Thailand

Most motorcycle accidents in Thailand involved cars cutting in front of traffic

Published

4 weeks ago

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Thaiger

FILE PHOTO

Thai roads are among the most deadly in the world and most of the fatal accidents involve motorcycles. A recent study found that 80% of motorcycle accidents are related to cars cutting in front of oncoming traffic.

Honda and Yamaha partnered with the Thailand Accident Research Centre, or TARC, for the “In-depth Accident Investigation in Thailand,” reviewing 1,000 motorcycle accidents that took place between 2016 and 2020. The study was intended to help find solutions to help reduce the number of accidents.

The study found that most motorcycle riders involved in accidents were riding at normal speeds of around 20kph to 60kph. Researchers say most were not under the influence of alcohol. Many victims were young riders.

More than 40% of riders who died motorcycle accidents suffered severe injuries, with 62% of those riders not wearing a helmet. TARC recommends that Thai police tighten enforcement on those riding without a helmet. They also recommend that there should be a speed limit of 80kph for motorcycles as well as stricter regulations on motorbike modifications.

TARC recommends Thai officials come up with new road designs that focus on safe motorcycle riding by limiting the mix of motorcycles and cars at accident-prone areas like U-turns, intersections and highway entrances and exits.

TARC also suggests Thai officials review driving courses to add more focus on skills that help with a driver’s judgement and decision making.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

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News Categories: Road deaths Thailand

18 Comments

David Jackson

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 1:35 pm

I have been riding motorcycles since passing my full UK motorcycle test in 1987.

My daily commute from Samrong to Hua Mak is fully of incidents and, I would definitely agree with this article as every single day between one and three vehicles pull out on me. I am riding at around 50 km/h and usually wear a bright yellow high visibilty jacket along Sri Nakarin Road.

It is as though these drivers do not care for my safety; their journey is always more important than mine although I always arrive before them and enjoy gently waking them up from their mobile phone call with a gentle tap on the window and asking them in perfect Thai to go and get their eyes tested which often results in a fun and amusing response.

Thai people are the best people in the world face to face…but, behind the wheel of a car?!

Reply
Timmytime

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 1:49 pm

And thai drivers of cars etc then, they are if anything just as bad if not even worse on the roads. Speeding, driving drunk, no licence, have learnt to drive by an uncle etc etc. To keep it simple, people in this country cant drive worth s,it. Never have never will.

Reply
Jan Schauseil

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Cars are bigger and more expensive than motorcycles and thus have a higher status and are higher up in the cultural hierarchy of vehicles. This gives cars the right of way before smaller vehicles and all insignificant pedestrians. Even when the car enters a main road from a smaller road. When a car or truck wants to pull out onto a main road, smaller vehicles driving on that main road are expected to slow down and give way. Cultural hierarchy comes before any official rules and regulations.

Reply
Lv

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Not surprising…almost daily battle avoiding cars driving recklessly

Reply
Craig

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:06 pm

Yes, be careful and even if you can’t wear a face mask, put a helmet on. No look left turns and no looking period, are the standard here. The road traffic is very bad for motorcycles even though the roads are nice and go through some beautiful places.

Reply
Phuket Tony

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:37 pm

Don’t worry… Mai Bpen Rai…

Just keep wearing your face mask instead of a helmet as Covid is the only thing concerning in the world now..

Reply
Amy Sukwan

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 3:54 pm

I wonder if my husband’s fatal motorbike accident in 2018 was among those studied. It was in the time frame anyways.
My pet peeve lately is that police and officials seem way more interested in enforcing nonsensical and probably dangerous mask wearing while driving a motorbike, as opposed to helmet wearing, which could actually save lives. About 90% of motorbike drivers in Phuket are wearing facemasks, while only about 40% are wearing helmets. This is completely upside down…especially as facemasks, arguably of very limited utility anyways, might impair vision or cause brain fog in ways that increase accidents!

Reply
Gazmo

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 3:59 pm

As a motorcyclist myself I agree the compulsory wearing of crash helmets will help save lives but with a view to this article the faults in 80% of the accidents lie with car drivers cutting in front of on coming traffic so nothing to do with speeding motorcycles. The suggested remedy is to limit motorcycle speeds which will do what exactly ? No point in the study if you ignore the results and the drunk, erratic and plain stupid on the road continue behind the wheel.

Reply
stapoz

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 4:10 pm

What’s the difference if they use helmet or not. In Thai, riders wear the helmet without fastening to the neck. The helmet falls off the head in a collision. This is exactly the same as ride without the helmet. No difference at all.

Reply
Craig

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 5:06 pm

It’s interesting someone says “don’t worry”. Having been in a motorcycle crash and the hospital for 50 subsequent days, I’m guessing someone who says “don’t worry” really has no clue anyway.

