Train hit car at Soi 94 today

[Takiap]

Couldn't have said it any better Spitfire. Nobody gives a damn here..........train crossings, traffic lights, road rules, etc, etc, etc. I often wonder if we're not witnessing "natural selection" in the making. Mother Nature's way of weeding out the fools who don't have enough common sense to even keep themselves alive. Shame about the kid though.

I agree there should be booms/barriers, and weeds should be kept trimmed, but at the same time, if you're paying attention to your driving, how the bloody hell do you not see a railway crossing. In my 14+ years here, I have never accidentally crossed a railway line......it's not like they just spring out of nowhere. In my opinion, even the worst crossings in HH are pretty much in your face and easy to see.


Yes, the authorities should do more, but in my opinion, the biggest problem lies in the mentality of the average Thai. After all, how they they possibly get hit by a train...............there vehicle has been blessed by a monk, and just for good measure, there are a few amulets on the dash as well. Oh sorry, I forgot about the evil spirits who set up home around these crossings....what a strange sense of humor these spirits have. Just as well these spirits can't afford plane tickets to other countries around the world. And of course, we must not forget, those killed may have been terrible people in their previous life.


There's just so much we don't understand

[Pleng]

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

Well the conversations have been had here, but has anybody tried actually putting this to an official? I know the liklihood of getting listened to is probably somewhere closer to 0 percent than 1 percent, but if nobody has even tried then you can't complain that nobody listens!

Probably best to sniff out where some politician who could make it happen hangs out, go and have a drink there, and make him think it was his idea. Much more likely to do something about it then.

[Homer]

Yesterday I photographed the approach to the railroad crossing. Saw this guy and safety gear but dismissed any notion that he was there to regulate traffic. Different guy in same safety vest was there 30 minutes ago. I'm not sure I'll believe that somebody sent someone to provide crossing safety until I actually see it done, but that's what it seems to be.

[moja]

Yesterday I photographed the approach to the railroad crossing. Saw this guy and safety gear but dismissed any notion that he was there to regulate traffic. Different guy in same safety vest was there 30 minutes ago. I'm not sure I'll believe that somebody sent someone to provide crossing safety until I actually see it done, but that's what it seems to be.

s95-2011-08-13-04243-Soi94RrWarn-8k.jpg

I did say on Friday that this crossing is patrolled on holiday weekends and has been for a while - just a shame they were not patrolling on Friday when the accident happened!

[Buntsa]

I don't know what went wrong this time, but sometimes it can just be a lack of concentration. You might be thinking totally something else than driving and you forget where you are and what to do. Whatever was the reason, this is very very sad.
There is a stop sign before crossing, but very few actually obey it.
Was it something like two months ago (maybe more) there was a man from Sweden who got hitten by the train at same crossing and he died also. He was pedestrian.
We have a restaurant very near to that crossing and me and my wife have to cross it daily with a car or with a motorbike, many times. I am very very careful crossing it and always have a fear that I cannot decide whether go over or stay when train is coming from some distance. I guess better always stop and wait.

[Lung Per]

I don't know what went wrong this time, but sometimes it can just be a lack of concentration. You might be thinking totally something else than driving and you forget where you are and what to do. Whatever was the reason, this is very very sad.
There is a stop sign before crossing, but very few actually obey it.
Was it something like two months ago (maybe more) there was a man from Sweden who got hitten by the train at same crossing and he died also. He was pedestrian.
We have a restaurant very near to that crossing and me and my wife have to cross it daily with a car or with a motorbike, many times. I am very very careful crossing it and always have a fear that I cannot decide whether go over or stay when train is coming from some distance. I guess better always stop and wait.

How can you ever have doubts? Make a full stop and wait for the train to pass. And disregard the fools trying to make it - maybe they won't!
Any other option is a gamble with your life.

[Homer]

Trimming weeds at the Soi 94 RR crossing this morning.

[charlesh]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level. As someone who used to investigate accidents I can tell you that the individual is indeed an unfathomable dimension and throw in cultural variations to confound the issue - makes for a bugger of a solution. Even the move to "nanny"state mentality tends to flounder.

