Advertisement
Published: February 26th 2009
Edit Blog Post
I thought the traffic in Hanoi was bad, but Saigon makes it look like a sleepy burg. Everyone in both cities seems to have a motor bike, and everyone seems to ride them more or less constantly. There are few private cars, mostly are taxis. There are some busses and and an occasional truck.
Not only are the streets clogged, but the sidewalks are often impassable because of the many bikes parked in front of stores, cafes and businesses. Pedestrians end up walking in the streets, adding to the congestion. Occasionally the police will try to clear the sidewalks and impound the illegally parked motor bikes. As soon as someone sees them coming the alarm goes out, and everyone rushes to move their bikes. Minutes after the police pass, everything is back in place as it was before.
There are few stop lights and stop signs in Vietnam. They are not needed. While traffic is very heavy, it flows well. I never saw a traffic jam.
Traffic accidents are not uncommon. When there is an accident the police are not called. The parties involved settle things between themselves and are on their way. I have been told that
most of the time there is no financial settlement, but if money changes hands it does so on the spot, not in court.
One day I was sitting at the Vespa cafe in Saigon. It is located at a very busy intersection. Two young men were crossing the street. One of them was hit hard by a motor bike. He was knocked down and hit his head on the pavement. He was unconscious for a few seconds. The driver who hit him stopped. The man’s friend and the driver helped the injured man to the sidewalk where he regained his senses. They wiped away the blood and got him to his feet. After a few minutes the two men walked away and the motor bike driver drove away. No one stopped to gawk. No ambulance was called. No police were involved, and no ambulance chasing lawyer showed up.
I have found what I think is the best way to cross a busy street in Vietnam. Look for a small opening the the traffic closest to you, then step out. The on coming motorbikes will see you and go around you. Don’t look to the side. You will loose
your nerve. Just walk straight across. Most of the time this works. I have been grazed a few times, but never seriously.
If you look on YouTube or similar sites there are dozens of clips showing the heavy traffic in Vietnam and offering street crossing advice. Crossing a street is an adventure.
No one looks behind them while driving. They pay attention to what is in front of them. They pay attention to oncoming traffic and pedestrians. They assume that who ever is behind them will be paying attention to them. They signal the traffic behind them when changing lanes or making a turn. The drivers seem to heed the signals and allow for the move. This system seems to work well, though not perfectly.
Horn blowing is the rule when driving. Everyone blows their horns when passing another vehicle, when entering an intersection, making a turn, changing lanes, and when passing someone going the other way. Consequently there is a constant din of horns.
I enjoy exploring the city on my own. I often take long walks looking in shops, markets, cafes and street vendors. I often get lost, so it is my habit to
carry the business card of my guest house with me. When I get lost I show the card to a taxi or cyclo driver and let him take me back. It is not unusual for me to be just a few blocks away from my destination and not realize it. But sometimes I have wandered far.
On my second day in Hanoi I got hopelessly lost. I was walking along a wide one way street where the motor bike traffic was at least 10 or 12 lanes wide. I gave up trying to find my way and signaled a cyclo. I gave him the card of my guest house and he indicated he knew where it was and quoted a price for the ride, so I hopped on board. Well, the driver suddenly cut across all 12 lanes of traffic and we began riding on the opposite side of the road against traffic. No problem, though the horn blowing was severe.
My pics do not do justice to the traffic. It is hard to capture the flow with a still camera.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0397s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb