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Motorcycle Crashes Head-on into Pickup, Leaving 2 Dead
On Saturday, two men were killed when their motorcycle collided head-on with a pickup truck coming the other way in southern Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
The fatal crash occurred at about 12.30 am, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, said.
Police and rescue workers found Piya Siriruam, 37, and Weerasak Suksai, 39, dead in a pool of blood next to a motorbike and a pickup truck.
According to witnesses, the bike was traveling at a high speed while attempting to overtake a car before hitting the pickup truck in the opposite lane.
The motorcycle driver and his pillion passenger died at the scene. The pickup truck’s front part was damaged, while the motorcycle was completely destroyed.
Police are continuing their investigation.
The root cause of motorcycle accidents
According to a study by the Thailand Accident Research Centre (TARC), cars cutting in front of traffic causes the most fatal motorcycle accidents in Thailand.
Thailand’s Accident Research Centre analyzed 1,000 road accidents between 2016 and 2020. According to the study, perceptual errors are the number one cause of motorcycle accidents, and young riders account for the majority of fatalities.
To find solutions to the problem, the study aimed to identify the root cause of bike accidents.
Approximately 20,000 people die every year on Thai roads, which are among the deadliest in the world. Approximately three-quarters of those fatalities are caused by two- or three-wheeled vehicles.
In the study, 53 percent of motorcycle accidents were caused by motorcyclists, 41 percent by car drivers, 4 percent by road and environment, and 2 percent by other factors.
According to the research, 80% of motorbike accidents are caused by cars cutting into traffic. The majority of the motorcycle victims were riding at normal speeds (20-60kph) and were not impaired by alcohol or sleepiness.
More than 40 percent of those killed sustained severe head injuries. Over 62 percent of those surveyed did not wear a helmet.
