News Forum - Road safety campaign aimed at Thailand’s motorbike riders

[Soidog]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:09 AM, JohninDubin said:

Excuse my ignorance, but what is "lane splitting"?

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Good question @JohninDubin. 
 

Filtering or lane splitting is the fine art of threading your motorcycle between traffic to make progress. One of the biggest perks we riders get on the road is our ability to continue when traffic begins to build up, and needless to say, it comes with numerous benefits

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 5:10 AM, javada88 said:

Bangkok Post: 'around 80% of accidents with moto bikes result in death'.

This must - in my opinion - be incorrect. This sentence should undoubtely have been something like: 'in about 80% of all traffic accidents moto bikes are involved', or another sentence with a similar meaning.

If realy 80% of all accidents involving moto bikes resulted in death, the total number of people dying in a traffic accident in Thailand, would be much higher then the numbers that are published yearly.

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I too was wondering about that 80% figure.

Just thought I'd mention a true story of a very pretty girl I knew in Pattaya who weighed in at about 50kgs. She'd think nothing of consuming massive copious amounts of Lady drinks and if she didn't have a "customer", would get on her scooter and drive home without the benefit of a helmet. Twice she fell of her bike, breaking the same leg on both occasions. Her lack of mobility led to massive weight gain, and the last time, I saw her she was tipping the scales at about 90kg.

The last time I saw her, I wouldn't have known her and she had to give me reminders of who she was. I bought her a couple of LD's for old time's sake, but when she propositioned me about bar-fining her, in the best traditions of the Sunday tabloids, I made my excuses and left.

[Changnam43]

I remember going on a ride from Bangkok to Kao Yai organised by Ducati Thonglor.

Other riders were lane splitting and jumping from lane to lane in moving traffic on a three lane highway at anything up to about 120 kph.

I very quickly decided to turn around and go home.

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:18 AM, Soidog said:

Good question @JohninDubin. 
 

Filtering or lane splitting is the fine art of threading your motorcycle between traffic to make progress. One of the biggest perks we riders get on the road is our ability to continue when traffic begins to build up, and needless to say, it comes with numerous benefits

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TYVM.

[Soidog]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:50 AM, JohninDubin said:

TYVM.

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As you can see, I needed to look it up. I did think at first it was some American term and was about to report it for breaking the rule of the forum where only English is to be used

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:57 AM, Soidog said:

As you can see, I needed to look it up. I did think at first it was some American term and was about to report it for breaking the rule of the forum where only English is to be used

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I thought it might be something like that, but to assume is to make an ass of u and me.

[Soidog]

  On 11/11/2021 at 9:19 AM, JohninDubin said:

I thought it might be something like that, but to assume is to make an ass of u and me.

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To try mate, to try. No one makes an ass out of you and me

[gummy]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:12 AM, Soidog said:

What does left side or right side driving  have to do with it? I come from a country that drives properly on the left side and the Thai U-turns are still lethal. 

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It was just a wind-up by somebody who drives on the wrong side and can't cope with roundabouts I guess 

[Changnam43]

I believe lane splitting is illegal in at least some parts of the United States.

[Jason]

Lane splitting is when you have two lanes in the same direction. There are cars in both lanes and the motorcyclist goes between the cars. Often done when the traffic is stopped at traffic lights, to move up in the queue to the front of the traffic and then take off quickly to get ahead of the cars. It's far more dangerous when done while the traffic is moving at speed. It's not hard for a motorcyclist to get sandwiched between two cars while attempting to drive between them.   

[Jason]

It's a death sentence because you are in the blind spot of both cars. The car drivers don't even know you are there and you can be crushed in the gap.

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 9:41 AM, gummy said:

It was just a wind-up by somebody who drives on the wrong side and can't cope with roundabouts I guess 

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Speaking of which, I have yet to meet a Japanese that is not totally confused or anxious when they approach a roundabout. My wife has been driving in the UK and Ireland for 40 years and will still make lengthy diversions during the daytime to avoid these.

I once had a nasty plan to fake a medical emergency when we were driving through Hemel Hempstead, site of the infamous "Magic Roundabout", so that she would have to drive, but thought better of it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the scene, it's a very large roundabout with connecting 6 other roundabouts and to say it can be confusing, is an understatement

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Plough_roundabout_sign.jpg/220px-Plough_roundabout_sign.jpg

This might give some idea.

[gummy]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:35 AM, JohninDubin said:

Speaking of which, I have yet to meet a Japanese that is not totally confused or anxious when they approach a roundabout. My wife has been driving in the UK and Ireland for 40 years and will still make lengthy diversions during the daytime to avoid these.

I once had a nasty plan to fake a medical emergency when we were driving through Hemel Hempstead, site of the infamous "Magic Roundabout", so that she would have to drive, but thought better of it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the scene, it's a very large roundabout with connecting 6 other roundabouts and to say it can be confusing, is an understatement

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Plough_roundabout_sign.jpg/220px-Plough_roundabout_sign.jpg

This might give some idea.

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Hemel Hempstead used to drive through there a lot. I often wonder who was a awarded the prize for that roundabout scheme

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:46 AM, gummy said:

Hemel Hempstead used to drive through there a lot. I often wonder who was a awarded the prize for that roundabout scheme

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There is another in Swindon.

[gummy]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:48 AM, JohninDubin said:

There is another in Swindon.

