News Forum - In Bangkok, almost 90% of cars, motorbikes, public vehicles still don’t stop at zebra crossings

[Thaiger]

A health organisation and a road safety organisation teamed up to study how many cars, motorbikes, and public vehicles stop for pedestrians at 12 zebra crossings in Bangkok. They found that altogether, 89% wouldn’t stop. For motorcycles, the rate was 92% of 6,449 motorcycles that wouldn’t stop. For cars, the rate was 86% of 7,619. For public vehicles it was 80% of 285. The organisations observed zebra crossings in 12 popular, busy areas, including Ekkamai and Sukhumvit. The organisations did the survey after a motorbike hit and killed an eye doctor at a zebra crossing in January. The director said […]

The story In Bangkok, almost 90% of cars, motorbikes, public vehicles still don’t stop at zebra crossings as seen on Thaiger News.

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

50 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

install traffic lights

It only works to a limited extent and  give you a false sense of security when motorbikes drive slalom around the cars.

But it's not only the vehicles and bikes that are at fault here, pedestrians cross roads anywhere as they please and a red light doesn't seem to mean stop to everyone.. .

The problem is the mindset, "I'm gonna be first!!"

[Loong]

That means that 10% of drivers DO stop for pedestrians at the crossings. That seems high to me.

I use zebra crossings on a daily basis here in Khon Kaen and I have never had a single driver stop for me.

[ThaiEyes]

“Deputy PM Prawit also said he plans to start pedestrian safety education programs in schools.”

How about driver’s safety education programs?

[riclag]

Waste of paint ,actually !

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Thaiger said:

Deputy PM Prawit also said he plans to start pedestrian safety education programs in schools.

Will it be the usual multiple choice questions?

The best place to cross:
a) a motorway
b) a railway
c) a main road
d) a zebra crossing

How do you know when it's safe to cross:
a)  when a vehicle stops to allow you to cross
b) when you've prayed to buddha and can cross with impunity
c) when you're wearing your lucky amulet (with new AA batteries)
d) when hell freezes over

I take it no one will fail either, as per other subjects. Not the theory anyway.
Passing the practical will be conditional on getting to the other side of the road alive.

<For the hard-of-learning: The text above may contain traces of sarcasm> 

[Easterneye]

This is a missed opportunity for Thailand to reclaim some lost revenue .

Fine the brain dead’s 5000 bht everyday all day long 

Yet again loony worthless policies that are spouted out from the regime and never applied ( edit wait till the next westerner comes along )

[BBY]

Try the one outside 7-11, Second road Jomtien. Sometimes you can’t even use it because it seem to be the ideal place to stop and pop in to 7 for shopping.
when you can use it, you have to be very careful as it’s the only ground level gap in the center reservation, so you must also avoid the motorbike’s using it (especially when the lights are red) as a place to U-turn. 
put a camera there, it will make thousands every day. 
will the offenders ever pay the fines, well I guess that’s another question for another day. 

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

3 hours ago, Thaiger said:

A health organisation and a road safety organisation teamed up to study how many cars, motorbikes, and public vehicles stop for pedestrians at 12 zebra crossings in Bangkok.

But not the Thai Police …

.. I did see the Thai police at a zebra crossing in CM the other day, only because there were people repainting them, but only did 3 of the 4, so paint may be an issue as well.

[Jason]

Or you could replace zebra crossings with traffic lights.....

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Or you could replace zebra crossings with traffic lights.....

IIRC didn't they do that in Pattaya years ago, and motorists just drove straight through the red lights.

[Travisa]

It’s not just cross walks.  You’re at risk being a pedestrian anywhere here.  I read a quote from someone here that said “road weren’t built with pedestrians in mind.”  BS.  Nothing was built here with pedestrians in mind.  

[Fanta]

Also need to remind people about the dangers of crossing a road. Saw this at Reddit 

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/slv6vg/how_to_raise_awareness_among_pedestrians/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 

[astro]

47 minutes ago, Travisa said:

It’s not just cross walks.  You’re at risk being a pedestrian anywhere here.  I read a quote from someone here that said “road weren’t built with pedestrians in mind.”  BS.  Nothing was built here with pedestrians in mind.  

Not even sidewalks and pedestrian overpasses?

[Stonker]

The funny thing is that in Vietnam (at least in HCMC) people just walk across the road virtually anywhere, straight through packs of motorbikes, without stopping or making any apparent move to avoid the traffic, and they never seem to get hit.

I've no idea how they do it.

