Why do some motor drivers don't look, before they go forward, Ahead?

Its the way they drive, something is wrong with turning their heads to the left to see if anyone is coming. Just remember most VN's come out then stop in front of you and think, whereas it should be stop and think before going out onto the road

yeah... thank God.. i didnt get any serious injury!!

Seems you should improve your driving skill here in Viet Nam 
Yeah that's the way they ride/drive. If you want to be expert you should be the 'first' one on road.
Also remember to slow down on cross roads where they just pass like missile. They never slow or pull break on turnings. There is only one way to override that - just ride faster than them 
Don't worry after sometime you can be expert in Viet Nam roads.

Wait till you get the idiot that comes out from the front of a park vehicle and heads into oncoming traffic, I just love that one.

LOL.. doesnt matter how much experience you have...

all it takes just 1 person, from the millions of motorcycles on the road, to make your day much sweeter!!

thanks for your advice.

Guy, be careful. take care Thanks Lord , bless you!!!

yeah. yeah.. i was going to say that...

there are times.. where they are just coming the wrong way.. and you can hear the buzzing, annoying blowing horn..... from the (idiots) and still have the gots to tell you.. get out of the way.. I'm coming through!!
LOL
I just got Crazy (Thinking in my head, where at the Motorcycle rules. Officers.))) There are not RULES!!

But, lets not forget this.
If they see a Foreigner or anyone do something wrong because is" Tea Money Time"
Get your wallet ready LOL

charmavietnam wrote:

Seems you should improve your driving skill here in Viet Nam

Are you nuts?

These people don't look before they jolt out into traffic.  There is nothing we can do to prepare for that.  Sorry, these people are stupid.  The most basic rule is "protect your own life" and if they don't follow the most basic rule then you have chaos. 

The worst ones are the women in the dust masks, covering their eyes on the side so they can't seen vehicles alongside them.   I missed one of them by centimeters and when I yelled

Mua quan tài đi

(buy a coffin) the look she gave me was positively bovine.  Snork snork whut?

Yes those ladies with those hats pulled down under the helmets are in a world of their own,they have about 20 % direct vision and even worse when they are talking on the phone. The police are to blame for the road chaos and for their lack of duty.The locals disobey laws too often and seem to think its the normal thing to do, so just be very careful.

Guys calm down!

That's the Vietnamese way of driving. Here are no rules besides

DRIVE FASTER.

People shooting out of alleys is totally normal. They will not look and it's your responsibility to slow down when you pass a "hem" (alley), crossroad or whatever.

The trick I learned from my local friends and family is to be "Binh Tinh" which means keep calm. Have a clear when u are driving, watch the 45 degrees infront and next to you. Don't look back.

Know your environment and expect those crazy drivers. Avoid being too close to the right side and alleys ...Watch out for people driving the wrong way or on the pavement ...

Don't expect other drivers driving like back home. Worry only about yourself!

It's the ME FIRST ATTITUDE that saves your life... sadly!

Expect the unexpected. Have a cool head. Drive carefully.


P.S:
I got also nearly in some minor accidents where people were pushing me, heading out of the alleys etc ... just keep calm and drive!

Calm down about what, we are discussing things or maybe thats a bit beyond you.

Hey, missmae.  I'll get as worked up as I like.  I completely disagree with your outlook here, assuming you actually mean what you say, and I find your perky, chirpy, cheerful take on such grim matters to be deeply offensive.

If some goddamn moron pulls out from an alley in front of my car and I kill him and his wife and the little child that was wedged in between them while he was texting and smoking a cigarette then I, through no fault of my own, am going to be in legal trouble, probably expelled from the country or maybe even housed in one of its squalid prisons, and even should none of these happen am going to be guilt-ridden and conflicted the rest of my life.  Nobody has any right to lay that on me.  How dare you even suggest that it's my responsibility to anticipate the preposterous.

You have to love how its the person on the road who must take care, not the fool who just drives out. Maybe I can take Missmae for a spin up QL 13 to Binh Phouc at about 5pm on a Saturday afternoon and see if she still holds the same beliefs.

Not In TPHCM wrote:

Hey, missmae.  I'll get as worked up as I like.  I completely disagree with your outlook here, assuming you actually mean what you say, and I find your perky, chirpy, cheerful take on such grim matters to be deeply offensive.

