Driving in Vietnam

Sure there are more accidents here. Posts that kind of praise this 'traffic' do not convince me and never will. I work with doctors in the People's hospital in Su van Hanh. 30 percent of the emergency room patients come from the traffic, speeding, drug driving or drunk driving. They tell me it's so brutal at times that they do not even dare looking them in the eyes. Every month the government asks for these statistics as to see what can 'be done' about it, alcohol wise and traffic wise.

"Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital"
"I think it is much more interesting to live with uncertainty than to live with answers that might be wrong"   

IMO in order to properly understand driving in Vietnam you have to look at the culture, the infrastructure, the facilities and finally the history of the nation.

1. Infrastructure - I an tell you with the certainty of having lived in Vietnam for several  periods over the past 55 years that the traffic infrastructure has not improved much (if any) in Saigon in that time and it certainly does not stand comparison to almost any Western nations infrastructure - strike one against the Vietnamese driving public

2. History - lets remember that for all intents and purposes, The driving history of the current generation of Vietnamese drivers only began in 1990, so there is not a long history of driving. Strike two against the Vietnamese driving public.

3. Faciities (by this I mean the type of vehicles that they drive). First off the percentage of motorbikes is WAAAAY more than in any Western country and the age of the vehicles  as compared to the ever careful Swiss or the over regulated Singaporean drivers (where by law no vehicle older that ten years is allowed on the road.) and you can see why I am calling Strike three against the Vietnamese driving public.

4, Yes the underpaid Vietnamese traffic police have become very creative in augmenting their meagre incomes, but thats not at all uncommon in Asia (or even in certain parts of the US)

By and large, considering only the above points, I think they do pretty damn good considering these limitations. Sure the heavy vehicle drivers use their weight to their advantage, but this is not as bad as their counterparts in India or Thailand (where commercial truck drivers have to wear orange uniforms so that the police can find them after they create an accident).

Tell me the truth now, why are you living here if you want to change things? Relax and enjoy - you might even grow to like it>

I live here for two reasons : one is personal, a second is a good job. Wanting to change the traffic ? No. Commenting on it and having an opinion about it, yes. I'm sure you can accept to differ.

This subject is getting worn out isn't it?

peterbelelius wrote:

Sure there are more accidents here. Posts that kind of praise this 'traffic' do not convince me and never will. I work with doctors in the People's hospital in Su van Hanh. 30 percent of the emergency room patients come from the traffic, speeding, drug driving or drunk driving. They tell me it's so brutal at times that they do not even dare looking them in the eyes. Every month the government asks for these statistics as to see what can 'be done' about it, alcohol wise and traffic wise.

And how does that differ from conditions in US hospital emergency rooms? (other than the better facilities in the US) 

Yes its sad that there are so many traffic accidents but if we go back beyond the 1900s when there were no motor vehicles people were still killing each other but they were using guns.

Old Saigon Hand wrote:

peterbelelius wrote:

Sure there are more accidents here. Posts that kind of praise this 'traffic' do not convince me and never will. I work with doctors in the People's hospital in Su van Hanh. 30 percent of the emergency room patients come from the traffic, speeding, drug driving or drunk driving. They tell me it's so brutal at times that they do not even dare looking them in the eyes. Every month the government asks for these statistics as to see what can 'be done' about it, alcohol wise and traffic wise.

And how does that differ from conditions in US hospital emergency rooms? (other than the better facilities in the US) 

Yes its sad that there are so many traffic accidents but if we go back beyond the 1900s when there were no motor vehicles people were still killing each other but they were using guns.

Then they changed.

Well they seem to have also advanced the technology of killing with guns and other weapons. Perhaps its inherent in Human Nature? 

I really see the traffic as an outlet, a war zone substitute. So strongly do I react to it, (not capable of accepting it as a livable example of humanity), always on my bicycle, with earplugs btw. Yes, the topic is getting worn out, at least here on the blog. What did someone say ? The infrastructure of the traffic resembles the brain of the people ?

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I can see your point.

Thanks, I did mean statistically, but I guess I still had in mind the “static” resistance that two tons of steel should provide in the way of safety.  To clarify statistically, 1/10,000 is about the same as 2/10,000, both are very tiny fractions.     One would think that just the two tons of steel that western people wrap themselves in, which is 20 times the weight of most motor cycles, would afford 20 times the safety.  But it doesn't!  Instead, these massive vehicles burn large amounts of petrol, have an extremely high carbon footprint, and throw billions of tons of other types of pollution into the world's atmosphere. The health related deaths caused by this of course are not counted as traffic related.   

Nor have the western countries' strict and often unfair traffic enforcement, or the rigged traffic light cameras and speed traps made a significant statistical difference in safety.   In fact in hundreds of American cities the shortening of the yellow phase at camera traps has actually been the cause of thousands of accidents.  But on the plus side it did greatly increase government revenues.  Another burden the west suffers under their system of traffic enforcement is stress and a massive economic burden to society, a burden which is often place on people that simply cannot afford it.   http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2 … /24820783/ 

I am not sure where you lived in the west, but I have been shaken down several times by police in several states in the US.  In 2009 I learned that saying no to a shakedown can result in being beaten and jailed and found guilty of resisting arrest.  (America has become a police state where you are 58 times more likely to be killed by a policeman than a foreign terrorist.)  After filing a formal complaint about the broken arm I suffered by this episode, I was named prime suspect in two crimes.  The whole thing cost me over ten thousand dollars. 

My response, Hello Vietnam!  So far nothing like that has happened to me here.  In fact I love Vietnam.

peterbelelius wrote:

Sure there are more accidents here. Posts that kind of praise this 'traffic' do not convince me and never will. I work with doctors in the People's hospital in Su van Hanh. 30 percent of the emergency room patients come from the traffic, speeding, drug driving or drunk driving. They tell me it's so brutal at times that they do not even dare looking them in the eyes. Every month the government asks for these statistics as to see what can 'be done' about it, alcohol wise and traffic wise.

I wouldn't praise the traffic but I like the way it works. Only a few of the many expats really understand the philosophy of driving here and aren't happy it's not the same as "home". The problems with the number of injuries is not the traffic system, it is the same as everywhere; drinking, cellphone use, obliviousness and young men. One thing that should be done is to educate the police and instill in them a desire for competence. They pick their spots and concentrate on easy fodder such as motorcycles driving in the wrong lane. Meanwhile not far away we have the types that will intentionally go through red lights. In other words, concentrate on the bad ones and stop the harassment of the average driver.

I agree, in the end - to be fair - it DOES come down to 'living by certain rules'. Yet, in Vietnam it will take a long time to get there as there is no respect for the governmental institutions. Leave me alone I do what I want is more of the rule.

I have only two words to contribute.

Defensive Driving.

Take care on the road.

Well, they focus in areas where they have opportunities to get results not where they can prevent accidents. Don't blame them as they're following instructions. Blame the system. It'll take some more years before things will change. They're learning from other countries as much as they could and also takes time to implement, not forgetting filtering of the corrupt officials too.