Municipal areas: 60-80kph Outside municipal areas: 80-90kph Expressway: 100-120kph One way or another, unclear rules are causing headaches to ordinary people. It seems inevitable, given that law enforcers themselves still resort to different techniques in enforcing the law.
Take the way they enforce the rules over speed limits, as an example. Ask yourself how many know that passenger cars face a speed limit of 80km per hour (kph) on public roads in municipal areas? And yet people still drive more than 90kph - when the roads are clear - and are not stopped by police. Indeed, the number of police officers must be too few that they do not see taxis who often make extremely dangerous short-cuts.
Lack of knowledge, as well as an insufficient number of police officers, as well as complaints of power abuse, led to the installation of speed cameras in 2006. To date, the cameras are installed at 162 spots nationwide, mainly to tackle speed-loving drivers.
The cameras can take photos of vehicles and their licence plates from as far as 100 metres. Then the photos plus the speed tickets are mailed to the vehicle owner's address, thanks to the cooperation with the Land Transport Department. If the fines are not paid within 7 days, the owners face problems in renewing their annual car registration and are compelled to pay penalties up to Bt1,000.
The cameras along highways cost Bt1.2 million each. They are working well. Drivers can't object to receiving the photos and tickets mailed to their homes, given that there is clear evidence of their rule breaking. However, many more are still having to deal with officers who fight for payment without evidence in their hands.
On her way to Phitsanulok, a driver was stopped by a highway officer at the Pratunam Phra-In junction. She was waved into the office and notified by an officer that she had been speeding and must pay the Bt200 fine.
Asking to see the evidence of her speeding, she was told the camera was not wired to the office. It just sends signals to the office on cars violating the law, and at what speed. To avoid giving her driving licence to the police, she must pay the fine. They said if she preferred to see the photo, she had to surrender the driving licence and receive a ticket. Then she had to submit the ticket to the Pratunam Phra-In police station, which was at another address. Upon paying the fine, she would see the photo.
Maybe she had actually violated the law - but by paying the fine without evidence meant admitting she had broken the law. The driver had no choice but to give up her licence, as she preferred to see the evidence first.
A male driver also posted on a web block that he was stopped doing 125kph. The officer said the limit was relaxed from 90 to 120kph, but the driver still violated the (relaxed) limit. He was told to pay a Bt200 fine. When he offered to pay only Bt100, the officer said OK but without a receipt. The driver asked on the blog, why would anyone want a ticket when the fine was cut by half?
It would be a blessing to all drivers, if a single mechanism was installed to punish wrongdoers. It would be the only way to know that all are subjected to the same rules. And then no drivers would see the point in convincing officers to slash their fines. And no officer would be subjected to the criticism of taking bribes.
Without fairness, none will feel safe on the road.
Achara Deboonme
The nation
