Thread: Motorcycle accident

Any lawyers out there as I need some advice as a mate had a motorcycle accident yesterday and it goes like this.
He was coming around a sharp 90deg bend and got about 15m past the bend doing about 45klm/h when a not so bright lady with her son on a motorcycle pulled straight across the road no indicator no helmet no tax disc on the bike and we believe no license as well. My mate fully legal
End result son OK mother bangs her head and lost large amounts of blood all over the road. Hasn’t woken up yet and I would say has major head injures
So then we waited about 45min before the police turn while the dickhead locals had a side show with about 80 locals hanging around. My wife spoke to two ladies they had seen the accident and told her it was caused by the lady on the motorcycle but when the police turned up they where to scared to talk and instead some guy that wasn’t even there started telling police that my mate was doing 100 + KLM/H which is imposable as there are no skid marks and the bikes didn’t slid very far after the accident
So we all went off to the police station after and did nothing no blood test no statement taken. The other problem I have is the bike he was riding was registered to my wife and the bike is locked up in the police station and would like it back as soon as possible
Does any one have any real advice?
Remember this is rural Isaan as well and not a tourist place

I was the rider of riggers bike yesterday, when coming off a very sharp right hander in 3rd gear, i saw the honda wave and two people abord on the left white line, as always after 35 years of riding bikes and 7 years out here i moved over to the centre of the road knowing from experience the un predictability of thai scooter riders, and having seen one pull straight across on rigger on the very same road, As i got more or less within 10ft of the waves rear wheel the rider suddenly viered right to cross the road , without so much as a glance over her shoulder, I had no time to break and remember shouting you stupid cow, then blackness. I collided into the side of the wave, was thrown over the top of riggers bike and knocked unconsious, the marks on the road confirm she viered across and as rigger says two witnesses saw her make the turn and confirmed her fault, but now wont speek as another local said its a ferang we can get money, ( corruption raising its ugly head again in the land of smiles ) the bike slid 70ft before stopping , this in its self shows i wasnt exceeding the speed limit , especially after 50mtrs from the bend. as rigger says a croud soon appeared and the side show began with people who wernt even there putting in there opinions and apportioning blame to the ferang, never mind the fact she or her passenger wernt wearing helmets, had no indicators on, no lights,no insurence,no tax,and aswe suspect no licence, the police didnt take a statement from me or test me for alcohol, i am a holder of the IAM motorcycle licence and an experienced rider throughout all of europe, turkey and asia and have never seen such incompetence from an authority in that they said we wait till shes awake and then you two can discuss settlement, ( my arse i will ) the law is the law and all thai police stations have a book on the law in thai and english (ive seen it) could any one assist me as ive little funds left and wont accept blame or pay a penny for something that wasnt my doing. advise needed on the correct proceedure and who to speak too,

urgent assistance needed

I'm sorry that I can't give you any advise but I hope everything goes well for you.

Hopefully our resident lawyer William will be around soon.

Once the police have decided to fit you up then it is difficult to stop them. So you can either pay a bribe to the police or pay for the damages. Same outcome, you pay.

The fact that she didn't have a DL is irrelevant.
A 400 baht fine and then it is forgotten.

If you want to go to court and fight then you can but who will the judge listen to, your story or the police 'evidence'. If the police say there was a 500 metre skid mark then you cannot prove otherwise.
A court case will take forever and your bike will not be released until the case is settled.

Your only other option is to find someone with influence who can alter the outcome of the police decision. Sorry, TiT

Originally Posted by macattack

I wont accept blame or pay a penny for something that wasnt my doing.

I suggest you lose that attitude or lose your bike.

This situation is one of the down sides of living in LOS.
Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept defeat.
If the police want to fit you up then you cannot win.

Your insurance should cover all medical expenses.
Repairs to the Wave probably won't be much.

If the bird had been killed,you would be up for $$$. doesn't matter whos fault it was.

Originally Posted by Wallace

Your best bet is to rely on your own insurance and get someone from the company to talk to the police and persuade them to give you the benefit.

I have assumed that Mac only has the compulsory insurance.
No-one there to call and help you.

Sadly, very sound advice, just pay the minimum and move on and put it down to experience, there is NO justice here.
Good luck.

Originally Posted by Thetyim

I suggest you lose that attitude or lose your bike. This situation is one of the down sides of living in LOS. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept defeat. If the police want to fit you up then you cannot win. Your insurance should cover all medical expenses. Repairs to the Wave probably won't be much.

Originally Posted by Airportwo

Sadly, very sound advice, just pay the minimum and move on and put it down to experience, there is NO justice here.
Good luck.