Reply
David Mann

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 6:14 pm

What frustrates me about the driving issues in Thailand is that it’s easily solved. It’s not like the Thais are trying to find a cure for cancer, or even a vaccine for Covid19. The world (even the Asian parts) know how to reduce road accidents. All they have to do is ask and I’m sure people will give free advice. It’s just about the will to do it, which is where my frustration starts. Why wouldn’t the government (especially the ministers charged with road safety) do something? It wouldn’t be fixed overnight but over the next 10 years you could cut accidents by 50% easily. It’s almost as if they are proud of being number 1 or 2 in the world for road accidents. Odd to say the least.

Reply
Sanuk

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 8:54 pm

Been to Thailand many times but never once rode a motorbike. I don’t care to take the risk and am fine using other modes of transportation to better ensure my safety.
I’m from the States, rode a motorcycle for about a year some ten years ago, it got old pretty quick to me.

Reply
Pedro

Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 9:30 pm

True Amy. A face mask is more to prevent the wearer from spreading the virus, which actually dissipates in the open air, (so we are told). Difficult to pass on the virus doing 50kph in traffic when not wearing a mask, but easy to kill yourself by not wearing a helmet doing the same speed. Cue Issan John to tell me that I am wrong 🙂

Reply
Harvey

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 7:26 am

All the discomfort without the protection.

Reply
Allen

Friday, March 19, 2021 at 8:42 am

After more than 50 years driving a car and riding a motorbike in Thailand I would say the biggest problem is lack of enforcement of rules. Many motorbikes ride on the wrong side of the street (making it difficult for cars to avoid) and cut across lane without looking at traffic. U-Turns are a real problem since motorbikes and cars turn into them from any lane.

Reply
dawayitis

Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 1:04 am

The problem as mentioned is lack of enforcement and even more so against cars. It’s the wild west here and all the police do is to set up checkstops to catch drunk falang or poor thais without proper documents or helmets. Yet cars speed like they are in the Indy 500 with windshields tinted so ridiculously dark they can barely see in the daytime let alone night. But the tactic works as the police are so scared they may pull over and possibly have to ticket someone who is “important”. The first rule I tell anyone driving in Thailand is there are no rules.

Reply
Mr Peter Miller

Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 9:30 am

all good suggestions. ALSO it should be mandatory to turn of the headlight

Reply
Shane

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 9:39 am

The majority of local drivers here drive like maniacs, with no road sense whatsoever. With motorcycle riders, they’re going to come off second best. Unfortunately, I actually think it’s getting worse (I’ve been driving her for 30+ years, accident free), with the motorbike delivery drivers being the main culprits. There’s a school in my Mooban and the kids on motorbikes also drive with abandon, so it’s unlikely to improve anytime soon. I’ve had near misses with them several times, through no fault of my own. They’re simply reckless.

Reply

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Road deaths

Songkran’s 7 dangerous days campaign #6: 313 road accidents, 29 deaths

Published

12 hours ago

Friday, April 16, 2021

Neill Fronde

Songkran’s 7 dangerous days campaign #6: 313 road accidents, 29 deaths | Thaiger

FILE PHOTO: Bangkok Traffic - stay safe driving home from the Songkran holiday.

As we enter the final stretch of Songkran’s infamous “seven dangerous days”, 29 deaths were recorded and 313 road accidents across Thailand. Officials warn we are not yet through the yearly dangerous week of holiday travel that typically results in a sharp increase in traffic accidents, injuries and death. The silver lining of Covid-19 is that travel is significantly down, and so are fatalities. But as people return from their holidays back to work in their home towns, authorities warn of increased accidents. They are setting up more traffic checkpoints and sending out additional traffic officials to watch over dangerous routes in an attempt to prevent more accidents.

DAILY FIGURES

On the 6th day, the Ministry of Interior recorded 313 road accidents, with 310 injuries and 29 deaths total. In their daily press briefing, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior went over the figures and causes. Not surprisingly, nearly 89% of accidents involved motorcycles. Different from previous days, drunk driving surpassed speeding as the number 1 cause of accidents, at a nearly even 31% and 30% respectively.

Late afternoon and early evening remained the most dangerous time to be on the roads, with almost 26% of road accidents occurring between 4 pm and 8 pm. Another noticeable change from previous statistics, whereas yesterday highway accidents were nearly even to local community crashes, today 43% of accidents occurred on local roads in villages and only 31% of accidents were on national highways. Again about 62% of accidents took place on straight routes. One last statistical change: the most accident-prone demographic skewed older with 30-somethings being overtaken by 40 to 49 year olds as the primary accident age bracket, about 16%.

