Road Safety in Thailand

[Jun]

Link: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/2169 ... -both-ways

Road traffic deaths. Slightly surprising that Thailand manages to be even worse than Vietnam. From what I see, the driving standards in Vietnam are abysmal. Perhaps their population use the roads much less.

It would be interesting to see some independent analysis to figure out how much of the problem is due to poor driving & how much is due to exceptionally stupid stupid policies, like giving tax advantages to pick ups, so people end up travelling around sat in the back of them, instead of being in a proper car with real seats & safety belts.

For that matter, how does the US fare so badly against it's peer set (= developed), with traffic that moves a good 15mph slower than in Europe ?
Whilst the pick up is sadly prevalent there, I don't see Americans using pick ups for stupid purposes, like they do in Thailand.

Or perhaps the data set is dodgy. There are different ways of counting deaths.

[ceejay]

You could write a book about this. To start, Thailand's figures are probably understated against most other countries because, I believe, they only include deaths at the scene, where most countries figures include other directly attributable deaths.
Most of the casualties (about 80% I have read) are motor cyclists. I think what you may have is a very dangerous situation in Thailand where a lot of motorcycles and a lot of cars are sharing the same roads. Most countries tend to be more one or the other.
The core reason is terrible driving. Anyone can get a driving licence, the tests are notoriously easy to circumvent. Under age riders of motor bikes get round it by simply not bothering.
By terrible driving I mean the following, all of which I could take you to see on any one day in Chiang Mai and are more or less standard:
Passing on the inside
Weaving between lanes
Changing lanes without signalling (I am told, because if someone sees you signal, they will deliberately shut you out)
Racing traffic lights, and running them on red if the driver gets there just a little late
Making U-turns where it is specifically prohibited
Double (and triple!) parking on busy roads
As Jun says, large numbers of people riding in the back of pickups
Similarly (in proportion) large numbers of people riding on motorcycles
Motorcyclists and passengers not wearing helmets (How often have I seen someone riding a bike at night with his helmet in a basket at the front obscuring his headlamp)
The helmets mostly used here are, in any case, cheap junk.

Add to all this the regular reports of drunken drivers (especially at night) causing multiple deaths and the frequent bus crashes caused by drivers, who may have been working 12 hours or more on a run and are high on amphetamines to keep themselves awake, trying to control buses on twisting mountain roads.

Finally, a total lack of consideration for other road users - a lot of drivers here just won't give way, no matter how much sense it makes.

It makes it interesting being on the road here, which I am, most days of the week.

[Gaybutton]

Under age riders of motor bikes get round it by simply not bothering.
By terrible driving I mean the following, all of which I could take you to see on any one day in Chiang Mai and are more or less standard

Everything you wrote can also apply to Pattaya. In Pattaya, add the gazillion tour buses to the problems. In Pattaya I almost never see the police out there enforcing traffic regulations. I only rarely see them bothering to even set up checkpoints to catch the helmetless motorbike drivers anymore. What happened to that?

I attribute the problems to lack of enforcement, irresponsible parents allowing under age children to drive motorbikes - completely unsupervised - and no kind of driver education requirement whatsoever. Around here, it's just get the license and join the free-for-all. And if for some reason they can't get a license, what the hell - just drive anyway.

In Pattaya I believe the safest drivers are the motorbike taxis. I think they're even safer than the baht buses in that they don't block traffic, they don't stop just anywhere without warning, and since you're riding alone, you don't have to worry about whether a pickpocket happens to be sitting next to you. While I hear about motorbike accidents virtually every day and see incredibly reckless driving constantly, motorbike taxis are hardly ever involved in that. I truly believe the fear many farang have of riding on a motorbike taxi in reality is actually groundless. Just like the fear some people have of flying, yes, sometimes planes do crash. Most don't and the odds are no matter how often you fly you'll never be on one that does. From everything I read, see, and hear, the same can be said of the motorbike taxis.

[gerefan]

Motor Bike Taxis are safer when they have a passenger.
When they are returning to their stand they are driven as recklessly as other motor bikes. I have had several "incidents" with them when they are hurrying back to get their number on the rack before their colleague, both as a pedestrian and as a motor bike driver myself.

[mahjongguy]

"Passing on the inside"

I'm curious about this, especially since Yanks and Brits use opposite terminology for "inside" and "outside".

In Thailand and other left-side countries, the law says that if a vehicle ahead of you is stopped to make a right turn, you (in a car or on a bike) should pass on the curb side of that vehicle. But, if you just want to overtake a slower vehicle in front of you, you must pass it on its right (in the center of the road).

What we see here is that many bikes will come up behind you, go around you on the curb side, then whip in front and go around the next car on its right. All too often there's some other vehicle coming right at them and no way to avoid it.

[Captain Kirk]

It just makes me smile every time I see the title of this thread. Road safety in Thailand. Yeah there I go again.

[Jun]

I try & avoid motorcycle taxis for 2 reasons:

1 Buses, baht buses and walking tend to work well when on holiday

2 Many UK travel insurance policies have exclusions that do not provide cover for riding a motorcycle unless it is driven by a holder of a British motorcycle license. Even if I am in Thailand.
Just to be clear -it's cover for medical costs I want.
Although eventually, I found the "Debenhams" branded polices have cover for machines of up to 125cc. No idea what is common on motorcycle taxis. Are they under 125cc ?
Or can the capacity be whatever I like, providing I pay the correct sum for the police report which goes to the insurer?

My success in avoiding them is at the level where I don't think I've ever tried a motorcycle taxi in Thailand, although I've had a few in Cambodia, when Tuk Tuks can sometimes suddenly become scarce, just at the point where one is needed. Then when I do get on one, I tend to go for the cute young handsome riders & hold on real tight.

Back on the road safety, another SE Asia speciality is wearing a helmet, but without the strap fastened. So they have 95% of the inconvenience from wearing a helmet & 0% of the benefits, since it's just not going to be in the right place when the rider needs to USE it.

[christianpfc]

Road traffic deaths. Slightly surprising that Thailand manages to be even worse than Vietnam. From what I see, the driving standards in Vietnam are abysmal. Perhaps their population use the roads much less.

Vietnam has 99% helmet coverage (my count last visit). I wonder how they got their people to wear helmets, but everyone complies: mocy taxi provided helmet for customer and two friends refused to drive me without helmet.

I try & avoid motorcycle taxis for 2 reasons...

Very simple: when riding mocy as passenger, my head is the upmost point and my knees are the outmost points. And there is no protection from sun.

[Jun]

Vietnam has 99% helmet coverage (my count last visit). I wonder how they got their people to wear helmets, but everyone complies: mocy taxi provided helmet for customer and two friends refused to drive me without helmet.

Possibly a little bit of education and an awful lot of effective no-nonsense policing.
Pass a law, then enforce it with fines or worse for all offenders.

You couldn't do that in a country where the main objective of the police is to pursue the biggest tea money opportunities and not do much else. [If such a country comes to mind ?]