
Originally Posted by
prawnograph
Today's rant: my most hated vehicle on the road
In March various Chanthaburi transport, health agencies and police held a forum on the salaengs and the high number of reported accidents involving them on local roads.
They estimate there are beween 3000-4000 of them in the province (population 520,000 so not quite 'everyone' has one) - no accurate figure as they are mostly unregistered.
And unregisterable. Most have no lights, no indicators, attached to shitty old bikes missing a registration plate and worst of all fitted with oversized overhanging 'roofs' or umbrellas often making them wider than an average car.
The solution? A case of 'too big a problem' so this month police have come up with a clever solution, they have been stopping salaengs and applying pieces of adhesive reflective tape to the sidecars, proudly putting pics of this achievement on the police Facebook page, seems they've been granted an exemption under the 'too big a problem' category, and get sent on their merry way minus lights, indicators, registration . . . and a little bit of sticky tape.
Note: twice while cycling I've been clipped by sidecars, 2013 put me in hospital, second one can't remember the year about 2017 maybe the driver a boy looked about 7-8 had a passenger in the sidecar a girl of about 3. This was on an open road/highway, low speed i ended up unhurt in a ditch of long grass.