This is the dramatic moment locals rushed to stop an unmanned car rolling downhill in Thailand.

The residents were resting on the patio near the roadside in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on May 28 when they spotted the vehicle moving on its own after the driver forgot to set the brakes.

They managed to stop the sedan before it could crash into oncoming cars.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.