If some goddamn moron pulls out from an alley in front of my car and I kill him and his wife and the little child that was wedged in between them while he was texting and smoking a cigarette then I, through no fault of my own, am going to be in legal trouble, probably expelled from the country or maybe even housed in one of its squalid prisons, and even should none of these happen am going to be guilt-ridden and conflicted the rest of my life.  Nobody has any right to lay that on me.  How dare you even suggest that it's my responsibility to anticipate the preposterous.

When people show you who they are, believe it. Vietnamese show they do not care about anything beyond what's on their bike, so I believe it and do not put my kid on one for his own safety.

By what your saying Missmae, that Australian lady that got killed should of been looking out for overloaded trucks that are out of control.

Simple as this, most VN drivers dont give a rats arse, you have acknowledge that.So its about time that things change, not for the benefit of the drunken arseholes that kill, but for the poor kids who make up something like 40% of fatalities on VN roads. It can be done, its called driver awareness and policing, get the lazy money hungry coppers out there and do something.

Of Course I am 
When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

Not In TPHCM wrote:

Are you nuts?

colinoscapee wrote:

You have to love how its the person on the road who must take care, not the fool who just drives out. Maybe I can take Missmae for a spin up QL 13 to Binh Phouc at about 5pm on a Saturday afternoon and see if she still holds the same beliefs.

I drove in the USA from 1971 through 2010.  I never saw a corpse in the road.  I see three here on one day trip down to Châu Đốc and back.  So it's not like this system here is, like, working or anything.  It absolutely is not working and there is no successful approach that we can "adapt" to.  What nonsense.

Some changes are needed, I know Vn's dont generally like change, but the traffic problem is one that can be improved.For the sake of all the poor kids and innocent people dying on the roads, it needs to be done.The point is, the government knows its a mess, but the police still do nothing,why.

colinoscapee wrote:

Some changes are needed, I know Vn's dont generally like change, but the traffic problem is one that can be improved.For the sake of all the poor kids and innocent people dying on the roads, it needs to be done.The point is, the government knows its a mess, but the police still do nothing,why.

colinoscapee wrote:

Some changes are needed, I know Vn's dont generally like change, but the traffic problem is one that can be improved.For the sake of all the poor kids and innocent people dying on the roads, it needs to be done.The point is, the government knows its a mess, but the police still do nothing,why.

Imagine how many lives would be saved by left turn signals.  Having oncoming traffic interleaved with people turning left is insane.

MIA2013 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Some changes are needed, I know Vn's dont generally like change, but the traffic problem is one that can be improved.For the sake of all the poor kids and innocent people dying on the roads, it needs to be done.The point is, the government knows its a mess, but the police still do nothing,why.

Mia you took out the Im 50% VN bit.

Wow! I really opened  a can of warms~~~

All I can say!!!

God help us all~~~~
keep us safe and protected from all bad things~
Thanks everyone for your deep thoughts and discussion in this matter.

S

Driving on the roads here is a very common topic among expats and some locals alike.Everytime I drive long distance through the countryside I usually see a fatal accident, so its a major problem here.

colinoscapee wrote:

MIA2013 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Some changes are needed, I know Vn's dont generally like change, but the traffic problem is one that can be improved.For the sake of all the poor kids and innocent people dying on the roads, it needs to be done.The point is, the government knows its a mess, but the police still do nothing,why.

Mia you took out the Im 50% VN bit.

Haha, I know. I then thought, I live in South Florida and after a while one has to become a defensive driver too, but at least people over  here in Miami slow down when they see the police cars! So maybe I should of said I'm half American. 

My opinion on the original post: selfish, self centered, stupid are just a few words that come to mind about why people drive the way they do. It does make life exciting...

Not In TPHCM wrote:

Hey, missmae.  I'll get as worked up as I like.  I completely disagree with your outlook here, assuming you actually mean what you say, and I find your perky, chirpy, cheerful take on such grim matters to be deeply offensive.

If some goddamn moron pulls out from an alley in front of my car and I kill him and his wife and the little child that was wedged in between them while he was texting and smoking a cigarette then I, through no fault of my own, am going to be in legal trouble, probably expelled from the country or maybe even housed in one of its squalid prisons, and even should none of these happen am going to be guilt-ridden and conflicted the rest of my life.  Nobody has any right to lay that on me.  How dare you even suggest that it's my responsibility to anticipate the preposterous.

