Aside #3: How to Cross a Vietnamese Road
Despite appearances to the contrary, roads in HCM City can be crossed and with relatively little hassle if one knows how to. To start with, one needs to understand how the traffic works and what gives in the mind/psyche of the average Vietnamese driver or motorcyclist.
As you stand at a junction, you see traffic moving in all directions, in a seemingly endless flow. If it is a smaller junction, say, one to two lane traffic either way, no one seems to stop, even if there are traffic lights. Vehicles weave past each other, from all directions at once. Pedestrians do likewise. At bigger junctions, traffic flow is too heavy for that, so most vehicles do stop. However, as you watch the pedestrains cross, every now and then, you see a kamikaze motorcyclist squeezing through the pedestrains, and easing into the traffic going the other way.
So what gives? I'd say the mindset is, why stop if you don't need to? If there is a gap, squeeze in. Of course, having said that, there is a tremendous amount of give and take. Everyone expects the worst to happen so no one is actually speeding and everyone has their eyes peeled for the unexpected. Horns are used constantly, as a kind of signal, to say "Hey, I'm here, on your left/right", and people give way. Take, for instance, that one time we were in a cab in the middle lane of a three lane carriageway. When we reached a roundabout, a motorcyle which was on our right cut in front of our cab to go left. All the motorcyclist did was to beep lightly and then swerve into our path and away he went. Our cabbie did not even blink. He merely gave way. Now you certainly won't find this in Singapore. For all our courtesy campaigns, we are righteous pricks who will speed up and not give way at all. Serves him right for being in the wrong lane, we would mutter under our breaths. Here, in Vietnam, there is order in the chaos. People practise defensive driving.
So how does one cross the road in such a situation? Do as the motorists do. You see a gap in the traffic flow, you cross, no matter how small the gap is. However, once you have started to cross, do not panic and hesitate. Instead, signal your intention clearly by marching straight ahead, at a consistent pace, and the traffic will flow around you. If you hesitate, you confuse the motorists. Are you going to take that one step? It matters, because that one step forward is space for one motorcycle to squeeze past behind you. Woe betide you if you panic and stop midstream, because you will find yourself trapped in the middle of the road. We once saw three female tourists of East Asian origin screaming in fear, paralysed in the middle of six-lane traffic, poor things. As for us, we had got it down pat - don't panic.
P.S. If a little old lady takes your arm and helps you across the road, she isn't just being helpful. She is using you as a human shield.
As you stand at a junction, you see traffic moving in all directions, in a seemingly endless flow. If it is a smaller junction, say, one to two lane traffic either way, no one seems to stop, even if there are traffic lights. Vehicles weave past each other, from all directions at once. Pedestrians do likewise. At bigger junctions, traffic flow is too heavy for that, so most vehicles do stop. However, as you watch the pedestrains cross, every now and then, you see a kamikaze motorcyclist squeezing through the pedestrains, and easing into the traffic going the other way.
So what gives? I'd say the mindset is, why stop if you don't need to? If there is a gap, squeeze in. Of course, having said that, there is a tremendous amount of give and take. Everyone expects the worst to happen so no one is actually speeding and everyone has their eyes peeled for the unexpected. Horns are used constantly, as a kind of signal, to say "Hey, I'm here, on your left/right", and people give way. Take, for instance, that one time we were in a cab in the middle lane of a three lane carriageway. When we reached a roundabout, a motorcyle which was on our right cut in front of our cab to go left. All the motorcyclist did was to beep lightly and then swerve into our path and away he went. Our cabbie did not even blink. He merely gave way. Now you certainly won't find this in Singapore. For all our courtesy campaigns, we are righteous pricks who will speed up and not give way at all. Serves him right for being in the wrong lane, we would mutter under our breaths. Here, in Vietnam, there is order in the chaos. People practise defensive driving.
So how does one cross the road in such a situation? Do as the motorists do. You see a gap in the traffic flow, you cross, no matter how small the gap is. However, once you have started to cross, do not panic and hesitate. Instead, signal your intention clearly by marching straight ahead, at a consistent pace, and the traffic will flow around you. If you hesitate, you confuse the motorists. Are you going to take that one step? It matters, because that one step forward is space for one motorcycle to squeeze past behind you. Woe betide you if you panic and stop midstream, because you will find yourself trapped in the middle of the road. We once saw three female tourists of East Asian origin screaming in fear, paralysed in the middle of six-lane traffic, poor things. As for us, we had got it down pat - don't panic.
P.S. If a little old lady takes your arm and helps you across the road, she isn't just being helpful. She is using you as a human shield.
posted by blobbes at 11:17 PM
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