[JamesR]

When in Thailand I do not stop at zebra crossings while driving my care if someone is wait to cross especially in Phuket as it would be dangerous for people who do not know the Thai system at zerbra crossings, I am not taking of what should be done but what is the norm.

If I stop the person may enter the crossing thinking everyone else will stop and while I am being overtake by other cars they may be injured.

The way it works is if you are a pedestrian you wait for a gap before crossing or you and others in a group start to cross and force the cars to stop.

They did install lights at two zebra crossings in Patong but they were ignored by drivers and motorcyclists and I saw many farang tourists in near misses. They turned the lights off in the end as you have to first train people how to use them before installing them.

Here in the UK 99% of cars stop when they see people waiting to cross, and in the last few days the law has been changed where people have the right of way over a car turning into the road they are about to cross even if there is no marked crossing points.

I tested the new laws yesterday by crossing the roads very tentatively and everyone stopped. 

[HiuMak]

Moral of the story.... pedestrian crossing are useless, cross anywhere but with eyes wide open 

[HiuMak]

Not only in Thailand.....

[gion]

 

no surprise, because 90% of car and motorbike drivers have never attended a driving school and have no idea about the traffic rules. We have a lot of people without work and the cities and municipalities could, if they wanted to, put people on zebra crossings with protective vests and signs to stop traffic and guide pedestrians safely across the street, this is practiced in x countries and costs much less than one traffic light system.

 

[ExpatPattaya]

The love affair with the personal automobile started in the 1930's in America, it is time to move forward.  Traffic is a stain on humanity, almost 100 years and we cannot find a way to move people from point A to point B without burning fossil fuels?  Come on !  We have EV's. EV's can be driven autonomously, EV's can have sensors that detect an object and stop automatically.  etc...  The world has been hypnotised by Big Oil, Big Auto, to spend large portions of their incomes on personal automobiles and the oonly ones profiting are those corporations who got you addicted to the personal car.

Bad for the environment, bad for pocket book, and bad for state of mind, constantly having to look right, left, in front, and behind every time you go somewhere.  It is more like work that the taughted pleasures of owning your own car.  You are not stuck in traffic - you are the traffic

[think-and-ask]

often, traffic not looks, as on this news-picture.
and after corona /now, news on T.ell a V.ision etc. has 0 credibility anyway.

figth against drivers as meat eaters for years ( goal of corrupt-governments
in world, with NGO, and WEF = not own anything ), is obvious, so it will fail.

this green, not care about climate /weather,
see, harmful technology for change it is never mentioned.

many animals are killed, and not even brought in shop. and traffic is bad,
and in some countries very bad. but bigger problems are never sovled by those.

Edited February 7, 2022 by think-and-ask

[Chatogaster]

42 minutes ago, think-and-ask said:

often, traffic not looks, as on this news-picture.
and after corona /now, news on T.ell a V.ision etc. has 0 credibility anyway.

figth against drivers as meat eaters for years ( goal of corrupt-governments
in world, with NGO, and WEF = not own anything ), is obvious, so it will fail.

this green, not care about climate /weather,
see, harmful technology for change it is never mentioned.

many animals are killed, and not even brought in shop. and traffic is bad,
and in some countries very bad. but bigger problems are never sovled by those.

 

I like your almost poetic puzzles (no sarcasm intended). Here's my attempt at solving this one:

1. Don't believe everything you're told.
2. Corruption and bad organization stand in the way of improving road safety.
3. Don't believe you're told everything (about effects of technology on climate change).
4. There are worse things than bad traffic but they are ignored.

 

[garyw007]

They need to change the law, to give all pedestrians the right-of-way. This has been done in the United States in California and other states, where anybody who enters a crosswalk, all cars in either direction, must stop and give the Pedestrian, the right-of-way. Major crosswalks also have stop lights that are controlled by the Pedestrian on demand. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by garyw007

[Grumpish]

2 hours ago, garyw007 said:

 Major crosswalks also have stop lights that are controlled by the Pedestrian on demand. 

They have those (at least there are some on Beach Road in Patong). Thai drivers don't understand those either. Points as well as fixed penalty fines might work, as in the UK - 12 points and your licence gets suspended, and points on your licence makes insurance much more expensive.

[Poolie]

35 minutes ago, Grumpish said:

They have those (at least there are some on Beach Road in Patong). Thai drivers don't understand those either. Points as well as fixed penalty fines might work, as in the UK - 12 points and your licence gets suspended, and points on your licence makes insurance much more expensive.

Except a fair proportion of offences come as 'no licence' offences.