Traffic law backers call for sterner charges
Advocates have called on the government to seek changes in the law to also impose manslaughter charges against those who violate pedestrian crossing safety rules.

Thirty members of road safety and anti-drink-driving networks gathered at Government House and lodged a petition with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon in his capacity as chairman of the national committee on road safety policy and prevention.

Theerapat Prayoonsit, permanent secretary at the office of the prime minister, was on hand to receive the petition.

The networks put forth the petition in response to the recent death of a doctor at a pedestrian crossing. Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an ophthalmologist with the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, was killed on Friday after being struck by a motorcycle ridden by an off-duty police lance corporal, Norawich Buadok.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... er-charges

Changing laws are all well and good, but they are essentially an exercise in futility if the 'enforcers' of such laws are a bunch of inept, corrupt, and lazy #$%@s

[HHTel]

There's nothing really wrong with the traffic laws in Thailand. It comes down to enforcement which is lacking and of course, money talks when involved in an accident.

Bringing the city speed limit down to 30kms (18 mph) will do nothing. In major cities here the traffic congestion barely allows speeds beyond that anyway.

In the UK, I believe, the speed limit in built up areas is 30 mph (around 48kms)

[Dannie Boy]

The deterrent in the UK is much greater - these days the minimum fine is £100 and 3 points on your licence, but the fine can be as much as 175% of your weekly salary up to a maximum of £2,500 and up to 6 points. Anybody caught speeding at over 100mph is often banned for driving for up to 56 days - some offenders, instead of a fine, may be offered a “speed-awareness”course - further details here
https://www.carwow.co.uk/guides/running ... lsrc=aw.ds

[Big Boy]

Will this actually help, or is it just a money making exercise? Currently, I won't stop if there's a motorcyclist in the vicinity. I know the chances of the motorcyclist also stopping is very unlikely, and will be a significant danger to pedestrians, especially tourists from a country where traffic regulations are obeyed.

Tens of thousand drivers in Bangkok face fines for encroaching onto zebra crossing

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/tens-of-th ... -crossing/

[buksida]

This would only work if there is a camera system on each crossing logging the traffic, collecting number plates of violators, and sending automated fines. The "police" won't do much as usual so can't see much coming out of it as the junta would rather spend its money on warplanes than traffic safety systems.

[Big Boy]

This would only work if there is a camera system on each crossing logging the traffic, collecting number plates of violators, and sending automated fines.

This would work for the police, as the guy who started this recent shite show didn't have a plate, and neither did the victim of my son's accident. I wonder how many other BIB abuse the licensing system.

[buksida]

Not really funny, but didn't factor that in - cops riding around with no plate or license, after all, who is going to pull them over!

[Nereus]

And then there is this:

Roadside vendor on pedestrian crossing sparks safety concerns

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... y-concerns

UBON RATCHATHANI: A photo of a street food stall with tables set up on a pedestrian crossing has sparked concern for customer safety, while a woman was hit by a car while using a zebra crossing at night in Samut Prakarn.

The photo was posted on Warin Chamrap Our Home's Facebook page on Thursday and was widely shared online.

lunch time

php1IUvWxAM.jpg (52.73 KiB) Viewed 934 times

[Big Boy]

We have the same thing much closer to home. Exactly the same thing at the crossing outside Wittyacomp School. Kids get about half way across the road, and then join the mob queuing for chicken. Not the busiest of roads, but a school crossing.

[buksida]

OPINION: LIFE IS CHEAP IN THAILAND AND EVEN CHEAPER ON THAI ROADS
Given that an average of two persons are killed every hour on Thai roads, according to the Thai Road Safety Center, some wonder why the recent tragic accident of Waraluck Supwatjariyakul struck so many chords.

Her death resonated with many and landed as front-page headline news for days as it exploded into collective anger and frustration among many Thais, particularly those in the urban areas.

Here are a few factors contributing to the collective angst which say a bit about the state of Thailand today. And what needs to be done about no many needless daily deaths on the roads.

...

Police are supposed to be law enforcers, but at times and again, some of them – too many of them actually – end up not just not respecting laws but abusing it. It is a variation on the same theme over and over again and people are sickened to death by it.

No wonder Thai-language Twitter was on fire. Thai hashtags critical of police such as “#WhatPoliceAreFor” trended a few days ago.

...

A real change in the safety of pedestrians and motorists will only drastically improve with sustained efforts by the state and the public pressuring the authorities, teaching both motorists and pedestrians to be more responsible and law abiding.

Setting up a new separate command structure that can demand cooperation from various state agencies to assist in reducing the number of daily deaths, with daily reports and press conferences aired on social media, daily analysis, comparing with good and bad practices of other nations and recommendations, might not be a bad idea.

The structure under the current Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) could be an example to be adjusted and applied. The fact that 1,239 people have been killed in the first 28 days of January alone and that Thailand is among the worst places on Earth when it comes to road safety should make the issue a national agenda.

It may take another generation or so as two more people, on an average, died on the roads within every hour – and the hour that I spent typing these words.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/ ... hai-roads/

[HHTel]

Get ready for more 'initiatives', more talk, and a continuance of no action.

It's not surprising when the police themselves are some of the worst 'law breakers'. They set the example and until they show that they abide by the law nothing will change.