Belt up or pay 2000 baht

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Gaybutton
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Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Gaybutton »

The part of the new seat belt law that would most likely apply to those reading this is the part about the requirement for rear seat passengers to wear seat belts. To my knowledge that has never been a part of the law and nobody has ever gotten into trouble for not wearing their seat belt in the rear seats.

Although it is not mentioned, my guess is if rear seat passengers are injured in an accident, but were not wearing seat belts, insurance companies will not have to pay for treating such injuries.

In other words, wear your seat belts no matter where in the vehicle you are seated.
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NEW SEAT BELT RULES TO APPLY FROM SEPTEMBER

August 10, 2022

Not wearing a seat belt in any seat of a car in Thailand will soon be punishable by a 2,000 baht fine. The rule will come into effect 120 after its publication in the Royal Gazette on September 5, 2022.

Parents will be required to ensure that their children wear a seat belt for the duration of their journey to prevent injuries in the event of an accident.

Under Section 123 of the Road Traffic Act (No.13) 2022, drivers and passengers must abide by the following rules while travelling in a car.

The driver must wear a seat belt at all times while driving. Front seat passengers and passengers sitting in the back or any other row are required to wear a seat belt at all times while travelling in a vehicle.

Passengers under 6 years old must be seated in a child safety seat at all times while travelling to prevent injuries in the event of an accident.

Passengers under 135 centimetres must wear a seat belt at all times while travelling to prevent injuries in the event of an accident.

Drivers and passengers who are unable to wear a seat belt for health reasons are exempt from complying with Section 123. However, that person must introduce other safety measures to prevent injuries in the event of an accident.

Anyone who does not comply will be liable to a fine or no more than 2,000 baht.

https://royalcoastreview.com/2022/08/ne ... september/
Jun

Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:03 pm The part of the new seat belt law that would most likely apply to those reading this is the part about the requirement for rear seat passengers to wear seat belts. To my knowledge that has never been a part of the law and nobody has ever gotten into trouble for not wearing their seat belt in the rear seats.
About time too.

Anyone not wearing a rear seat belt in a proper head on collision is likely to go straight through the windscreen or into the back of the passenger in front. The deceleration in the back of the car is the same as the front. I always wear a seatbelt whether in the front or back.
If I'm the driver, I insist the rear seat passengers belt up as well, as if we have a proper crash, their skull is going straight into mine if they don't wear a belt.

When I'm in the back of a Thai taxi, I've sometimes had to ferret around for the seat belt.


Of course, Thailand being as it is, many will be too stupid to comply and will instead pay the 400 baht tea money, when demanded.
What they need next is proper enforcement and a series of crash test videos on prime time TV just to show people why it matters.
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Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:05 am a series of crash test videos on prime time TV just to show people why it matters.
It's a step in the right direction. The problem with steps in the right direction is there are never enough steps. Ok, they'll have the cars taken care of. Meanwhile there will still be a dozen or so people sitting in the back of pickup tucks - completely unprotected. They don't even have protection if they are caught in the rain, let alone a crash.

Have you ever seen the prison trucks transporting prisoners to and from court? I wonder how many of those have seat belts for them . . .
Jun

Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:12 am Meanwhile there will still be a dozen or so people sitting in the back of pickup tucks - completely unprotected.
They should tackle that as well.
Remove the perverse tax incentives for pickups & ban people from travelling in the back of them on the roads. Probably start with bans for the faster roads, then move to urban areas.

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:12 am Have you ever seen the prison trucks transporting prisoners to and from court? I wonder how many of those have seat belts for them . . .
I haven't seen them. I can't imagine that would be top of the priority list for safety.
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Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Gaybutton »

Sometimes it seems as if there is one law that overrides all others. That is, whatever new law, rule, regulation or anything similar they come up with, the overriding law says it must include confusion, misunderstanding, and not allowed to be fully thought through before being put into effect.

Even something as simple as if your vehicle has seat belts, then everyone has to wear them.
How is it possible for that to be confusing? Read on . . .
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New seatbelt law: Police will go "softly softly" from Sept 5 - but fines are "at the discretion of the officer"

by Webfact

August 12, 2022

Daily News reported on the comments of the deputy commander of the metropolitan police in Bangkok yesterday regarding the new seatbelt law that comes in next month.

The media called September 5th "D-Day" - as they always do - but the devil was in the details, notes ASEAN NOW.

These were typically wishy-washy indicating that the RTP hasn't really thought the issue through. The spokesman didn't even know what different car seats were.

Pol Maj-Gen Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek was sure about one thing - the law meant that EVERYONE in a car had to wear a seatbelt front or back.

Unless the car was really old.

Previously it was just the front meaning the driver and passenger.

Regarding car seats for children he spoke of there being three kinds of restraining devices - "car seats, special seats and seats that stop danger".

What these actually are was not clearly articulated (the press didn't press him).

All he did say was that the RTP - of which he is of course a part and a spokesman - have yet to decide what car seat means. When that is sure it'll be implemented immediately, he said hopefully.

One reasonably definitive point was that cars registered before January 1st 1988 that could not be fitted with seatbelts would be exempt.

But his main point - and that picked up by the media in their headline - was that the police would only conduct a public information drive at first warning people that they all had to belt up.

Though ominously for those that believe the new law will be a possible revenue stream for miscreants masquerading under the RTP badge, Jirasan said that this softly-softly approach "would be at the discretion of the officer on a case by case basis".

https://aseannow.com/topic/1268536-new- ... e-officer/
Jun

Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Jun »

So they manage to even screw this up.
Fines "at the discretion of the officer" are the very last thing they need, as it set's the precedent that it's another rule to be ignored or circumvented with occasional tea money when caught.
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Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Gaybutton »

Another thought occurred to me. While they are worried about rear seat passengers wearing seat belts, I think there is a much larger safety issue that we never even hear about - adults taking infants and toddlers on their motorbikes, but the children almost never are wearing helmets. I'm wondering why that seems to be perfectly ok, but in a car those same children are required to be in harnessed car seats.

I don't know the law about safety helmets for children as passengers on motorbikes. Does a law about that even exist? And if it doesn't, isn't that a much larger safety issue that ought to be addressed?

Welcome to the next item on my "I Don't Get It" list . . .
Jun

Re: Belt up or pay 2000 baht

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:53 pm I don't know the law about safety helmets for children as passengers on motorbikes. Does a law about that even exist? And if it doesn't, isn't that a much larger safety issue that ought to be addressed?
According to this site, helmets are required. https://thailand.savethechildren.net/ne ... -years-old

In practice, surely the problem is not the law, but the use of the law as a means for the police to collect tea money ?

The critical point is that tea money needs to be set at a level which does not prevent reoffending. Otherwise the tea money dries up.
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