Saigon is well-known for many things: amongst them is the reputation the city has for traffic chaos. Upon my arrival here it all seemed incomprehensible: scooters densely packed everywhere, driving on the pavement and generally dodging anything that dare stand between them and their destination. This is certainly how it appeared to an old university friend, recently in the city, who wrote in his own blog "I've come to the conclusion that all Vietnamese people are either depressed or insane... because they drive like they don't want to live anymore". Now in my ninth month in 'Nam - this all seems perfectly normal. As a system it does work... most of the time.
The one thing you have to remember is to give way to anything bigger than you… unless you can dodge past it unscathed of course, in which case - just go for it! I dodge bicycles and scooters on a daily basis. Normally, they dodge me. The sea of scooters doesn’t move particularly quickly so drivers can generally judge where in the road you will be by the time they reach you, and adjust their line accordingly.
Traffic here rarely stops, there are traffic lights - but these are seen by many as advisory, rather than compulsorily. Green to amber generally means 'give it some gas and you'll pass the junction before the other street's light turns green - so give it a go!' Another consideration when crossing the road is that there will always be someone turning right onto or from the lane you are attempting to cross. Unlike most western countries there is not a specified time during which pedestrians can safely cross the road. There are however, an abundance of zebra crossings. I think there must have been an extreme excess of white paint knocking about that the government decided would be best used decorating the tarmac: for that is the only purpose it seems to serve. One set of crossroads in the backpacker area has four of them – one at each junction! Alas, they are ignored by pedestrians and drivers alike.
Traffic at a stand still - a rarity in these parts
It therefore seems quite ironic that days after reading an article in a Vietnamese newspaper, which bragged about the recent statistics showing a distinct decrease in fatalities since helmet wearing laws were introduced; two of my colleagues have separate bike accidents. A combination of torrential rain, dense traffic, swerving taxis and erratic driving (by locals, not my colleagues I hasten to add) led to a whole host of bruises, cuts, scuffed elbows, a broken thumb and severed pinky finger.
After being directed to five different hospitals between them, both are doing ok and are nicely bandaged and dosed up to numb the pain and aid the healing process. The metal pin and hook protruding from the pinky finger is enough to turn your stomach, but is luckily covered and out of sight of children in school.
It only takes one person to forget the ‘mirror, signal, manoeuvre’ drill and all hell breaks loose here. There was little either of my colleagues could have done to avoid these situations – they were just cases of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hearing the news, a friend of mine later told his own story of being cut up by a youth on a bicycle. Travelling at a steady 20kph, my friend jumped off his scooter, pulling back on the handles and lifting up the front of it – in order to avoid squashing the cyclist. The cyclist said a cheeky ‘sorry’ (in English no less) to my friend and the other traffic on the road managed to avoid them both: life carried on as normal. It does make you wonder though.
The xe-om drivers outside my school are particularly erratic in their quest to deliver as many teachers as possible from work to their homes. They have their regular customers and are on to a good thing. Weather permitting I walk home, but on the odd occasion that I do require their services, I cling on to the back and turn a blind eye to the abundance of red lights they run. One of them has a small piece of paper reading something along the lines of:
“ILA teachers give me more money”.
I’d heard about this clown from a friend and when I eventually had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting him and his note I laughed aloud, flung 15,000d in his hand and uttered something about knowing the going rate. Cheeky sod: if you’re going to attempt to milk people dry – don’t be so blatant!
Anyway, the fact remains – now rainy season is upon us the roads are more dangerous than ever. I like the fact that my xe-om driver Hom drives like a geriatric – I know I can always jump off if needs be and come away relatively unscathed. *She says, touching something wooden very quickly*
A xx
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