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Really, didn't know that

[KaptainRob]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:35 AM, JohninDubin said:

I have yet to meet a Japanese that is not totally confused or anxious when they approach a roundabout.

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Very few Thai drivers have any round-a-bout sense and we see the craziest things here in Chiang Mai.  Our biggest (or is the only) round-a-bout, fronts Royal Flora entrance with 3 other roads, so 4-ways.

Apart from median strip vegetation which obscures small car driver visibility of traffic already on the round-a-bout, a large number of locals take the short cuts - wrong way!  You'll also find no-one entering gives way nor do they indicate when exiting. 

[gummy]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:49 AM, KaptainRob said:

Very few Thai drivers have any round-a-bout sense and we see the craziest things here in Chiang Mai.  Our biggest (or is the only) round-a-bout, fronts Royal Flora entrance with 3 other roads, so 4-ways.

Apart from median strip vegetation which obscures small car driver visibility of traffic already on the round-a-bout, a large number of locals take the short cuts - wrong way!  You'll also find no-one entering gives way nor do they indicate when exiting. 

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We have a good few in Udon and I have to say that 50% of the Thais use it correctly. Maybe even more than that. But of course its the other 50% that cause the problems.

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:49 AM, gummy said:

Really, didn't know that

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Magic_Roundabout_Schild_db.jpg

[Russell]

This will be the same as when the illustrious leader decide to hold the democratic election and the LTD decided at the same time to enforce the no registration and no licence laws and to increase the fines for each and the illustrious leader told the LTD very quickly "No you cannot do that because it will upset the people" because he was afraid that many more people would vote against him plus when they said that people could not ride in the back of pick - ups just before Songkran and when Songkran arrived that law quickly disappeared and has never been seen again. So this will soon be forgotten the same as the other laws.

[Bluesofa]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:49 AM, gummy said:

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:48 AM, JohninDubin said:

There is another in Swindon.

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Really, didn't know that

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Ha ha, I only knew about the Swindon one, never heard of the of the one in Hemel Hempstead.

[gummy]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:55 AM, Bluesofa said:

Ha ha, I only knew about the Swindon one, never heard of the of the one in Hemel Hempstead.

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Yes an "interesting" combination. Now having one of those road layouts  in Thailand would be even more interesting.

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:49 AM, KaptainRob said:

Very few Thai drivers have any round-a-bout sense and we see the craziest things here in Chiang Mai.  Our biggest (or is the only) round-a-bout, fronts Royal Flora entrance with 3 other roads, so 4-ways.

Apart from median strip vegetation which obscures small car driver visibility of traffic already on the round-a-bout, a large number of locals take the short cuts - wrong way!  You'll also find no-one entering gives way nor do they indicate when exiting. 

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I found the problem with Thai roundabouts, is the lack of exit signage. I once drove from Pattaya to Nong Khai and a couple of times, I forgot to count the exits because in the UK/Ireland there is usually sign at each exit saying (eg) Dublin City Centre. In TH, I found that if you didn't count the exits from the entry sign, you are likely to leave by the wrong turn. On one occasion, at Lop Buri I made that mistake and I had barely driven 20 yds when the car was surrounded by dozens of the local macaques. My "companion" was loving it while I was busily checking to see that none of them were carrying spanners. Things came to a head, when I saw that she was just about to open the window. I floored it, and I am glad to tell that no animals were hurt in the telling of this story.

[JohninDublin]

  On 11/11/2021 at 10:55 AM, Bluesofa said:

Ha ha, I only knew about the Swindon one, never heard of the of the one in Hemel Hempstead.

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My mission is to educate: One roundabout at a time (hahaha)

[Bluesofa]

  On 11/11/2021 at 8:07 AM, JohninDubin said:

Slightly off topic, but the main source of organ donations in the UK has been motor-cyclists. However with the introduction of helmet laws in the UK, there has been a slow but steady increase in the waiting lists for all types of organs. I think the TH gov should have two crimes here. The first, not wearing a helmet. The second, failing to carry an organ donor card if you are not wearing a helmet.

Message  from President  of  Thai Transplantation  Society

(Extract) "Even though,  there are a lot of  advantages in  organ transplantation but the main problem  is the shortage of  organ donors  when compare to recipients" 

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Regarding organ donation in Thailand:
In that case, everyone in Thailand would be guilty. I've tried and and failed. The Thai government do not have any sort of organ donor scheme.

One nurse I spoke to about it said that apart from not having a scheme, she could imagine reluctance of some Thais to accept organs donated by foreigners. She sounded pragmatic about it, not racist, while still blaming the Thai government for not being interested in running a scheme.

Further OT. I want to donate my body to allow medical students to practice on it, for example. It's no use to me when I'm dead, someone else might as well use it.
Nope, the only university I found who would accept it is over 100km away. They won't collect the body, my relatives have to take it there themselves.
It's like pushing string uphill , trying to be helpful here.

[Dedinbed]

  On 11/11/2021 at 11:10 AM, Bluesofa said:

I want to donate my body to allow medical students to practice on it, for example. It's no use to me when I'm dead

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If you were a dead battery then you'd be free of charge sort of thing .. 

  On 11/11/2021 at 11:10 AM, Bluesofa said:

the only university I found who would accept it is over 100km away. They won't collect the body, my relatives have to take it there themselves.

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Blimey they'd better get there skates then or pack you in ice ..