@TPHCM - i wonder how long you have been driving in HCMC? The post by Ms Mae is exactly right and once you are aware of the 3 dimensional environment you are in, you will understand. All your time driving in America contributes to about 10% of the skill/knowledge to drive here. TRUST ME - currently you don't know how it works here.
There is a flow, a rationale and a whole bunch of unwritten rules to driving here; my first year here I had two or 3 scrapes and minor collisions because I didn't understand what was going on. Here is a statement for you to ponder; the only safe way to enter a roadway from an alley is to NOT look left for traffic. Also left turn lights here would cause chaos.

I find there are no rules, like when the lights change and the traffic from the opposite direction drive across in front of you thinking its their right. Now I do understand why they do it due to the amount of traffic in some places. But I live off a fairly small street that enters at a set of traffic lights onto a main street, even if I am the only bike there, they will still cut across in front of me and not wait. At the end of the day, they are not good drivers, you can say there are unwritten laws about how to drive here, tell that to the people who get killed every day from impatient drivers.

Survived riding in VN and beat them at their own game, should earned a special license to drive anywhere in the world .... certified road warrior

Not In TPHCM wrote:

Hey, missmae.  I'll get as worked up as I like.  I completely disagree with your outlook here, assuming you actually mean what you say, and I find your perky, chirpy, cheerful take on such grim matters to be deeply offensive.

If some goddamn moron pulls out from an alley in front of my car and I kill him and his wife and the little child that was wedged in between them while he was texting and smoking a cigarette then I, through no fault of my own, am going to be in legal trouble, probably expelled from the country or maybe even housed in one of its squalid prisons, and even should none of these happen am going to be guilt-ridden and conflicted the rest of my life.  Nobody has any right to lay that on me.  How dare you even suggest that it's my responsibility to anticipate the preposterous.

I didn't mean to be offensive but that's how u drive here.
I see all those complaining expats saying THEY LOVE VIETNAM but at the same time all they do is COMPLAINING and QUESTIONING.

Guys, we are in Vietnam. It's a developing country. It's one of the poorest countries. It's Southeast Asia. We are NOT in the US, Canada, Australia, England or another developed country. When will you REALIZE it?

You keep complaining about the locals, the tourists the people and I'm wondering why you don't move home where everything is perfect?

Can't you just embrace the things here and adapt?

I know the traffic here is crazy. Vietnamese don't care about each other. It's true even I don't care ... that's what I learned to survive here.

You can complain and it will change nothing. It's in our minds. It's a I DONT CARE ABOUT YOU mentality that prepares you for the streets of Vietnam;

Like I said before when Vietnamese drive here texting, smoking or even on the phone, they are "binh tinh". They are not distracted about who's coming from the left or right. They think "I drive first" and others have to wait.

Most times it works.

About the sad tragedy in Hoi An. It wasn't her fault and the damn driver didnt stick to the rules. Actually I find it more dangerous out of the city where more trucks and cars ruling the road. Those rural towns like Hoi An are really dangerous for scooters because the locals there don't really learn how to drive. They just drive without knowing the rules.

She was a tourist as well wasn't she? So a totally noob in Vietnam and I highly advise NOT to drive here.

We all know why.

Well said.. COwboyBog....

"Beat them at their own Crazy Ways"

          " We Will Survive"

Missmae, sit down with a group of expats and ask what irks them, you will find the traffic and bad driving high up there. So whats your point with"they say they love Viet Nam" you think this is Utopia, everywhere has problems and one big problem here is the traffic and ignorant drivers.

Why is water wet? We're talking about a country where people haven't quite figured out how swim lanes work at the pool, never mind the arcane art of yielding to oncoming traffic or making a shoulder check before passing.

I've been driving here for a year, and the only unwritten rule here is "I'm the king of the road".

Red light? Not a problem, I'll just drive onto the busy intersection and cause a traffic jam, but who cares about those schmucks when I'm saving two minutes on my commute by being an asshole.

Stop before joining a large road? Nonsense, I'll just blast out of the small alley with my whole family on the bike, making sure to turn in as wide of an arc as possible. After all, the palm reader said we'd be lucky this year.

There's a gap in the rightmost lane at an intersection? Surely it's not for the peasants trying to make a right turn. I'll drive right up to my reserved starting position.

Drive 200m further and make a u-turn to get to my destination? Nonsense! I'll just drive against traffic, horn blaring. Let the dirty proles get out of my way.

And so on, and so forth, they lumber on, hoping that statistics is not a real science. When the inevitable happens, it's always a tragedy and a result of bad luck, by no means a lack of foresight or a a signal to change one's habits.

