Rules are meant to be broken
Pablo Picasso apparently said “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” If that is true, every Vietnamese is an artist!
There are clearly road rules here, but I have yet to see one followed. It’s a jungle. Motor bikes:
Drive on the wrong side of the road
Ignore stop signs and traffic lights
Take left hand turns across the middle of on-coming traffic (they drive on the right)
Drive up foot paths and the wrong way on one way streets
Drive straight through pedestrian crossings, even in those few occasions where they have traffic lights.
But it works!
Try crossing the road here (these guys are moving at 10-15km an hour). But if you step out into the street, they will make way for you! (this photo was taken on my first day - I chickened out and found a different place to cross - just as nerve jangling, but not quite so packed!).
The ways to cross the road are very simple:
Option 1: Find a Vietnamese who also wants to cross and stand to his/her left hand side. Follow their lead and stay parallel to them the whole time. They know what they are doing. I’ll admit I still try to do that on the busiest, widest roads, but Vietnamese walking are in short supply - they are all on bikes!
Option 2: Be brave - just step out into the middle of the traffic - traffic will flow around you. If it is particularly busy wave your arm around to show you are there and serious. I’m learning to do this.
Fortunately I have left Ho Chi Minh City now and it is easier here, but same principles apply! Next week I am doing a cycle in the countryside. The tour company claims there is very little traffic where I am going ….. we’ll see.
Motor bikes are ubiquitous.
Very few people walk, and there are few cars, everyone has a motor bike. Every local shop, house or building has a row of motorbikes parked in front and many houses have ramps like this to allow them to bring their motor bike into the front lounge!
Intersection with no traffic lights … easy.
First you line up and one of you just drives out into the middle of the oncoming traffic. The rest follow and the path opens up. Cars and bikes coming the other way swerve around them or duck between them.
Its like one of those synchronised horse or motor bike shows you see at the RDS, Wembley or the Easter Show, but it happens every day at many crossings across Ho Chi Minh City - no planning, no choreography, just everyone knows what to do.
It doesn’t always work
These two got it wrong - I think their problem was there was too little traffic early in the morning - they are not used to driving without 1000 motorbikes around them!
School drop off, Ho Chi Minh City style:
I prefer to walk, or get a Grab car for longer trips (local version of Uber).