News Forum - Road safety group says bad roads to blame for many motorbike accidents

[KaptainRob]

41 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Will never happen due to Thai mentality. It’s not the Thai roads, it’s the Thai system that’s to blame. 

Absolutely correct.  There's very little wrong with the roads in Thailand compared to many ASEAN countries and even Aus or NZ.  Considering the number of roads and volume of traffic carried I'm pleasantly surprised  by the numerous upgrade projects across the country which put many western countries to shame.

The only downside is poor maintenance in some regions although a long monsoon season plays havoc on tarmacadam surfaces.

I've driven many 1000s of kms on roads across all continents except the Americas and southern Italy, Vietnam and Australia* have some terrible roads.

*NSW New England highway for one and many central QLD roads are very dangerous, no central median or nature strip and poor surfaces, many unsealed.

[HiuMak]

17 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Did you have a helmet on? Did the chicken?

I was hit in the stomach by a pigeon in the UK while on my way to work on a motorbike. It really winded me for a few minutes. I'm guessing the pigeon suffered more seriously injuries.

wear a bullet proof vest next time

[gummy]

1 hour ago, Faraday said:

Is that where people sit 'round a campfire singing Kumbaya?

No, its how trolls gather to discuss how to impact this forum.

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, HiuMak said:

wear a bullet proof vest next time

Or maybe a pullet-proof vest.

[Faraday]

6 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Or maybe a pullet-proof vest.

Are you French....?

[LoongFred]

12 hours ago, Khunwilko said:

This is very true - unfortunately the standard of road design and engineering in Thailand is very poor. Heavy vehicles and rain can cause considerable surface damage and it is often weeks or months before this is repaired - motorcycles are particularly vulnerable to the damages, in particular linear damage such as rutting etc.

OMG  they seam to be going full throttle with road repairs in my area. Always a new project, which are a pain to navigate. 

[miblish51]

Do your own research, Maya.  The real reason for so many motorcycle deaths is alcohol. This is well-documented, 

[cowslip]

19 hours ago, miblish51 said:

Do your own research, Maya.  The real reason for so many motorcycle deaths is alcohol. This is well-documented, 

Alcohol involvement is high - about 33 % to 45 % depending on which report you believe. Most countries get it down to round 25%. (USA about 28%).However the problem with alcohol is that it imparts your judgement and reaction time - obviously if you hit a rut or pothole you ability to react is impaired if you have been drinking. ... but the primary cause could still be the surface of the road.

The issue here with road safety is that if you have an incident on Thai roads the chances are it will have more serious repercussions than in many other countries.

[cowslip]

21 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

There's very little wrong with the roads in Thailand

Thai roads even new ones are badly designed, bad constructed and badly maintained. Unfortunately they also encourage high speed driving.

[Faraday]

17 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

Alcohol involvement is high - about 33 % to 45 % depending on which report you believe.

*Citation needed*

[Soidog]

20 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

Alcohol involvement is high - about 33 % to 45 % depending on which report you believe. Most countries get it down to round 25%. (USA about 28%).However the problem with alcohol is that it imparts your judgement and reaction time - obviously if you hit a rut or pothole you ability to react is impaired if you have been drinking. ... but the primary cause could still be the surface of the road.

The issue here with road safety is that if you have an incident on Thai roads the chances are it will have more serious repercussions than in many other countries.

I’d like to see the report showing 33%-45% is due to drink driving. Do you have a link to that report please? I would think in Thailand it is over 50%. There is simply no social stigma whatsoever when people drink and drive; in fact it’s often openly encouraged. 

[Smithydog]

One of the reasons it is hard to determine the actual causes of road accidents in Thailand is that data has been collated only for specific reasons as detailed in this article from the Thailand Development Research Institute from late last year.

https://tdri.or.th/en/2020/11/road-accidents-biggest-health-crisis/

It identifies how data is collated by three separate Thai agencies as an example, but not linked to give a comprehensive view of the reasons for so many road deaths and injuries.

Until that this done, all of us will likely judge from our perspective and experience what we think is the issue and we could simply be working on the wrong solution for the wrong problem.

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

Thailand has the highest percentage of motorbike ownership in the world. 87% of Thai households own one. With that high of a percentage, it is to be expected that there would be a high amount of deaths contributed to them. Bad roads, driver behavior, etc all play a role. But the biggest factor in the amount of motorbike deaths is first due to the amount of motorbikes. 

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-that-ride-motorbikes.html

[KaptainRob]

10 minutes ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

Thailand has the highest percentage of motorbike ownership in the world. 87% of Thai households own one. With that high of a percentage, it is to be expected that there would be a high amount of deaths contributed to them. Bad roads, driver behavior, etc all play a role. But the biggest factor in the amount of motorbike deaths is first due to the amount of motorbikes. 

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-that-ride-motorbikes.html

That data appears to be 7 years old and whilst %'s may not have changed too much I'd hazard a guess that Vietnam and Indonesia may have eclipsed Thailand by now. 

Last Vn visit the people we spoke to seemed to all be saving for a new motorbike.  A car was not even considered due to congestion, lack of parking and costs, compared with Thailand where low deposit (+ cash back scheme) and low % repayments saw an explosion in 1st car ownership.  As of 2021, 98 million Vietnamese own approx  49 million motorbikes.

The difference in road deaths (data) between Asian countries is probably not available however the poor quality of Vn roads and congestion, ensures riders speeds are quite a lot lower than Thailand.  I'd say Indonesia is similar although I have no knowledge of the major cities.  My opinion is that deaths in Thailand will be higher on a per capita basis due to the excellent quality of road surfaces.

[Marc26]

3 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

That data appears to be 7 years old and whilst %'s may not have changed too much I'd hazard a guess that Vietnam and Indonesia may have eclipsed Thailand by now. 

