In the first accident, two migrant workers were killed when the six-wheeled truck they were travelling in rolled uncontrollably down Nakalay Hill, plummeting down a 100-metre slope and into a canal. All 40 people packed into the back of the truck were thrown from it as it descended the slope. It’s amazing that only two died.
The second accident, on the notorious Patong Hill, saw one woman killed when she tried to swerve to avoid a runaway truck that had flipped on the road. And in the third accident on Patong Hill, a cement lorry lost control on descent, and in the process crushed two motorcyclists to death.
Yes, all three were accidents, but accidents which could easily have been avoided.
In regards to the first incident, why were 40 workers crammed into the back of a truck? It’s common knowledge that this is the preferred method of transporting this breed of “cattle” around the island, but are their lives not worth more?
Yes, there may have been other factors at play, but if the passengers had been transported how other human beings usually are, those two people might still be alive today.
The last two accidents were like so many others on Phuket and there is only one real cause: driving standards. Drivers may blame brake failure, but do authorities believe that so many people here on Phuket are so naive?
They’re not. In a recent Phuket News poll, reckless driving by large transport vehicles (lorries, tour buses and vans) was the most popular answer to our question: In your experience, what is the
biggest hazard on Phuket’s roads?
These five deaths in four days should be a wake-up call for authorities to realise there is a serious problem with the standard of driving in Phuket, and someone should finally take responsibility for taking steps to prevent these needless deaths.
Laws are laws and they should not be broken. Accidents are accidents but so many here are caused by reckless driving and breaking laws.
How many more deaths in such a small period of time does it take for someone to acknowledge that traffic laws here in Phuket need to be more strictly enforced?