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Dangers of scooters and motorbikes

Last night as we cycled back from dinner, we heard a massive crunch two cars ahead of us. I kept to the side whilst George and locals ran to a local man laying on his front in the road. 

Knocked off his scooter. No helmet on. Not sure if any lights on. He'd been hit by a car. It wasn't clear what had happened. 

Luckily the hospital was just down the road and the ambulance arrived very quickly. The man had thankfully regained consciousness as it arrived. A few minutes later we passed A&E where he was being wheeled inside. 

When we stayed in Cha-am last month, a waitress from a regular restaurant we visited, proudly showed us her new motorbike. 

She then recounted on new years eve that her restaurant had a big party, she'd had lots to drink, and then rode home with no helmet on. She couldn't remember what had happened when she woke up two days later in hospital. She now wears a helmet. 

There are many sad stories of tourists having serious motorbike accidents whilst in Thailand.  The majority of Western hirers don't wear helmets. Some don't know how to ride a scooter.

Recently we looked into scooter hire in Ranong. 

The terms and conditions at the bottom of the 'contract' basically said:

- there is no insurance cover at all
- if you have an accident and it's your fault you pay
- if you have an accident and it's not your fault you pay

The rental scooter they offered was also in poor condition so we walked out. But many do sign the contract without reading. Many have an accident free holiday. A small number don't. 

We will just stick to some rubbish old bicycles to potter around on instead. 



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