Now, the thing is that there are bad drivers everywhere, but they tend to be the exception. It's exactly the opposite here. But what do you expect when there is no enforcement of traffic rules? The traffic police only stop people for minor infractions: easy way to line their pockets, because who'd want to actually bother with writing stuff down, impounding motorbikes, and so on? Sounds like actual work. "Work? Oh, wait, there's a pretty girl driving, I'll stop her and ask her out on a date".

Totally agree, now just wait for a certain girl to put a spin on it.

ssuprnova wrote:

Why is water wet? We're talking about a country where people haven't quite figured out how swim lanes work at the pool, never mind the arcane art of yielding to oncoming traffic or making a shoulder check before passing.

I've been driving here for a year, and the only unwritten rule here is "I'm the king of the road".

Red light? Not a problem, I'll just drive onto the busy intersection and cause a traffic jam, but who cares about those schmucks when I'm saving two minutes on my commute by being an asshole.

Stop before joining a large road? Nonsense, I'll just blast out of the small alley with my whole family on the bike, making sure to turn in as wide of an arc as possible. After all, the palm reader said we'd be lucky this year.

There's a gap in the rightmost lane at an intersection? Surely it's not for the peasants trying to make a right turn. I'll drive right up to my reserved starting position.

Drive 200m further and make a u-turn to get to my destination? Nonsense! I'll just drive against traffic, horn blaring. Let the dirty proles get out of my way.

And so on, and so forth, they lumber on, hoping that statistics is not a real science. When the inevitable happens, it's always a tragedy and a result of bad luck, by no means a lack of foresight or a a signal to change one's habits.

Now, the thing is that there are bad drivers everywhere, but they tend to be the exception. It's exactly the opposite here. But what do you expect when there is no enforcement of traffic rules? The traffic police only stop people for minor infractions: easy way to line their pockets, because who'd want to actually bother with writing stuff down, impounding motorbikes, and so on? Sounds like actual work. "Work? Oh, wait, there's a pretty girl driving, I'll stop her and ask her out on a date".

Well said.

And yes the traffic here is a huge problem. The police is no help and don't talk about the government...

We all know those problems but we can't change it yet.

You have to get these "Problems" into the mind of every single Vietnamese if you wanna change it.

They don't see it as a problem, so it's no problem for them.

So what to do?

Wanna go to Hanoi and tell them that their system sucks and that laws and regulations should be enforced?

I wanna see this!

P.S: A date with a traffic officer would be nice:) Then I can call him every time and pay no tea money

Again justification, thats the VN way.They can kill each other as much as they want, as long as I am not involved. As I said before VN's dont like change.

At least you do have a sense of humour Missmae.

Ready for that afternoon ride yet.

I do believe wrote:

Not In TPHCM wrote:

Hey, missmae.  I'll get as worked up as I like.  I completely disagree with your outlook here, assuming you actually mean what you say, and I find your perky, chirpy, cheerful take on such grim matters to be deeply offensive.

If some goddamn moron pulls out from an alley in front of my car and I kill him and his wife and the little child that was wedged in between them while he was texting and smoking a cigarette then I, through no fault of my own, am going to be in legal trouble, probably expelled from the country or maybe even housed in one of its squalid prisons, and even should none of these happen am going to be guilt-ridden and conflicted the rest of my life.  Nobody has any right to lay that on me.  How dare you even suggest that it's my responsibility to anticipate the preposterous.

@TPHCM - i wonder how long you have been driving in HCMC? The post by Ms Mae is exactly right and once you are aware of the 3 dimensional environment you are in, you will understand. All your time driving in America contributes to about 10% of the skill/knowledge to drive here. TRUST ME - currently you don't know how it works here.
There is a flow, a rationale and a whole bunch of unwritten rules to driving here; my first year here I had two or 3 scrapes and minor collisions because I didn't understand what was going on. Here is a statement for you to ponder; the only safe way to enter a roadway from an alley is to NOT look left for traffic. Also left turn lights here would cause chaos.

I do believe saved me the trouble of composing a long post. I do believe is 100% correct about how to drive here, and everyone who comes here with their driving attitudes and road rage from their home countries had better get a grip. That includes you NotInTPHCM-(because-you're-in-Can-Tho). And tell me NITPHCM, just how long HAVE you been driving in Vietnam? I have a pretty good idea of how long you've lived here, but living here and driving here are totally different things.

So here is my question, what is the answer to minimise the road deaths in this country. i have noticed more and more radars being used, especially in Ba ria Vung Tau provence.Do you think a driver safety program would help?