Elephant roundabout

[davureborn]

  I have a new school run, using the Elephant Roundabout twice a day now. As I go past it before 7am, no problem in the morning, however at 4pm this thing is appalling. Traffic lights working: you will probably go through two cycles, meaning about 5 minutes wait, but doable, get in the correct lane, do your thing. Still, five minutes wait is frustrating as is shown by drivers' foolish behaviour as soon as they get off the roundabout.
  However since Monday the lights aren't working, and anything that you might think that people would have learned during the period of having the traffic lights working never happened. A diabolical carve up as far as I'm concerned. Being in the left hand lane signalling that you intend to turn left doesn't prevent drivers overtaking you on the left, forcing you to stop in the middle of the roundabout, as happened to me this morning. How come they obey traffic lights but can't obey the simplest rules of lane discipline and courtesy?
  There is something called the road safety council in Thailand, whose job is apparentlyto tell people that police presence will be increased at Song Kran but never do a thing about education.
  There are some Youtube channels showing traffic stunts in Thailand, but no effort is made to explain what happened, why an unstrapped on safety helmet is no use at all, etc.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PqDdLPeJo

[Freddy]

I've stopped being surprised by the lack of pro-activity regarding road safety. Any country that turns a blind eye to 4 adults (1 clutching a baby) on a scooter or a dozen workers sitting on top of a loaded truck isn't going to educate drivers in roundabout protocol anytime soon.
Yesterday I drove to Korat. On the way back I narrowly avoided the 4m length of pipe that was dropped by a scooter rider. Had I hit it and broken it he'd probably have expected me to spay for it!

[Sofa_King]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqgzE7F1oi0

Published on 21 Apr 2016
In April 2016, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, with technical support from Vital Strategies, has undertaken a powerful mass media campaign, entitled “Never Drink and Drive”, which shows how driving after drinking alcohol destroy lives – for both the driver and for innocent victims.

I asked the wife if she had ever seen this Road Safety Add on TV ,she replied "Never"

Hardly a ' powerful mass media campaign ' !!

Many Thai Drives/Riders seem to be oblivious as to what's happening around them when out on the road,they look at where they want to go and just go for it .
The same could be said about noise .whether they are making it or surrounded by it ,but that's another story !!

[Starman]

Not only in cars. It appears that many Thais have problems with knowing what is around them.

How many times has any one been walking in Makro or somewhere and there is someone dwardling in front of you and they cannot sense that you are there trying to get passed.

[davureborn]

Not only in cars. It appears that many Thais have problems with knowing what is around them.

How many times has any one been walking in Makro or somewhere and there is someone dwardling in front of you and they cannot sense that you are there trying to get passed.

Point taken, but you see this in highly educated countries also.
I was trying to get at the point that we complain about stupid Thais driving badly when nobody bothers to explain the need for discipline and alertness on the roads. My dad drove trucks all over North Africa, Palestine and Sicily (third day of the invasion) and he thought that white lines down the road indicated where the middle of the car was supposed to be, probably something he learnt in the army. He got annoyed with me when I didn't want to do that. So not uniquely a Thai problem, more an education problem.

[Sofa_King]

An Interesting read from the Asian Correspondent !

80 lives lost every day: Why are Thailand’s roads so dangerous?

https://asiancorrespondent.com/2015/03/thailand-road-deaths/

[urleft]

The traffic lights were operational as I went through at 1:30 PM today.

[davureborn]

The traffic lights were operational as I went through at 1:30 PM today.

Do they turn them off at night? I go through just before 7am and then at 4.0 pm. Interesting to see the way driving habits are changed by an electronic device,

[urleft]

I have come through the circle at 6 am and the lights are turned off, but at 8 am they were on. 

[teppo42]

Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?

[urleft]

Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?

Agreed

http://www.buriramexpats.com/forum/index.php/topic,8613.msg56061.html#msg56061

[Starman]

Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?

The idea being that the powers that be have realised that a roundabout in that position is inadequate. They need to update the systen to allow a better flow of traffic.


They cannot move or demolish the roundabout due to the significance of the monument atop of said roundabout.

[teppo42]

Wow that's just incredibly stupid! There are exactly two reasons for a roundabout, and one of them is not having a need for traffic lights. Also the big roundabout has always worked smoothly so why the change?.

[Starman]

That roundabout was not designed for the volume of traffic it now gets. When it was first built the volume wasn't even 10% of what it is now.

Have a look around Buriram. How many junctions are managaed by a roundabout?

If it wasn't for the monument that roundabout would have been dug up, just like the on in front of the old city hall.

[CO-CO]

Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?

Best possible decision in the circumstances.

Whether it was built with lower volumes or traffic in mind or not, the fact remains that the Thais are not ready for roundabouts - they don't understand them or the driving rules relating to the them. A classic was the roundabout on the Jira Road - everyone just drove in a straight line along the road as if it didn't exist.

Whilst the lights may have been installed for the wrong reasons (driving incompetence) I applaud the authorities for making the change as it was the best option for Buriram.