Effect of enforcing Thai motoring legislation

[Big Boy]

I must say, the message has got out. I think for the first time in many years yesterday, I saw my daughter wearing a helmet .

I sincerely hope the BIB do make themselves visible, and make an example of a few. It will save a lot of lives.

Unfortunately, we all know any enforcement action only ever lasts a couple of days.

[Dannie Boy]

I’m in HH now and I’d say that helmet wearing is about 50% - I don’t know if that’s normal or not? So far I haven’t seen any police check points!!

[404cameljockey]

On the topic in general (compulsory helmet wearing) I still believe that nannyism like this is unacceptable. Even for pillion passengers, it's their choice to ride or not if a helmet isn't provided.

No-one picked me up on being totally wrong about this.

The biggest reason for enforcing personal safety like wearing helmets and car seat belts is to lessen the strain on medical resources, particularly at times/dates when the number of road accidents is very high like public holidays, etc..

I've since seen the light after mentioning the matter to a friend more switched on than me.

[buksida]

I agree with the nanny state comment in principle, and the thousands of stupid laws here are prime examples, but wearing a helmet on a motorbike is basic common sense, something that is in short supply here. Everyone wears a lid in Vietnam, and you don't see packs of cops in ambush-style roadblocks there either.

Edit: I still think more lives would be saved if the BIB actually did some work and patrolled the highways and fast roads, pulling over and fining the dangerous drivers (and riders), but that entails a bit of effort so wont happen.

[Big Boy]

I still think more lives would be saved if the BIB actually did some work

Unfortunately, I don't think you have to quote specifics. They are lacking in most areas.

Having to ground all of their aircraft because of corruption says a lot. The job doesn't seem to have much to do with policing.

[Dannie Boy]

But the point made by Buks is so damn obvious - almost everyone reading this thread if they go out on a long enough journey (sometimes even a short journey), they will witness at least one example of careless/reckless driving. A few police on the roads would hopefully act as some form of deterrent, plus for those not heading the warning could get pulled over and fined.

And there’s no need to state the obvious (it’ll never happen), but we all know that’s what should happen.

[Big Boy]

I don't think I was disagreeing, just saying it needs a lot more than a few operational traffic cops.

[Big Boy]

Are we surprised there's been such a tepid response. I haven't heard of any enforcement whatsoever. Another toothless tiger.

Bread, butter and bikes

The government's latest campaign to arrest and fine motorcyclists and pillion riders for not wearing helmets has hardly seemed to inspire hope among the public that it will have a positive impact, nor scare potential law breakers.

The public's reaction to the latest road safety campaign titled "Safe Roads Project" has been quite cynical.

In interviews with TV news channels, motorcycle taxi drivers say the government needs to focus on solving bread-and-butter issues instead of imposing heavy fines on the public.

One pillion rider told the media that people should have the freedom to choose whether to wear a helmet, and many other interviewees admitted that they did not know that passengers now had to wear helmets under the law.

Worse still, many motorcyclists and members of the public see the campaign as opening the door for unscrupulous policemen to extort more bribes from motorbike riders.

Such a cynical reaction does not bode well for public safety.

Needless to say, Thailand's road safety statistics are appalling, with one person dying every seven minutes on average due to road accidents, according to the World Health Organization.

But the impact of road crashes extends far beyond human suffering. These fatalities and serious injuries cost Thailand US$36 billion (1.2 trillion baht) in 2021, roughly 7% of GDP. By comparison, healthcare expenditure that year amounted to 5.2% of GDP.

It is clear the country needs its law enforcers to do their jobs properly. The question is, how?

It is not the first time the government has launched this kind of helmet campaign. In 2021, the Ministry of Transport debuted a campaign to make helmets more affordable. However, that attempt -- like many road safety campaigns in Thailand -- barely had any impact.

The real problem is that the government rarely makes road safety a priority. Directly responsible agencies like the Royal Thai Police (RTP) and the Land Transport Department, or even local administrations, often treat these as temporary, ad-hoc campaigns. There is no systematic or long-term effort to educate people and raise awareness about road traffic safety.

Regardless, it is good to hear the RTP and the ministry promise to make this campaign one for the long term. And hopefully, state agencies will learn from their previous mistake and fine-tune this campaign into one that works.

Apart from arresting and fining law breakers, both agencies must ramp up the penalties by deducting points from the licences of offending motorcyclists. But sticks alone may not be effective. The government should provide incentives such as tax breaks on helmet purchase or support related corporate social responsibility measures.

The government must also provide education campaigns in other languages such as English, Chinese and Burmese for all those riders who are not Thai.

It also needs to team up with civic groups and the media to launch communication campaigns and strategies. Some of the best road safety campaigns are those that invite the public to register and follow.

The government must make road safety a prime responsibility on par with bread-and-butter issues and national security. It is only to be hoped that policymakers will give a much-needed priority to road safety issues, starting with this helmet-wearing campaign.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opi ... -and-bikes

[Dannie Boy]

On my way home a few hours ago, we passed a police pickup trying to park in an inconspicuous area - we guessed they were going to wait for would be non helmet riding motor cyclists, but that may have been wishful thinking!!

[buksida]

Worse still, many motorcyclists and members of the public see the campaign as opening the door for unscrupulous policemen to extort more bribes from motorbike riders.

Just saw a cop pull over a farang at the main intersection in town, presumably for not wearing a lid. He ignored the multiple Thais who were riding by without one.

When the cops behave like the criminals, what does one expect!?

[Dannie Boy]

Just saw a cop pull over a farang at the main intersection in town, presumably for not wearing a lid. He ignored the multiple Thais who were riding by without one.

Maybe the BIB do read this Forum after all

[buksida]

I was going to say that, maybe the cops have been instructed by Dannie Boy ...

[Big Boy]

Worse still, many motorcyclists and members of the public see the campaign as opening the door for unscrupulous policemen to extort more bribes from motorbike riders.

Just saw a cop pull over a farang at the main intersection in town, presumably for not wearing a lid. He ignored the multiple Thais who were riding by without one.

When the cops behave like the criminals, what does one expect!?

A shame, because by ignoring the Thais, he looking at revenue collection, and is ignoring the safety issue.

[huahin4ever]

I heard something interesting today. People going home night time up soi 94 are using soi 88 instead. Apparently police have been told they should/can't have check points in soi 88 before/east of the court house. Could this really be true?

YNWA