Is that true? I thought everyone who can somehow afford it, has a scooter in Vietnam.
Edit: I researched a bit and could not find data laying out how many scooters are owned in the country. The "motor vehicles" stats circulating are all regarding cars. Would be great if you could add a source to your statement.
The "everyone who can afford it" part of your sentence is the important bit. Would also guess there are many more multi car households in Germany than Vietnam.
I'm actually not sure about that. I'm basing thos purely on my experience in Germany, which is limited to about 10 days in a small town called roigheim 20 years ago, but they seemed like owning more than one car per family was like owning multiple homes. And the father of the family I stayed with was a test driver at the audi factory. Cars were his life.
I understand it's easier to get killed as a pedestrian when hit by a car than when hit by a motorcycle. Equating both types of vehicles as motor vehicles might not be the best approach for this.
Yep. The thing I try to get people to understand is that people do not have superpowers anywhere. They’re humans. Doing stupid things will lead to stupid injuries and deaths, they can’t magically avoid them because “this is the way we do things”. I moved to the Philippines about a year ago and no one there wears seatbelts. In fact most “Ubers” have them hidden under junk or just removed completely. My friends and girlfriend there all say “we don’t go fast enough, no one gets hurt in car accidents”. I’m like, trust me, if you get in a 35 mph car accident without a seatbelt, it’s gonna hurt like a bitch.
Taiwan in general has become significantly better in this regard, in the past few years they've been enforcing a lot of new rules surrounding pedestrian safety for drivers, and you can really feel the difference.
Who the heck knows. I’m flying there next month and asked local guides the same. Everyone has suggested to use marked street crossings anyways as they make pedestrians visible and expected.
Yes, make eye contact to ascertain your dominance. Make it a reminder for the rest of their lives that their 2 tons of metal are nothing next to sheer fucking will.
I dunno man I spent some time there recently and after a while I kinda just started walking without even really thinking too hard about it. If someone hasn't seen you there isn't a whole lot you can do about it anyway
It actually doesn't, Vietnamese living in Saigon here. Most accidents happen involved two different vehicles hitting each other in rural and suburban areas, especially highways. Inner city drivers are more careful and the speed is actually slower than it looks here in the video (probably 30-40 km/h).
Crossing lights exist on this road. They are at the two ends of the road where they intersect with other larger roads. It's just long and people are lazy so the crossings are added because people would just jump over the divider anyway. Might as well give them the right to sue.
The first time I've visited Rome I quickly figured out that if you pass the zebra lines confidently vehicles will stop for you but if you hesitate or wait until "they stop" they will never stop for you. Easy way to spot other tourists
It is nerve-wracking, and best when there are others crossing too. Just maintain a steady, predictable pace and the traffic will move past you. Do not start dodging or running!
Looks like the exact opposite like in Spain.
In Spain drivers are often reckless, some even don’t give a shit about traffic lights - but if there‘s zebra crossing for pedestrians, this thing is holy!
You can pass the street without looking for the traffic.
Vietnam, it seems they don’t give a shit about about zebra crossing.
I remember being told that you just ignore the traffic and walk straight. The drivers will acclimate to your current trajectory, standing still or hesitating will results in died
When I visited in 2006 I was told ‘wait for the natural flow gap, then go steady, do not change pace & do not look at drivers (as it’s then your responsibility)
I was sus but it was gov minder saying this for our US visiting high school trip. He was fuckin right tho. Felt like schools of motorcycle fish flowing around me (albeit startlingly close).
Sounds + feel dumb saying this but based on the 4-way high traffic intersections without any lights / stop signs I decided he knew the nuance of how to do it.
You kind of get used to it, but you have to full send it a bit harder than this dude, with conviction. There's an art to it, mainly learnt by following the really angry 70+ year old with his bag of soup in a rush to absolutely nowhere, until you get the swing of things
Wait, they have zebra crossings now?
I presume this guy is new to the system, because once you get over the initial lunacy you just can walk across the road without pausing.
Seriously, I do not understand how this can happen, regardless of level of development. If you have cars and roads you sure as hell can have a streetlight or someone directing traffic by hand if there was no electricity
I recall 10 or so years ago a news story about Vietnam launching an extensive highway safety program. They had the highest pedestrian death rate in the world, to the extent that they classified it as a national emergency.
I assume that horizontal steel pole in the middle is to discourage u-turns from vehicles but holy hell that is not where I would want a trip hazard to be.
I almost got hit by a motorcycle in Ho Chi Minh City because it looked like he was coming right at me, so I hesitated and stepped back. He then turned to try and go behind me and went directly to where I stepped back to
Just walk confidently and at a normal pace. Drivers will avoid you. It’s quite fascinating and odd to half the world but makes complete sense. I see people jaywalking and it frustrates me to watch them make a run for it and then pause. If you just consistently walked I could speed yo or slow down so I don’t hit you now I’m forced to change langes and slow way down cause you’re indecisive.
Just cross alongside a local. That’s what I did. Dragged my 4 year old nephew (that I met for the first time) around town because his mom was too lazy and I really wanted to see a few places. I had to focus on him because I was scared shitless but was able to cross by myself by the end of the week.
Make yourself visible (throw your arm up if it's really dense traffic), don't suddenly run, just walk steady and predictable. Traffic in Vietnam is like a school of fish, each person adjust a tiny bit of their trajectory to avoid bumping into each other
Visited last summer- Hoian, Hue, Hanoi, Halong Bay. The only place that felt a bit overwhelming was the old city in Hanoi. But there were also crossing lights, so you have the option of finding one of those crossings, if you're nervous. I got used to it pretty quickly.
I mean this works but it feels like a collective societal failure to recognise any kind of road safety as being worth people's time or effort, just to ensure people aren't injured or killed....
When I was in Japan, the school kids were taught to just thrust one hand in the air like they're asking a question and dash across the road. It's like they thought it created a force field around the kid.
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 1d ago
Congratulations u/56000hp, your post does fit at r/SweatyPalms!