THURSDAY July 1 brings the start of the helmet crackdown in Phuket City, with 3200 people on 1600 motorcycles making the point in a heads-up parade at 1pm.
Riders and pillion passengers will all be wearing helmets - as everyone must, or risk a stiff fine. The crackdown will spread to other parts of Phuket soon.
The penalty for not complying will require pillion passengers without helmets to attend a safety video screening (in English or Thai) and the rider will be asked to pay a 1000 baht fine.
Motorcycle taxi riders are concerned that they will have to bear the penalty both if customers ride but refuse to wear helmets, and in lost income if they decline to take passengers without helmets.
Thousands of free helmets have been distributed to ease the concerns of the motorcycle taxi riders.
If anything, the crackdown intensifies pressure for a safer, more comprehensive system of public transport that both locals and tourists can afford.
Police have said the crackdown will last from 6am to 10pm every day. Decades of ignoring the law appear to be coming to an end. Already, many more motorcyclists around Phuket wear helets where once they went without.
Based on the road toll figures for May, when just three people died on Phuket, the island's roads have probably not been so benign since the early days of the motorcycle invasion.
A monthly toll of around 15 is more the regulation figure, with young males among the most frequent fatalities. Education programs now being introduced in schools may help to keep the figures low in future.
What has not changed - and what probably will not change without safer transport alternatives - is the huge number of people who are injured or permanently disabled. In May that figure was 999.
But usually it's a larger nightmare - there were 1550 in February, for example.
Shane Free, the young British diver who suffered a coma in a motorcycle crash, and whose long and costly recovery has been regularly featured in Phuketwan, is a good-news story.
For thousands of others, there is no chance of a full recovery, only a less complete life as a permanently disabled person. The needless cost of motorcycle crashes to the public health system, to hospitals, to doctors, to nurses, to friends and to family, and to Thailand's economy, is incalculable.
About 90 percent of deaths and injuries on Phuket's roads involve motorcycles. Of 297,645 registered vehicles on Phuket's roads, 208,183 are motorcycles. People coming to work in Phuket also bring thousands of motorcycles that are registered in other provinces.
The roads are packed with motorcycles in plague proportions, and numbers are likely to grow rather than shrink. Making helmets compulsory and enforcing the law is at least a step towards a safer future.
Phuketwan supports Mothers or Motorcycles (MoM), an action group that aims to ensure all Phuket riders wear motorcycles. MoM also encourages road safety education to save lives and prevent injuries.
Phuket Motorcycle Helmet Crackdown to Hit HomeRiders and pillion passengers will all be wearing helmets - as everyone must, or risk a stiff fine. The crackdown will spread to other parts of Phuket soon.
The penalty for not complying will require pillion passengers without helmets to attend a safety video screening (in English or Thai) and the rider will be asked to pay a 1000 baht fine.
Motorcycle taxi riders are concerned that they will have to bear the penalty both if customers ride but refuse to wear helmets, and in lost income if they decline to take passengers without helmets.
Thousands of free helmets have been distributed to ease the concerns of the motorcycle taxi riders.
If anything, the crackdown intensifies pressure for a safer, more comprehensive system of public transport that both locals and tourists can afford.
Police have said the crackdown will last from 6am to 10pm every day. Decades of ignoring the law appear to be coming to an end. Already, many more motorcyclists around Phuket wear helets where once they went without.
Based on the road toll figures for May, when just three people died on Phuket, the island's roads have probably not been so benign since the early days of the motorcycle invasion.
A monthly toll of around 15 is more the regulation figure, with young males among the most frequent fatalities. Education programs now being introduced in schools may help to keep the figures low in future.
What has not changed - and what probably will not change without safer transport alternatives - is the huge number of people who are injured or permanently disabled. In May that figure was 999.
But usually it's a larger nightmare - there were 1550 in February, for example.
Shane Free, the young British diver who suffered a coma in a motorcycle crash, and whose long and costly recovery has been regularly featured in Phuketwan, is a good-news story.
For thousands of others, there is no chance of a full recovery, only a less complete life as a permanently disabled person. The needless cost of motorcycle crashes to the public health system, to hospitals, to doctors, to nurses, to friends and to family, and to Thailand's economy, is incalculable.
About 90 percent of deaths and injuries on Phuket's roads involve motorcycles. Of 297,645 registered vehicles on Phuket's roads, 208,183 are motorcycles. People coming to work in Phuket also bring thousands of motorcycles that are registered in other provinces.
The roads are packed with motorcycles in plague proportions, and numbers are likely to grow rather than shrink. Making helmets compulsory and enforcing the law is at least a step towards a safer future.
Phuketwan supports Mothers or Motorcycles (MoM), an action group that aims to ensure all Phuket riders wear motorcycles. MoM also encourages road safety education to save lives and prevent injuries.
Latest Helmets must be on from July 1 because police kid gloves are coming off in the battle to save lives and reduce the number of needless deaths and injuries on Phuket.
Phuket Motorcycle Helmet Crackdown to Hit Home
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Latest One small step for Shane, a giant leap for Phuket. The island's motorcycles are liberating but the cause of much damage. Meet MOM, a new action group to reduce the toll.
Phuket Coma Diver Inspires New Action Force
Phuket Coma Diver Shane Talks, Takes First Steps
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Thank you Monica and Shane, thank you authorities, thank you riders themselves. This a fantastic achievement for all. Bravo and well done.
Folks we are going modern.
Posted by Graham on June 29, 2010 12:42