A CANADIAN woman biking in Kanchanaburi with her husband died early this morning (June 18) after being hit by a pickup truck while changing lanes to make a U-turn, Thai Rath newspaper said.
At 7.30 a.m. Pol. Capt. Chairat Chananan, a deputy inspector at Mueang Kanchanaburi police station, was alerted of the accident on Bypass road at Tha Makham subdistrict, Mueang district, by Pitakkarn Foundation’s radio station and quickly rushed there with some Tourist Police officers and a doctor from Phahon Phon Phayuhasena Hospital.
At the scene they found body of the deceased woman, Ms. Marnie Dawn Scott, 49, on the road shoulder with signs of serious impact. There was evidence of her body hitting the pickup truck’s windshield and then falling 35 metres from the point of impact.
Her bicycle was badly damaged with the two wheels separating – the front one being near the body and the rear two metres away.
There was a wide hole on the left front windshield of the four-door silver-bronze pickup truck with the driver, Mr. Chaiwat Chuto, 23, having driven back from 200 metres away from the point of accident where he had halted his vehicle to exactly where it took place and was waiting to surrender to the police.
The deceased woman’s husband Mr. Joseph Michael Scott, 50, who is also from Canada, told police he and his wife were volunteers at Christian Freedom International Foundation and were working in Mae Sot district of Tak province.
The two of them together with their two children had come to Kanchanaburi for a holiday and this morning biked from their hotel at River Kwai Bridge road for sightseeing. They had gone down the Soi Mui Apartment to exit at Bypass road where they were to U-turn with him having done so.
However when his wife was changing lanes to likewise get to the other side the pickup truck came down the road at high speed and hit her. He added that her body was dragged for 30-40 metres without any sound of brakes and this distressed him.
Meanwhile the pickup truck driver told the police that he was driving to his home in Nong Bua on the furthest right lane and saw the deceased woman riding her bike on the left lane with another car parked nearby. He added that he blared the horn and thought she would not change lanes and continued driving but when he turned again he saw she had changed lanes and he was not able to brake on time.
Police are still questioning those involved in this accident in detail and gathering evidence at the scene. The pickup truck driver will be charged with reckless driving causing the death of another person with negligence being considered.
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Mr. Joseph Michael Scott near the spot of the accident and being questioned by police. Photos: Thai Rath
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