A motorcyclist died early Monday after his expensive and powerful Ducati collided with a broken down pickup truck on Boromratchonnanee elevated road, which is off-limits to motorbikes, in Bangkok Noi district.
Police said Sakdipong Wimolpan, 33, was riding his 899 Panigale at high speed on the outbound section of the elevated road shortly after midnight when he ran into the back of an Isuzu pickup parked in the far left lane with its hazard warning lights on.
The motorcyclist died at the scene, police said. There were no brake skids on the road and it appeared Sakdipong did not see the parked pickup, despite the blinking hazard lights.
The high-speed impact wrecked the motorbike and caved-in the right rear section of the parked pickup. Sakdipong was still wearing a full-face helmet, but the visor was shattered, when police arrived at the scene.
Sakdipong was going home to Bang Khae area after meeting his “big bike” friends at Lat Phrao Soi 80 before the accident, police said.
The 52-year-old pickup driver, Mala Toomthong, said she was heading home to Bang Bua Thong, Nonthaburi, when her vehicle broke down. She stopped the pickup on the farthest left lane, caught a taxi to the road below to add money to her prepaid phone and called a relative for help. When she returned she found a dead motorcyclist behind her vehicle.
“I felt sorry about the dead man, but it was an accident beyond my control because my car had broken down. The motorcyclist broke the law by riding up there,” Mrs Mala said.
Police said they would charge her with operating a poorly maintained vehicle on a public road.