Saigon traffic at rush hour is the closest thing to Thunderdome that I’ve ever experienced firsthand. My public high school parking lot at around 3:30 p.m. is a close second.
The government, to its credit, has made steps to try to rein in the chaos recently, albeit with apparently limited success. It turns out that trying to enforce traffic rules in an Asian metropolis is like herding cats.
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Via The New York Times (emphasis added):
The stated goal appears to have not borne fruit as of yet in multiple ways:Vietnam’s motorbike drivers have always tended to treat red lights as suggestions, more slow down than stop. At rush hour, they’ve brought the same indifference to other rules, like: Yield to pedestrians; or, stay off sidewalks; or, do not drive against the flow of traffic.
Some found it charming, the ballet of many wheels dancing around pedestrians. But Vietnam’s road fatality rates have long been among the highest in Asia. And after cracking down on drunken driving, the country’s leaders are now going after everything else.
Under a new law, traffic fines have risen tenfold, with the biggest tickets exceeding $1,500. The average citation tops a month’s salary for many, and that’s more than enough to change behavior. Intersections have become both calmer and more congested by an outbreak of caution. Faulty green lights have even led scared drivers to walk motorbikes across streets the police might be watching…
Making Vietnam more “civilized” (“van minh” in Vietnamese) appears to be the goal. It’s a word the government has often deployed for public order campaigns, signaling what this lower-middle-income country often sees as its north star: the wealth and order of a Singapore, South Korea or Japan.
- They routinely drive against traffic on the wrong side of the road — often at night, often with no lights on.
- They frequently pop out from behind a tree or a parked car on the side of the road — with a Viet Cong-esque quickness — without bothering to look to their left for oncoming traffic; the onus is on the other drivers to swerve or collide. If you make the mistake of relaxing for even a half-second on the grounds that the road is clear ahead, you’re gambling with your life.
- They drive over sidewalks — and any other non-road terrain — with zero regard for pedestrians.
- Roundabouts — highly common — are calamities waiting to happen. Accidents are the norm. At some point I may upload videos I have taken of these horrifying gauntlets.
Related: The State of Feminism in Southeast Asia
Theory vs. practice
In addition to disregarding any and all traffic laws on the books, Vietnamese drivers also perform incredible feats on their motorbikes that most certainly are not sanctioned in the official literature, often in highly amusing fashion.
The literature lays bare what one is and is not meant to do with a motorbike, via Honda Click 125i Owner’s Manual, a common make and model in Southeast Asia (emphasis added):
It’s important to keep your scooter properly maintained and in safe riding condition. Inspect your scooter before every ride and perform all recommended maintenance. Never exceed load limits and do not modify your scooter or install accessories that would make your scooter unsafe…
Ride cautiously and keep your hands on the handlebar and feet on the floor…
Tie all luggage securely, evenly balanced and close to the center of the scooter.
That’s the theory of proper motorbike usage.
This is practice — bear in mind, an infinitesimally small fraction of the demonstrations I have seen, snapped when I happened to have a camera handy.
How’s that for “not exceeding load limits” and “tying all luggage securely?”
