Train hit car at Soi 94 today

[Homer]

Train was southbound. No idea if any injuries. Several empty ambulances present but no sign of victims.

[moja]

Believe child killed if not killed very very seriously injured.

[PeteC]

Damn, always seems to be the way, doesn't it. Children suffer due to adult carelessness.

You can't see the crossing so obviously the car was dragged down the track. If the vegetation at the crossing is anything like that in the photo, no wonder people can't see trains coming...but again...I bet the car driver simply didn't look or slow down at all. Pete

[moja]

The vegetation is bad there at the moment - had only commented on it about 2 hours before the accident. You are now virtually on the crossing before you can really see if it is clear or not although most trains make a lot of noise when approaching the crossing not all do. There are now a lot of stalls around the approach to the crossing so the crossing is not as obvious as it might be especially if you do not know the area. We were there very shortly after the accident.

[hhfarang]

If the vegetation at the crossing is anything like that in the photo, no wonder people can't see trains coming...but again...I bet the car driver simply didn't look or slow down at all. Pete

It is Pete, the crossing is raised and you sit low in a car and simply cannot see over the two meter weeds that are allowed to grow next to the tracks. They cut it down periodically, but not until it has been dangerous for several weeks. The maintenance on the part of the city and railroads here of both the crossings an the roads themselves are criminal imo, but they simply do not care. What's a few lives when they can pocket a little graft themselves instead of using it to improve the situation.

I lived on Soi 94 for two years and there was an incident at this same crossing about once every two months during that time. Life is cheap here and doesn't matter in the scheme of "money in the pocket" matters to the locals who actually have the power to change things.

I now stop, turn off any music, roll down the windows, and listen for a train at any crossing as I have had three friends killed at Hua Hin/Takiab crossings in the time I've been living here and that is the only way to be safe. It is criminal imho and the government/railroad officials responsible for open crossings in a city this size should be tied to the tracks at midnight with their mouths bound with duct tape and left there for the approaching trains as punishment.

[pharvey]

Damn, always seems to be the way, doesn't it. Children suffer due to adult carelessness.

You can't see the crossing so obviously the car was dragged down the track. If the vegetation at the crossing is anything like that in the photo, no wonder people can't see trains coming...but again...I bet the car driver simply didn't look or slow down at all. Pete

The vegetation is bad there at the moment - had only commented on it about 2 hours before the accident. You are now virtually on the crossing before you can really see if it is clear or not although most trains make a lot of noise when approaching the crossing not all do. There are now a lot of stalls around the approach to the crossing so the crossing is not as obvious as it might be especially if you do not know the area. We were there very shortly after the accident.

Are there no warnings whatsoever??

[HHADFan]

Gf said mother and daughter both killed. It will be on the news tonight.

I asked, "Farang or Thai". She didn't know but said the baby was in a car seat.

Agree with everyone about how bad that intersection is. It's effing horrible, but life is cheap here.

HHF - gotta agree. HH isn't just a big town, it's a rich one, though you'd never know it from the maintenance here.

[dtaai-maai]

The daft, well maybe tragic, aspect to all this talk of barriers and warnings is that in this country you could pay a bloke 300 baht a day to stand at these crossings with a flag.
All you'd need to do is find a way to keep him awake...

[Nereus]

The daft, well maybe tragic, aspect to all this talk of barriers and warnings is that in this country you could pay a bloke 300 baht a day to stand at these crossings with a flag.
All you'd need to do is find a way to keep him awake...

That is another rediculous "Thai way". The crossing at Soi 6 has both, booms and is manned. Not sure if it is manned 24 / 7, but it is in the day time.

[pharvey]

The daft, well maybe tragic, aspect to all this talk of barriers and warnings is that in this country you could pay a bloke 300 baht a day to stand at these crossings with a flag.
All you'd need to do is find a way to keep him awake...

Well, completely stupid comment, but what would it really cost to keep the vegetation down to at least give a fairly decent view..... salt/acetic acid etc. to simply kill everything off (silly I know ). We seem to have pretty much the same conversation everytime this or similar happens

[Homer]

Are there no warnings whatsoever??

I live on 94. Off the top of my head the warnings are:
Signs in Thai.
Two speed bumps on each side.
A fence of sorts made from train track that herds the cars onto the grade crossing so they don't go wide and try to cross naked tracks.
The speed bumps and fence are painted in alternating red and white stripes.

Things that are present and may provide warnings to those who've seen a train track before:
Two gleaming steel rails running perpendicular across the soi.
A long, skinny parcel of land that is empty and stretches in both directions.
A slight climb to grade level on land that is otherwise rather flat.

The weeds are too high. Who's going to volunteer to go cut them?

[moja]

Damn, always seems to be the way, doesn't it. Children suffer due to adult carelessness.

You can't see the crossing so obviously the car was dragged down the track. If the vegetation at the crossing is anything like that in the photo, no wonder people can't see trains coming...but again...I bet the car driver simply didn't look or slow down at all. Pete

The vegetation is bad there at the moment - had only commented on it about 2 hours before the accident. You are now virtually on the crossing before you can really see if it is clear or not although most trains make a lot of noise when approaching the crossing not all do. There are now a lot of stalls around the approach to the crossing so the crossing is not as obvious as it might be especially if you do not know the area. We were there very shortly after the accident.

Yes there are warnings but it seems they are often ignored and many people are too busy watching traffic to the left that just pulls out in front of you and people coming and going from the food stalls few of which check the traffic behind them.

There is also a road to the left immediately after the crossing and it is easy to get stuck partly on the crossing if a car or several bikes just pull out in front of you, as of course it is free left turn.

Are there no warnings whatsoever??

[moja]

The daft, well maybe tragic, aspect to all this talk of barriers and warnings is that in this country you could pay a bloke 300 baht a day to stand at these crossings with a flag.
All you'd need to do is find a way to keep him awake...

Recently the police have started to patrol the crossing on holiday weekends but it seems they were not there this morning.

[Lung Per]

This is indeed sad. Another meaningless fatal accident, loss of lives that could easily have been prevented.
You can have as many signs and warnings as you want. If nobody cares they are not going to help any.
I cross the railway at Soi 94 regularly on my way to Tesco. Amazing how the weeds are allowed to grow.
Have the same problem at my Soi 2, same kind of crossing. I have learned to bring the car to a complete stop, make sure I start in the first gear and not the third (manual shift) and yet I never feel quite secure. Trains often forget the warning whistle.
Who's responsible for cutting the weed, Tessaban or Railroad?

[Spitfire]

Yes, always sad to hear this frequently posted thread subject. Wonder when the next one will be?

I'm afraid that we can analyze all night long but it boils uncomfortably down to that there is little you can do if everyone doesn't give a fcuk about anything........officials, motorists, workers and pedestrians, which is actually how it is mostly on a disproportionate number of subjects, perhaps not all though.

Even on crossings that have auto barriers you still get all and sundry still crossing over after the barriers come down, despite the warning signs , as if waiting is not for them and they are the clever ones saving a few seconds but appear daring.......unbelievably stupid really. Also, add lamentable maintenance or forethought on behalf of the authorities, not to mention the culture of indifference that infects almost every corner of everything here....... and well, hardly surprising really that there are periodical news reports like this one.

Awareness of what is going on around them is often sadly lacking in those that drive cars, many too busy on the phone or pandering to their vanity in the mirror......could go on all night, got pages worth of this stuff on these types of subjects.

No thinking from anyone on most things, I'm afraid, not just at train crossings folks.