Eight killed in latest van horror (2010 story)

[mikeheart]

Reducing the limit to zero would have little effect. The vast majority of accidents involving alcohol are caused by people way over the limit. That is true of the UK where police cannot be bribed. How much more so in Thailand where police bribery is the norm. The problem in Thailand is the incredibly bad driving.Card and motorcycles passing where they will. Coaches hogging the offside lane. U turns on major fast roads. Roadworks not signed in advance.

I left Bkk on the 13th December on the elevated toll way in very heavy rain. I saw the results of 6 accidents all on open roads. ! of these involved a van in which I would be surprised if someone had not been killed.

Why do so many people including the maniac van drivers drive so badly?

[Betti]

at school we were wondering about this accident back in February which never made the national headlines. I wonder where the driver is now. (I mentioned it in a thread back then here at the forum.)

I live in Lamphun 3 klicks from Big C
A large truck was travelling south from Chiang Mai on highway 11 at 6.30pm on Sat 13th Feb, it ran through a set of red lights 4 kiicks before the Big C junction, in so doing it crashed into a number of motorbikes turning onto the highway 11 on green lights, 4 people were killed.
The driver who lives 500 metres from me tried to escape the scene, but was chased by police.
The junction at Big C has an overpass to avoid local traffic mostly motorbikes coming & going to work on the nearby industrial estates, these people use the old road under the overpass.
The driver of the truck veered off highway 11 and took the slip road leading to the busy junction underneath the overpass, the road was very busy with workers returning home, the truck driver again went against the red lights and ploughed into the motorbikes crossing the road on green lights, a further 12 people died, two of those was in a Vigo truck which then brought the runaway to a holt.
The police caught the driver, and according to local opinion he was pretty badly beaten up by them.
A further 3 people have died in hospital making the carnage 19.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/...amphun-deaths/

[paul_au]

There needs to be a complete overhaul of road & vehicle safety in Thailand, starting from making an affordable new car under US$3,000. Even with all the bad driving behaviour motorcycles are still dangerous.

[Khun Don]

University to support van victims in bid for compensation

Thammasat University would act as joint plaintiffs for relatives of 14 van passengers killed or injured in a road accident on December 27, a deputy rector said Tuesday.
The underaged driver of a sedan involved in the accident and her family had not stated clearly how they would show responsibility for the crash.
Police set Wednesday to summons the unnamed girl, whose name is withheld due to her being a minor at 17 years of age, to acknowledge criminal offences against her.
"TU will appoint lawyers to act as joint plaintiffs to pursue criminal prosecution and demand civil compensation [against the defendant]," said Parinya Thewanaruemitkul.

The Nation

[Khun Don]

Teen driver surrenders and charged

The teenager allegedly involved in a horror tollway tragedy surrendered to police on Wednesday as promised before being sent to a juvenile center.

The girl whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, arrived at Metropolitan Police Bureau with her mother and lawyer.

Initially she planned to surrender at Vibhavadi police station, but the venue was changed reportedly because it is too small to handle number of media..

The teen was allegedly involved in the fatal accident when her car allegedly bumped into a public van on the tollway on Vibhavadi Rangsit road on December 27 night. The accident killed eight passengers of the van at the scene while another one at a hospital.

Some of the bodies of the victims, who were flung out of the van by the impact of the crash, were seen hanging from a pedestrian flyover, while bodies were recovered from a canal adjacent to the nearby Kasetsart University.

The teenager was accompanied by her mother to meet police investigators at the Metropolitan Police head office at 9:20 am. She was whisked away to the second floor to avoid army of reporters and photographers waiting for her in front of the building.

Deputy Police commissioner Pol Maj Gen Amnuay Nimmano said that the girl was charged with reckless driving causing deaths, injuries and property damages and driving with out license.

Her mother earlier said her daughter will provide testimony as to what really happened on the night of December 27. It is believed the girl's sedan brushed the van, which skidded and overturned, resulting in nine deaths and injuries.

An unconfirmed report claimed that the girl who just returm home from the US has a US driving license.

After the accident, she gave a telephone interview for a news programme, saying that she wished to apologise to all the victims, the injured and their families.

She said that the accident would not have happened had she not been speeding.

THE NATION

[Khun Don]

Teen horror crash suspect freed after being charged
Published: 6/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The 16-year-old girl involved in the fatal tollway accident 10 days ago has reported to police to acknowledge charges of reckless driving and driving without a licence.

Orachorn "Praewa" Thephasadin Na Ayudhya was released yesterday after being questioned by police and officials at a juvenile detention centre.

Authorities had no grounds to detain the teenager. She had contacted police to turn herself in to face charges after the Dec 27 crash in which nine people were killed and several others injured.

