Many tourists choose to hire a vehicle when visiting a foreign country. It's quite easy to do so in Vietnam, but potential hirers need to consider a few facts about Vietnam traffic and road safety.
The National Traffic Safety Committee of Vietnam records that, after a peak of 30,000 injuries causing 13,000 deaths from road accidents in 2002, current figures stand at 14,000 accidents (and 11,000 deaths) per year. How do you fancy your chances?
Roads in Vietnam
Highways in Vietnam are broad and generally in good order: traffic flows very swiftly. Therein lies a major problem for highway driving. Fast-moving tour buses and lorries share the road with cars, motorbikes laden with produce, tractors, farm vehicles, and slow-moving bicycles. To that, add pedestrians crossing at will, and cattle crossing at leisure (see photo below).
Lanes are nominal, as is the side of the road drivers are expected to use. It is quite usual to be confronted by on-coming vehicles four abreast. The policy is, as one Vietnamese tour bus driver put it: “You find a space on the road and stay in it till someone else needs it.”
That quote encapsulates an important ethos in Vietnam: drivers are, by and large, polite and patient. The incessant horn-tooting from cars and motorbikes is not the US or European blast of annoyance and frustration, but rather a communication that another vehicle is about to come round you, so please take care and make room.
Horns are as essential to safe driving in Vietnam as indicators (blinkers). Indeed, a motorbike rider may not worry about getting his brakes fixed, but will not ride if the horn is broken.
Traffic in Saigon (Ho Chi Min City)
The central district of Ho Chi Min City has very broad thoroughfares and good traffic flow. Cyclos (pedal rickshaws) are so heavily represented here that the government bans them from certain streets to reduce congestion. There seem to be more heavy vehicles than in Hanoi, perhaps due to intense construction work in the inner city. Roadworks are common.
Traffic in Hanoi
Hanoi is elegant and its position on peaceful, tree-lined Hoan Kiem lake somehow seems to calm the traffic. Nevertheless, the tiny streets of the fascinating Old Quarter, often referred to as the 36 streets, are barely wide enough for one car, so best left to the locals. The streets are so jammed with pedestrians and cyclists that cars can only proceed at a walking pace, anyway.
Driving Tips for Vietnamese Cities
Basically, the code of the road is:
- Larger vehicles coming from any direction, including behind, have the right of way
- Signal intention to overtake by tooting the horn and, conversely, move over or at least maintain the car's present position when a horn toots behind
- By all means cut people off if it’s the only means to get somewhere – it is not considered rude.
- Turning, where there are no traffic lights, often means threading obliquely through oncoming traffic
- Be aware that some cyclists and motorcyclists are bearing high loads of produce or merchandise, often in front, so have very limited vision.
- Motorcycles carrying live produce can represent another hazard, especially if stock escapes. (please see wonderful photo below of rider with live bullock tied on the pillion)
Summary – Vietnam Traffic
Viet traffic is hair-raising. Pedestrian safety in Vietnam is problematic, so when there are plentiful opportunities to get killed just walking, why hire a car or subscribe to the lunacy of motorcycling in Vietnam? For readers who like the idea, here's an excellent Vietnam biker site.
Rest assured: if the visitor isn't killed by a truck, Vietnam pollution will do the trick!
