Mini vans are not designed for want to be grand prix drivers as is evident by the consequences here.

Posted by slickmelb on February 17, 2015 15:56

What is it going to take to put some order on these idiot minivan drivers. They are internationally notorious for being some of the most reckless drivers on the planet, and everybody knows they are just accidents waiting to happen.

Posted by Ed Sanders on February 17, 2015 16:27

When they made that road wider, they made it possible to achieve higher rates of speed, thereby making it less safe.

Posted by The Mare Crisium on February 17, 2015 16:39

[quote]
A tyre on the van blew on a curve about 300 metres from the Technical College...
[/quote]

Yea, and I am the most handsum man in the world...

I don't believe this excuse for 1 second. I passed this accident about 10 minutes after it occurred.

The location is exactly at the same curve where a car spun off last week (I saw it, not reported in the news), and where 2 motorbikes spun off in separate incidents last year.

The curve is not dangerous, so long as the driver of the vehicle in question has not just driven/rode in straight lines in their driving/riding career.

You take this corner too fast, and you don't know how to drive round corners ==> you drive off the road or flip your car/bike.

It is not rocket science. Perhaps the police should ask the tourists in the van if their driver was driving at an appropriate speed, (hang on, they were French tourists - on second thoughts, maybe don't ask them!).

Posted by Simon Luttrell on February 17, 2015 16:45

We always hear that a tyre ' blew' as a cause but has anyone ever actually had a tyre blow as in a sudden loss of pressure.
I've had tyres fail and at high speeds but the situation is never uncontrollable, it's just an increasing pull to the failed tyre side giving a warning that something's not normal.

Posted by Manowar on February 17, 2015 17:02

From the picture it looks like right front tire is the spare one which needs to be used in an emergency only and with limited speed; maybe that's the reason for crashing

Posted by JK on February 17, 2015 18:30

Tires look fine in all the pictures.

Posted by Doc E 8404 on February 17, 2015 19:09

Dear Governor ...any chance of redirecting police from the ludicrous beach chair brigade to something important like catching and prosecuting maniac van drivers? Police priorities are just so obviously wrong.

Posted by benvenuto on February 17, 2015 19:27

@slickmelb

After visiting movie theater and watching those ads about vans, I think most of van drivers assume that vans are on par with Bugatti Veyron.

Those ads are so sickingly wrong, and apparently support and promote cowboy van drivers mentality, capitalizing on what already is wrong on roads, invoking very wrong behavior in audience - and that all for pure commercial purposes.

Posted by Sue on February 17, 2015 20:25

Based on the images, it doesn't look like any of the tires blew. Yet it does look like he was driving with a spare tire though.
Very difficult to control the driving on the island. People who haven't learnt properly how to drive cannot be expected to drive well. Anyone can walk into a dealership and get a car and it seems like anyone can get employed as a driver.

Posted by ze mechanik on February 17, 2015 20:49

This kind of incident , unfortunately is not just "Phuket", Thailand in General is very dangerous and this happens daily... Sad to say.....

Posted by Robert on February 17, 2015 21:32

From the photos its not a spare tyre on the front, its just that the plastic wheeltrim has come off. The tyre is the same size as all the others, its not a spacesaver.

How no one was killed is an absolute miracle, those three chaps are the luckiest guys alive at the moment.

Fully agree with all the sentiments regarding safety of the drivers of these vans, we all get "cut up" by them on a daily basis I am sure.

But hey, far more important to kick little old ladies off beach chairs than police the roads.

Its very reassuring that in one of the photos a helpful gentleman is pointing at the upturned van, just in case we missed it. Quality.

Posted by Amazing Thailand on February 17, 2015 22:41

It's impossible to tell whether a tyre failed from viewing a picture as when the load of the vehicle is removed it would return to its regular shape.

Even with a load, they are only ever flat on one side!

Posted by Manowar on February 17, 2015 22:44

@ Sue.. yes ur so right there and i said it many years.. they promote Paris-Dakar rally driving on every brand u can see... no wonder they drives like that.

Posted by frog on February 18, 2015 00:23

Check the tyre pressure of the minivan. You will find its over 60 PSI which is generally over the tyre safety and the manufacturers recommendation.
I have watched many minivans put air in the tyres by over inflating.
The main reason people do this, they believe their KM per litre is increased.

But if you have been in a minivan it bounces around a lot and you feel every bump which is due to the tyres having too much air.

Posted by Tbs on February 18, 2015 00:45

Wow, good pictures. Another 'clown-driver'. He really 'did' something to get his minivan in that 'rest position'. Was he tested on alcohol/drugs?

Posted by Kurt on February 18, 2015 08:21

The guy on the ground looks like he's already dead, or next thing to it.. thank goodness that wasn't the case.

Posted by farang888 on February 19, 2015 00:17