Nakhon Sri Thammarat, with 15 road accidents yesterday, held the morbid distinction of the province with the most accidents, a title it has held several times. Prachin Buri had the most injuries yesterday with 15 reported. And 5 provinces tied for most fatalities with 2 each: Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nong Khao, and Rayong.

TOTALS

As we near the end of the “seven dangerous days”, Thailand has recorded a total of 2,113 road accidents so far during this week. 2,116 people were reported to have been injured, while there were a total of 238 fatalities.

Nakhon Sri Thammarat has retained its lead, being the province with both the most accidents reported – 91 in total – and the highest number of injuries – 96 total. Chiang Mai is now the most deadly province, with 9 total road fatalities over the past 6 days.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News

Thailand

First 5 days of Songkran see more than 3,700 motorists booked for drink-driving

Published

18 hours ago

Friday, April 16, 2021

Maya Taylor

First 5 days of Songkran see more than 3,700 motorists booked for drink-driving | Thaiger

PHOTO: Kathy on Flickr

Over 3,700 motorists have been charged with drink driving offences during the first 5 days of the Songkran holiday. Witthawan Sunthornkajit from the Department of Probation says that between April 10 and 14, 3,741 motorists received suspended sentences for driving under the influence. 1,648 of those were on April 14, the highest number for the 5-day period. The worst-offending provinces were Chaiyaphum, in the north-east of the country, with 290 drink-driving incidents, Chiang Rai in the north, with 264, and Buriram in the north-east, with 251.

“Defendants in 3,730 DUI cases had consumed alcohol, while in the other 11, offenders had taken narcotic substances. 19 defendants were ordered to wear electronic monitoring tags and banned from leaving home between 11pm and 4am for 15 days, while their driver’s licences have been suspended for 6 months.”

According to Witthawan, the court will order anyone showing signs of alcohol dependency during their probation to attend rehab. Nation Thailand reports that the Probation Department has deployed 439 volunteers, consisting of staff members and drink-driving offenders currently on probation, at 65 checkpoints around the country. They are tasked with supplying drivers with water and information leaflets on Covid-19 disease prevention measures.

This year, over 8 million vehicles travelled in and out of Bangkok during the Songkran holiday, despite most celebrations being cancelled nationwide due to the resurgence of the Covid-19 virus. And by day 5 of the holiday, in Thailand’s other, never-ending pandemic, the Kingdom had reported 1,795 road traffic accidents, with 1,818 injured and 192 fatalities.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

Road deaths

Songkran road safety day 5: 37 deaths, 330 accidents

Published

1 day ago

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Neill Fronde

Songkran road safety day 5: 37 deaths, 330 accidents | Thaiger

FILE PHOTO: Stay safe driving home from Songkran holidays.

On the fifth day of Songkran’s infamous “seven dangerous days”, there were 330 road accidents resulting in 37 deaths and 328 injuries reported across Thailand. Songkran brings an increase in travel, and with it, an unfortunate increase in traffic accidents and road deaths. With Covid-19 severely curbing festivities this year, figures are generally down, but the government continues to encourage its Songkran road safety campaign.

New revelations today from the Director-General of Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation who observed that inter-provincial roads and secondary backroads are more dangerous and deadly statistically, data he attributes to the amount of drinking and driving on these roads. The DDPM has ordered surveys of these roads and high-risk areas that produce higher than average injury and death rates. The departments in these areas will survey the areas for the remainder of the safety campaign, as road accidents may increase in the coming days as holiday travellers begin to return home to work.

DAILY FIGURES

As usual, speeding was the top cause for accidents with nearly 35% of crashes attributed to it, with driving while drunk accounting for nearly 32% of all accidents. Once again motorbikes were involved in the overwhelming majority of road accidents, with 86% of crashes. And again, straight routes were the location of 61% of accidents, a wide majority. 37% of yesterday’s road accidents were on national highways while slightly more accidents, 38%, occurred in local communities and villages.

Accidents were most frequent during the late afternoon and early evening again, with 27% of reported accidents happening between 4 pm and 8 pm. 18% of injuries and deaths were between 30 and 39 years old, the most common demographic.

Pathum Thani was the most fatal province today, with 4 reported road deaths. Prachuap Khiri Khan had the highest rate of road accidents, with 12 incidents within the province. 13 was the number of the most injuries in a province, with that figure being tied by Kanchanaburi, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Tak.

TOTALS

After 5 days of the Songkran “seven dangerous days” there have been 1,795 accidents reported. 1,818 people were injured on the roads of Thailand in the last 5 days, with 192 road deaths reported nationally.

Nakhon Sri Thammarat has become the most dangerous province, with its 76 road accidents being the most of any province as well as its 82 injuries topping the list of injuries by province. The most deadly provinces were Bangkok, Khon Kaen, and Pathum Thani.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News