Originally Posted by Thetyim

I suggest you lose that attitude or lose your bike. This situation is one of the down sides of living in LOS. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept defeat. If the police want to fit you up then you cannot win. Your insurance should cover all medical expenses. Repairs to the Wave probably won't be much.

thats BULLSHIT ! if you pay ANYTHING to the coppers that = you admit your guilty and thus can continue to get fcked by the lady!

adn sorry thetyim but if the lady has head injuries and still in coma 400 baht will not fix this!

i suggest finding a real laywer real quick!

I had a friend involved in a 3 people serious injury case, we found witnesses they told us that my friend had to go to the rigth avoiding a car and then crashed straigth on motorbike coming from there...

Few days after i went to this witnesses to ask them come to police to tell what they have seen, NO WAY they did not see anything anymore !!

So unfortunately a common case of farang involved, so farang faulty and pay.
We wanted to shift the friend badly injured to home country for proper treatments but they kept his passport and so was stuck in Thailand until case completely paid and settle from their point of view !

As longer the case takes as more you will have to pay as more policemen are involved.


Get proper lawyer fast ( or leave if you still have your papers...(not sure here!!)

You are in a situation 90% of farang loose !

Good luck ! hope it turns well for you !

My wife and I went to see the lady and young girl in the hospital yesterday both are OK now. 4 year old girl has lost skin from her face but will make a full recovery. The mother has head full of stitches and has a bad head ache. Of course they are poor Isaan people and she doesn’t have a license but are very quite and seem like decent people. They were a bit scared of my wife which was not purpose of the visit and had a tear or two when asked who will pay the 100,000 bht to repair our bike. Anyway we are all going down to the cop shop on fucking xmas day because the station is shut on the weekends. I don’t know what Macattack things about this but offering to pay half there medical bills to start may be enough and maybe go as hi as all medical cost but if they talk more we tell them we go to court over it as like I said they are very worried about the cost of repairs to my wife’s bike

I'm glad to read that things seem to be working out ok and the woman is recovering.
This had potential to turn into a big problem scenario.

You're doing the right thing in putting aside pride and settling the affair in a realistic way.
My respect!

Just a question, what would happen if it was one poor Isaan native who hit another poor Isaan native?

Originally Posted by Bung

who is going to pay for hospital?

Doesn't Mac's insurance cover 3rd party medical bills ?

same as what I am doing they would settle between the familys and keep the cops out of it as much as possible

Her not having a license is irrelevant. Your not having a license would not be irrelevant. If you are employed maybe your boss will help you out. This is the sort of fix that can add years to your age, if you let it.

Bummer...Unfortunate accident. Sounds like it could have been a lot worse and the big question seems to be how and or whether the insurance company will pony up.

Is it really true that the insurance is only protects for the owner of the bike ridding the bike?

If the insurance doesn't cover anything it will be to Mac to be financially responsible regardless who was actually at fault.
The Police are probably holding the bike until financial responsibility is established and resolved.
A good thai attorney may be needed to keep things from getting out of hand with the police.

Mac will have to suck it up to minimize the financial damage....but he will have to face the unfair reality that he will probably end being out of pocket for at the very least the 8-10K baht the attorney will cost, but probably quite a bit more.

Anyway it sounds like it might get complicated.

My best wishes to you guys for a favorable resolution.

Originally Posted by macattack

I was the rider of riggers bike yesterday, when coming off a very sharp right hander in 3rd gear, i saw the honda wave and two people abord on the left white line, as always after 35 years of riding bikes and 7 years out here i moved over to the centre of the road knowing from experience the un predictability of thai scooter riders, and having seen one pull straight across on rigger on the very same road, As i got more or less within 10ft of the waves rear wheel the rider suddenly viered right to cross the road , without so much as a glance over her shoulder, I had no time to break and remember shouting you stupid cow, then blackness. I collided into the side of the wave, was thrown over the top of riggers bike and knocked unconsious, the marks on the road confirm she viered across and as rigger says two witnesses saw her make the turn and confirmed her fault, but now wont speek as another local said its a ferang we can get money, ( corruption raising its ugly head again in the land of smiles ) the bike slid 70ft before stopping , this in its self shows i wasnt exceeding the speed limit , especially after 50mtrs from the bend. as rigger says a croud soon appeared and the side show began with people who wernt even there putting in there opinions and apportioning blame to the ferang, never mind the fact she or her passenger wernt wearing helmets, had no indicators on, no lights,no insurence,no tax,and aswe suspect no licence, the police didnt take a statement from me or test me for alcohol, i am a holder of the IAM motorcycle licence and an experienced rider throughout all of europe, turkey and asia and have never seen such incompetence from an authority in that they said we wait till shes awake and then you two can discuss settlement, ( my arse i will ) the law is the law and all thai police stations have a book on the law in thai and english (ive seen it) could any one assist me as ive little funds left and wont accept blame or pay a penny for something that wasnt my doing. advise needed on the correct proceedure and who to speak too,

urgent assistance needed

I wish you the best of luck in all aspects.

It's a shame these things happen in LOS.

Good luck, and keep us posted.