[barrys]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level...

A number of posters appear to attribute these tragedies to failings in the Thai psyche ....
So how is it that an apparently disproportionately high number of these accidents have involved foreigners who are here?

[pharvey]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level...

A number of posters appear to attribute these tragedies to failings in the Thai psyche ....
So how is it that an apparently disproportionately high number of these accidents have involved foreigners who are here?

Whether it's failures in psyche (Thai or otherwise), lack of concentration.. whatever - at least clearing the vegetation, patrols etc. does provide a little more safety/better vision to those of us who would rather not take our lives in our hands each time of crossing the railway.

[barrys]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level...

A number of posters appear to attribute these tragedies to failings in the Thai psyche ....
So how is it that an apparently disproportionately high number of these accidents have involved foreigners who are here?

Whether it's failures in psyche (Thai or otherwise), lack of concentration.. whatever - at least clearing the vegetation, patrols etc. does provide a little more safety/better vision to those of us who would rather not take our lives in our hands each time of crossing the railway.

entirely - the more things that can be done the better.
Clearing vegetation and installing barriers with warning lights should be the absolute minimum.

[Homer]

A number of posters appear to attribute these tragedies to failings in the Thai psyche ....
So how is it that an apparently disproportionately high number of these accidents have involved foreigners who are here?

Two potential reasons. One is the older foreigners have diminished eyesight, hearing and reaction time.

The other is risk assessment. As a pilot I learned to evaluate risk in terms of the consequences of an outcome. Most people use probability of an outcome. Arriving at a RR crossing with an approaching train, the average Joe's thought process: I can make it in time. Go! Average pilot's thought process: If I don't make it in time then I die. Stop!

[sateeb]

The other is risk assessment. As a pilot I learned to evaluate risk in terms of the consequences of an outcome. Most people use probability of an outcome. Arriving at a RR crossing with an approaching train, the average Joe's thought process: I can make it in time. Go! Average pilot's thought process: If I don't make it in time then I die. Stop![/quote]

Pity all the pilots that should have aborted landings in atrocious weather conditions......Risk assessment and consequence are not something exclusive to pilots Homer. Just basic common sense.

[Big Boy]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level. As someone who used to investigate accidents I can tell you that the individual is indeed an unfathomable dimension and throw in cultural variations to confound the issue - makes for a bugger of a solution. Even the move to "nanny"state mentality tends to flounder.

I've written this on the forum before. I've sat in the restaurant beside the Soi 88 crossing (which has barriers). Both Farang and Thais alike dice with death every time the barrier drops. They've almost perfected the 'limbo on a motorcycle' technique to save a few seconds.

If anybody disagrees, spend an hour in the restaurant and just observe the antics every time a train is approaching.

[pharvey]

If you people honestly believe that signs/barriers/cut down vegetation would improve things - so be it. Spitfire is correct and there is a fundamental flaw in the Thai psyche akin to risk taking on a different level. As someone who used to investigate accidents I can tell you that the individual is indeed an unfathomable dimension and throw in cultural variations to confound the issue - makes for a bugger of a solution. Even the move to "nanny"state mentality tends to flounder.

I've written this on the forum before. I've sat in the restaurant beside the Soi 88 crossing (which has barriers). Both Farang and Thais alike dice with death every time the barrier drops. They've almost perfected the 'limbo on a motorcycle' technique to save a few seconds.

If anybody disagrees, spend an hour in the restaurant and just observe the antics every time a train is approaching.

Wouldn't disagree in the slightest BB, however this is different argument/discussion IMHO. At Soi 88, barriers, warnings, visibility is not the question - not the case at Soi 94. My point is at least give people some chance!! If people want to dice with death, well - what can you do? But at least cut down the vegetation to give greater visibility - is that really too much to ask at crossings? The cost of barriers etc. is no doubt prohibitive, but there are certainly cost effective ways of improving the situation as it stands.