Orachorn was accompanied yesterday by her parents and a lawyer.

Social workers and mental health experts were present during the questioning as required by the child protection law.

Families of some of the crash victims observed the proceedings at the Metropolitan Police Bureau where the charges were read out.

Related: Parents won't face charges

MPB deputy chief Amnuay Nimmano said the teenager gave police her full cooperation during questioning.

He refused to say if she admitted or denied the charges.

The teenager was charged with reckless driving causing death and injury to others and driving without a licence.

More: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...-being-charged

[BUCKY]

at school we were wondering about this accident back in February which never made the national headlines. I wonder where the driver is now. (I mentioned it in a thread back then here at the forum.)
I live in Lamphun 3 klicks from Big C

It was big news in the Lamphun Industrial Park community back then. I believe number of those killed were factory workers from OKI factory. Then again like most news, it was forgotten after a while.
What makes this current news special is the family background of the driver, the age of the driver, the photo shot and claim that the driver was playing with her BB after the accident, the alleged claimed message she posted on her twitter and the prominent people who died in the accident. If she's lucky, it will be forgotten after a while also.

[Betti]

Bucky, I didn't manage to find the LAmphun crash in BAngkok post or Nation. that's all I meant, not that it should be remembered forever. seems to me it was never even in the main headlines.

[BUCKY]

Bucky, I didn't manage to find the LAmphun crash in BAngkok post or Nation. that's all I meant, not that it should be remembered forever. seems to me it was never even in the main headlines.

It was mentioned on the newspapers (thats how I knew) but probably not on the headline. I remembered talking about the accident with some of my Lamphun customers and some of them were actually oblivious of this incident although they are working in the same industrial estate. Hate to think that there are too many of these types of accidents until most Thai cannot be bothered with it.

[Khun Don]

ON the RECORD

Crash families urged to assert their rights
Published: 8/01/2011 at 03:23 AM
Newspaper section: News

The horrific tollway crash involving a 16-year-old car driver and a commuter van which killed nine people and injured several others prompted Thammasat University, whose students were among the victims, to set up a legal team to monitor the case and provide legal help to the victims.

Five of the nine dead were from the university _ one was a lecturer, the rest students.

The car driver isn't old enough to hold a licence, but has a well-known surname.

Thammasat law lecturer Narong Jaiharn, who heads the university's legal advice team, talks to LAMPHAI INTATHEP about the university's role in the case:


How will the legal team help the families of the crash victims?

The university set up a team to provide assistance with both criminal and civil cases for the victims' families including those who are not connected with the university.

At this point, we do not yet know if the crash is the result of the girl's recklessness or the actions of the van driver. But we do know that the passengers were the victims. That is why the legal team will help them.

We are inviting the victim's families to court next Friday to acknowledge their rights and allow the legal team to represent them.

What role will the legal team have in criminal and civil justice?

Police are investigating the accident. We can't get involved there, because that's their job.

The girl [the teen driver] has reported to police to acknowledge charges of reckless driving and driving without a licence.

Police, and the director of the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection have 30 days to consider whether the girl's background, family environment and community surroundings could have influenced her to commit a criminal act or not.

If inquiries show she was subject to improper living conditions, any penalty of imprisonment would be commuted for other forms of punishment. She could be put under probation or sent to the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection. The process is applicable if the accused is aged under 18. There is no jail penalty if the accused is under the age of 15. The law is not intended to jail a child especially for a first offence.

The legal team would play a role in monitoring the questioning of the suspect and looking into the investigative report. If it is decided that a case will be filed at the Juvenile and Family Court, the team would represent the victims.

As for civil justice, the legal team and the victims' families will have to discuss the extent of the losses and cost of the damage.

The law is clear that if the wrongdoer is under 20, his or her family needs to take responsibility. In addition, we would look into whether the van has third-party insurance.

Who else should take responsibility for the accident?

The owner of the car could also be charged for lending the car to the girl, or share in any civil penalty.

If it is proven that the van driver was driving recklessly, the penalty would be passed to the van service's operator.

Besides legal assistance, what else would the legal team provide?

No seat belts were in the van. When the van hit the tollway barrier, passengers were thrown from the vehicle because they were not restrained. Soon after the accident, Thammasat University, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority and NSTDA

[National Science and Technology Development Agency, which lost one of its staff in the accident] agreed on an informal agreement demanding that passenger vans limit their speed to 100 kilometres an hour.

We also came to a resolution that safety belts must be provided on all seats and fastened at all times when a van is on the road.

These agreements came into effect on Dec 28 to control the van service which operates under the NSTDA.

BANGKOK POST