Safety

The flooding that has been making life difficult for millions in Thailand since July is now inundating Bangkok. We took a camera and here are some images from Ladprao road taken yesterday.

With the flood water moving in and affecting the lives of millions of people in Thailand and the region, and with climate change proponents predicting more of the same in the years ahead, it might be wise to have some plans in place to protect your transportation.

Here are some practical ways to avoid flood damage to your car.

Charn Thaiphadungpong, 57, dropped his nephew off at Temrak Suksa School in Nonthaburi. Then he had some problem with his car, and as a result of this problem he lost control of the car in the school campus and ran the car into a group of 20 sixth-grade students, killing one and injuring 6 others, two of them seriously.

How did this happen?

A video of a Thai language news report covering the aftermath of the horrific 'accident' is on youtube. During the report, there is some dialogue with the Thai Police Officer responsible for the case. He makes some telling statements, and in light of what we know now, it's clear that he was deliberately misleading.

I don't really know where to start with this story, but it must be told and told and shared and there must be justice. Let everyone know and don't let up.

Let's start with the facts, and take it from there. A 17-year-old girl has been killed after she was hit by a Porsche Cayman.

It gets worse: The driver must have been speeding, because the impact broke the young woman into two pieces.

It gets worse: The driver the proceeded to flee the scene of the accident and continued for 10km before parking the car and abandoning it outside a restaurant.

It gets worse: read on and prepare to get really angry!

Story has been updated. See updates at the base of the article after the jump.

As a follow up on previous coverage of the Chevrolet Cruze, the Euro NCAP test result for the Cruze is worth a look. The car performs very well. In fact, it's almost flawless!

Of course when sold in Thailand, the Chevrolet Cruze will not be as generously appointed when it comes to safety specification. Still, the platform looks extremely strong. And hopefully Chevrolet will raise the bar for this segment by offering side and curtain air-bags at least as options.

I'm regularly banging on about safety issues here on bkkAutos, but I've never really felt that safety promotion videos were an effective way of dealing with the issues. Education is vital, since many of the safety concerns can be met by changes to individual behaviours and choices.

This road safety video is a bit different though. While I'm not sure how effective it might be in changing the minds of those who refuse to embrace seatbelts, it is a beautifully produced video.

The Bangkok Post has a video posted on their site of the Lotus Evora on Thai roads. The Evora is probably the coolest Lotus in the last 10 years.

Although all the "reviewer" does is confirm that it is a Lotus, and that the steering wheel, and other aspects of the car are "well... very Lotus", I'm posting this because I love the noise this Toyota V6 makes, when they eventually allow us to listen to it towards the end of the "review".

Sometimes after living in Thailand for a few years and witnessing the crazy things that drivers do on the roads, you might hear people saying things like, "Only in Thailand." Well, this compilation video is not from Thailand. It's from Europe, and I think it shows that people are the same the world over.

Video after the jump.

It's time to start getting really excited, and not because of cars, but because of ones and zeros!

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology little boys (and other people) can immerse themselves into astonishingly realistic racing simulations, hopefully satisfying the need to go fast.

GT5, and Forza 3 look so realistic that you need to keep reminding yourself that this is not real. Although not quite photo-realistic, the graphics look amazing. You can check out preview videos of GT5 and Forza 3 after the jump. And then start saving for a PS3 or an Xbox 360!

A piece in the Bangkok Post titled "Safer roads, anyone?" reveals some shocking statistics from the WHO concerning road deaths. I'm not going to repost the article here, but please do read it.

This is a serious issue. Think about it. Take action.

It is no secret that running red lights is dangerous. This video shows some examples of the kind of accidents that can result from efforts to safe a few minutes/seconds at the lights. The video is a compilation of surveillance footage from junctions/intersections around Thailand, and you should be warned that you may find some of the accidents disturbing.

An email forward has been circulating for a while now, that outlines the locations of the intersection cameras designed to capture images of cars running red lights in Bangkok. Although many criticise governments for using speed cameras, I am less critical of this measure, as there should never be a good reason to run a red light. This practise results in many needless accidents and deaths in Thailand.

Hopefully this measure will prevent some deaths. Please don't ever be tempted to run the red light.

If you haven't driven in Thailand you might not be familiar with the whistle blowers that are employed by hotels, department stores, and other businesses to help direct the traffic, and to assist with car parking etc.

As if the sound of a screeching whistle wasn't enough to put you off, the directions given by these whistle blowers is often very confusing, and I often wonder if some of them have ever been behind the wheel of a car.

Do you know the proper technique for jump starting a car with a flat battery? Maybe you do, or maybe you think you do. Either way it can't hurt to read this so that there isn't any doubt.

First, I'd like to dispel a commonly held misconception that connecting a healthy battery to a flat battery can damage the good battery, or the car that it is in.

This is not true. If you do it right it will not cause any harm at all.

The other common misconception is that you need to connect the negative terminals first. This is also bogus. In fact, you connect the positive terminals first!