OFF THE Beaten Track
Lift standards
- By: JESSADA TANDHASETTI
- Published: 9/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Motoring
First things first. I would like to take this opportunity to wish our readers happiness throughout the year 2009. It's hard for me to fathom a festive occasion such as the New Year which goes hand in hand with misery and death year after year, and nothing changes or improves.
Right from the time of countdown to the approaching year, we have become used to counting the number of bodies from road accidents on a daily basis until, thankfully, the festive season is over.
It's like a waiting game to see if the body count would hit 400, which was the mark last year, although this time it was slightly lower, yet more than enough since only a few dozen is still a huge loss. That said, the number of deaths can be avoided since road accidents lack the inevitability of earthquakes or flash floods.
It's not a curse or karma. The majority is attributed to leniency of law enforcement officers and, to a lesser extent, dated laws.
First, is the issue of driving after consuming alcohol. If you allow an inebriated motorist to drive through the year without fear for the law _ although he or she may be capable of driving without causing accidents _ it is pointless to start campaigning during festive occasions and annual holidays.
Those who navigate the city on Fridays and Saturdays know only too well that the roads are awash with drunk drivers. These inebriated drivers are competent enough to crash into your rear bumper as you wait at the traffic light intersection.
An easy solution is to enforce strict and constant inspection. Make it routine and not just a public relations stunt for image purposes which has become the norm of our police.
There must be harsh penalties, meted out depending on the severity of violation. If the motorist is a repeat offender, then that individual should be jailed. Do not come up with the lame excuse of a lack of personnel.
Use the traffic police, who love to set up inspection points all over the city from around 10am till noon. Tell them to stop this senseless activity and, instead, set up check points at night to monitor alcohol level of motorists.
Motorists will breath easier because it is the traffic police who have the innate ability to cause traffic jams. Their inspection points are at the most awkward locations, although they tend to believe it is legal because of a superior officer in attendance there as well.
Motorists don't have to bribe the traffic police officers anymore because the latter take home 60% commission on traffic tickets they issue. It's legit; it was a law they helped draft and propose in the first place.
Secondly, we have to change the driver's license test process. Right from the start when prospective drivers begin their first lessons right till the day they take the test.
Thailand isn't an industrialised or developed country yet, but we have high-speed roads all over the kingdom. There are expressways, special motorways and other type of routes that I can't recall.
But most motorists learn driving from their close kin like fathers (mothers aren't popular for reasons beyond me) and relatives. The lessons emphasise reverse and parking in special designated areas.
The official overseeing the test stresses importance on parking. Hence after the driver's license is issued, the driver gets a real taste of actual driving on roads where other innocent motorists and pedestrians join in, raising the risk factor.
Safe driving requires much more skills than the aforementioned reverse and parking lessons.
Vehicle control and braking manoeuvres at high speeds, evasive action to avoid obstacles, joining speeding traffic on merged roads or separating routes, proper driving etiquette and basic consideration for other motorists _ the latter being a most rare quality among Thai motorists.
We cannot live with such dated practices because it deals directly with safety issues and people's lives.
The Land Transport Department must deal with this matter in order to elevate the standards of driver's education to international levels.
We don't need extra work or creativity. Just copy what developed countries have been doing and combine the best aspects that are suitable for Thai people, Thai roads, Thai laws and our environment. That's all.
Jessada Tandhasetti is former department head of automotive engineering studies at Rangsit University. He holds a master's degree in automotive engineering from Technical University, Berlin, Germany.
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