Last Vn visit the people we spoke to seemed to all be saving for a new motorbike.  A car was not even considered due to congestion, lack of parking and costs, compared with Thailand where low deposit (+ cash back scheme) and low % repayments saw an explosion in 1st car ownership.  As of 2021, 98 million Vietnamese own approx  49 million motorbikes.

The difference in road deaths (data) between Asian countries is probably not available however the poor quality of Vn roads and congestion, ensures riders speeds are quite a lot lower than Thailand.  I'd say Indonesia is similar although I have no knowledge of the major cities.  My opinion is that deaths in Thailand will be higher on a per capita basis due to the excellent quality of road surfaces.

Vietnamese drivers, well at least on the MB's, are much more accommodating drivers 

 

I rented a MB in Hanoi and man, being in with a 1000 other MB's was a "how the hell did I end up here" moment

 

But it is way easier to ride a MB there than it looks

Vietnamese will allow you in, they keep a reasonable speed 

Much more courteous drivers than Thais, IMO

[KaptainRob]

5 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Vietnamese drivers, well at least on the MB's, are much more accommodating drivers 

I rented a MB in Hanoi and man, being in with a 1000 other MB's was a "how the hell did I end up here" moment

But it is way easier to ride a MB there than it looks

Vietnamese will allow you in, they keep a reasonable speed 

Much more courteous drivers than Thais, IMO

Exactly our experience too, and quite fun once used to it.  Saw one bingle but such low speed there was no injury except to the bike's plastic trim.  Out on the *cough* highways (not including the airport road), the potholes, unsealed surfaces and slow farm equipment ensure very slow speeds.   

One young girl told us she spent an hour riding in to work each day, for a 12 hour shift, and another hour home to her village at night.  She could not afford to share rent in Hanoi and save for a new bike.

One Police helmet-checkpoint we saw officers kicking down any rider who didn't slow down to stop.

[Smithydog]

Forget the potholes. Every driver should have to drive for 30 mins on a rural road.

If they can navigate their way through and avoid the potholes that will swallow your car, chickens, dogs, cows, all running out at you in an instant, tractors, blind corners, cars stopping suddenly with no indication, dogs, half-pulled over cars, slow-moving cars, bikes (both motorised and human powered happily weaving across the road at will (and often steered by someone not yet eligible for high school), pedestrians, dogs, water covered roads, people drying rice on half the road, and through splashes of water like during Songkran, all whilst maintaining a speed well over the posted speed limit, they deserve to get a licence! 

Now where is my jetpack when I need it!

Did I mention the dogs!

[longwood50]

Bad roads may contribute to motorcycle accidents and fatalities, however it is the driving behavior of the motorcycle riders that is the primary cause.  They weave in and out of traffic as if everyone can see them and avoid them.  They pass on both the right and left side at high speed.  I have seen on Sukhumvit several times where a motorcycle in the far left lane gets to a traffic light and crosses in front of 4 lanes of traffic to their right to make a turn.  And lets not forget that a significant portion of the motorcycle riders do not wear a helmet.  

[Jason]

Any experienced motorbike rider would know that a motorcyclist should ride in the tyre track on either left or right of the centre of a lane...never in the centre as that's where cars leak oil. Thailand is the exact opposite of my country where cars are in the overwhelming majority. It's cars, trucks and buses that create the greatest wear on roads. Road maintenance has it's part to play among many other things.

[jwr]

Roads are shit in the mountains. Driving down from a campsite and I just got charged for "reckless driving" on the worlds slowest slide out. Going 10km/h down a slick, steep road with leaves on it. My bike slide out on a switch back and my passenger shattered his ankle. It turns out, no matter the reason, the police in CM claim reckless driving if anyone gets injured. They said if there are pot holes or obstetrical in the road it's the drivers fault for not getting off the bike and walking. Funny thing is, the ambulance that came to get us also slide on the turn and everyone who hopped out with the stretcher fell like dominoes. But you know, it's still user error. This makes me wonder how many road condition caused accidents go unreported or blamed as "reckless driving". How can the government make any improvements when the blame is always user error?

[billywillyjones]

On 10/22/2021 at 5:22 PM, KaptainRob said:

Fortunately the road maintenance problem does not extend to all regions and seems more prolific in the tourist areas of Pattaya and Phuket for $ome reason. 

Pattaya roads are probably the worst in Thailand due to the ridiculous and failed installation of drainage gates in the middle of roads all over Pattaya.  They are now sinking or wearing away creating obstacles to be veered away from and avoided by most motorcycles and cars.  In addition the roads are scattered with large sheets of metal covering holes that will cause accidents as soon as moisture is on those sheets.  Obvioulsy someone benefitting greatly from these contracts and it is not the citizens.

As for Phuket their roads are far better.

[KaptainRob]

4 minutes ago, billywillyjones said:

As for Phuket their roads are far better.

Phuket has the advantage of better surface drainage for all but Patong which, like Pattaya, floods easily due to lack of town planning and engineering.

[billywillyjones]

13 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Phuket has the advantage of better surface drainage for all but Patong which, like Pattaya, floods easily due to lack of town planning and engineering.

I travel many nice asphalt roads all over phuket and krabi why this need for concrete and metal grates all over pattaya... I think we know the answer....

[Griff1315]

Bad roads in some areas could possibly cause a few accidents.

Poor levels of the policing of traffic laws is a definite cause....

[billywillyjones]

5 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

Bad roads in some areas could possibly cause a few accidents.

Poor levels of the policing of traffic laws is a definite cause....

And let's not forget the lack of any enforcement and windshields tinted so dark it is ridiculously dangerous to drive at night.