Road Rules? What Road Rules?

With over 87 million people in Vietnam, to say that the roads are busy is an understatement of the highest order. People in Australian cities complain that the traffic is bad and hey, I was one of them. I now realise that I was just whinging over bugger all. The picture below shows the true meaning of "peak hour".

There seems to be a general disregard for road rules here. If there are any, I haven't been able to work out what they are yet, and I've had a year to think about it. The general consensus is, he who honks his horn the most, gets right of way. Confidence, or at least faking it, is needed to survive on the road here. Bullying the riders around you is paramount when getting to where you need to go. If you want to cut across someone to get there, you need to stare down your opponents to get them to give in and let you. It's like you're constantly playing a game of "chicken".

Sunburnt Aussie Lesson # 3 - If you don't have have a set of kahunas the size of coconuts, fake it.

Obeying traffic lights seems to be optional. Or at least, people seem to think it is. Driving up on the sidewalk is commonplace and the standards for the road worthiness of motorbikes are definitely way below those of Australia. The motorbike in the picture below is the perfect example of lax rules.

 I haven't actually ridden anywhere alone yet but I've been spending a lot of time on the back of a motorbike taxi. He has taught me how to be a safe driver, but also one who also gets their own way. A taxi driver that makes you feel safe and secure is worth their weight in gold here. From my own experiences, they seem to be few and far between. Now that I have the whole thing sussed as well as I ever will, I plan on getting my own bike soon. I foresee a lot of blogs writing themselves on that front.

I have seen people carry some crazy things on motorbikes. There doesn't appear to be a limit to what is acceptable. But I have enough material on that subject for a whole blog so I'll leave that topic for another day.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that when you turn into a side street or change lanes, that it's standard practice to push that little knob on the handlebars that turns on your indicators. Isn't it? Apparently not. Seriously, only half the cars and maybe 10 percent of motorbikes here believe in using them. The other night on my way home from classes, I actually saw about a dozen people use them. Even then, it was only to turn off, never to change lanes. This is a very rare thing indeed. Hardly a day goes by when I see more than one or two people do it. I see it so rarely, I'm honestly shocked when it happens.

 Over 10,000 people die on the roads in Vietnam every year. Mostly, it's due to speeding and/or crazy overtaking (without the use of indicators). Every night I watch insane people with death-wishes fly in and out of the traffic at ridiculous speeds, just to get home 10 minutes faster. Whenever I see them, I can only wonder if they aren't truly suicidal.

Time for bed so here's to surviving another day on Saigon's roads.
Big hugs and kisses from Saigon. xxoo