2wheels
Community Manager
Police to put a spike in street racers' fun
Police plan to buy specially designed spikes to safely pop the tyres of annoying teenage motorcycle street racers, national police chief Adul Seangsingkeaw said on Wednesday.
Photo by Thiti Wannamontha
Pol Gen Adul was speaking to reporters during the demonstration of the device, a 4.5 metre mechanical arm that releases sharpened spikes designed to puncture and flatten motorcycle tyres.
Air in the tyres would slowly leak out to avoid accidents caused by a sudden tyre burst, he said.
Testing showed a motorcycle would be able to go on for 30 to 50 metres after its tyres were punctured.
The price is 13,500 baht per unit, compared with the 18,000 baht cost of similar spikes used to stop cars.
"I'm satisfied with the device's performance, but I'll check whether using it is against the law before placing any order.
"Police already have other devices to stop cars, but those are used for crowd control," Pol Gen Adul said after the demonstration.
(story continues below)
The video clip above, uploaded to Youtube by Jummania, shows teenage motorcycle gangsters racing on the Bangkok street.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/317431/police-spike-tyres-motorycle-street-race
He said a campaign has been launched to reduce motorcycle racing on the streets. It will include posters with aggressive messages to discourage illegal street racing.
Uniform and undercover officers will be deployed in areas where street racers like to gather and at auto shops and garages that provide services to teenage motorcyclists.
Commanding officers in each district will be in charge of shutting down races. The officers must not be armed and there must be enough illumination to ensure no mistreatment of the youngsters, he added.
Police would regularly visit known offenders' homes to check on them and parents would be informed that their children would be charged if caught street racing again.
Police have 1599 hotline for people to place complaints and reports on street racing.
Thai netizens, meanwhile, were calling for harsher punishments for teenagers involved in street racing.
Forums on pantip.com have been flooded with messages from posters who witnessed illegal racing in their neighbourhood.
Some have also been victims of accidents, assaults, looting and rape by teenage motorcycle gangs carrying weapons.
They asked police to seriously take action against illegal racing.
However, many also doubted the new campaign would be effective, despairingly predicting it would be short lived.
Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said on Wednesday he is preparing a proposal for measures to help solve traffic problems in Bangkok and will send it to the Office of the Commission for the Management of Land Traffic.
The proposed measures include: Staggering working hours in schools, private companies and public agencies; more stringent traffic regulation; and training more traffic volunteers and officers to oversee traffic safety in the city and vicinity.
"An inspection at more than 200 locations across Bangkok and vicinity found all of them have traffic problems. The paved shoulders will have to be made bigger to allow for an extra traffic lane," he said
- Published: 17/10/2012 at 06:00 PM
- Online news: Local News
Police plan to buy specially designed spikes to safely pop the tyres of annoying teenage motorcycle street racers, national police chief Adul Seangsingkeaw said on Wednesday.
Pol Gen Adul was speaking to reporters during the demonstration of the device, a 4.5 metre mechanical arm that releases sharpened spikes designed to puncture and flatten motorcycle tyres.
Air in the tyres would slowly leak out to avoid accidents caused by a sudden tyre burst, he said.
Testing showed a motorcycle would be able to go on for 30 to 50 metres after its tyres were punctured.
The price is 13,500 baht per unit, compared with the 18,000 baht cost of similar spikes used to stop cars.
"I'm satisfied with the device's performance, but I'll check whether using it is against the law before placing any order.
"Police already have other devices to stop cars, but those are used for crowd control," Pol Gen Adul said after the demonstration.
(story continues below)
The video clip above, uploaded to Youtube by Jummania, shows teenage motorcycle gangsters racing on the Bangkok street.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/317431/police-spike-tyres-motorycle-street-race
He said a campaign has been launched to reduce motorcycle racing on the streets. It will include posters with aggressive messages to discourage illegal street racing.
Uniform and undercover officers will be deployed in areas where street racers like to gather and at auto shops and garages that provide services to teenage motorcyclists.
Commanding officers in each district will be in charge of shutting down races. The officers must not be armed and there must be enough illumination to ensure no mistreatment of the youngsters, he added.
Police would regularly visit known offenders' homes to check on them and parents would be informed that their children would be charged if caught street racing again.
Police have 1599 hotline for people to place complaints and reports on street racing.
Thai netizens, meanwhile, were calling for harsher punishments for teenagers involved in street racing.
Forums on pantip.com have been flooded with messages from posters who witnessed illegal racing in their neighbourhood.
Some have also been victims of accidents, assaults, looting and rape by teenage motorcycle gangs carrying weapons.
They asked police to seriously take action against illegal racing.
However, many also doubted the new campaign would be effective, despairingly predicting it would be short lived.
Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said on Wednesday he is preparing a proposal for measures to help solve traffic problems in Bangkok and will send it to the Office of the Commission for the Management of Land Traffic.
The proposed measures include: Staggering working hours in schools, private companies and public agencies; more stringent traffic regulation; and training more traffic volunteers and officers to oversee traffic safety in the city and vicinity.
"An inspection at more than 200 locations across Bangkok and vicinity found all of them have traffic problems. The paved shoulders will have to be made bigger to allow for an extra traffic lane," he said
