Driving in Laos

To any westerner in Laos the driving style is a sight to behold.  Motorbikes ducking and weaving between cars to get to the front at traffic lights, vehicles slowly cutting across lanes to get to where they want to go, traffic driving through red lights.

Having said all that drivers tend to give way to others who are technically breaking the law.I put this down to the Buddhist religion ingrained in the Lao people. Excess speed seems to be the domain of young motorbike riders, no helmet, noisy bike. 
Three up on a bike is common and helmets tend to be optional with riders tending towards wearing them but not passengers.

Traffic using roundabouts is something to see.It seems that vehicles get onto the roundabout then give way to traffic which causes congestion.

Here in Vientiane peak times are between 7 am to 9 am( heading to work) then 11am to 1pm(out for lunch) then again in late afternoon as everyone heads home. Vientiane is a congested city traffic wise, parking is near impossible.

For an expat to drive safely in Laos you have to drop any preconceived ideas you may have about how you intend to drive and go with the flow.

Traffic police see expats as a potential income source and like to stop expats to check paperwork in the hope they may get a little 'something' to assist them with purchasing their next meal.

Police seem to love stopping ladies, schoolgirls again to check paperwork and chat them up.
If there is an accident the vehicles involved are left where the are, the police arrive and put chalk marks around the area and chat to those involved. In the meantime traffic has to try and get around all this.

I do drive but the wife thinks I am too aggressive, drive too fast. All in all if you have to drive here in Laos I would wander around for a day or two and watch the traffic before heading out on the road.
If stopped by police then do not get aggressive. A smile goes much further than a raised voice.

I do drive but the wife thinks I am too aggressive,
Join the club. Apparently I use the horn too much as well. Most Lao cannot drive their way out of a paper bag.

I've only had 1 motorbike accident, (only going 40k's) was cut off and slid, fker stopped to see if I was still moving, then took off.  For starters many roads have pot holes, (the size you can bury a body in).  Ride/drive as if they are going to f-up as most likely they will, I ride now, up to 40-50's, regardless of situation and EXTREMELY vigilant.  Many don't have licenses & are self taught, you will find kids riding motorbikes to school (classic seeing, a 10 year old on a bike, with 3 or 4 younger siblings on the back.  **seen a family of 7 on a bike), they will pull out in front of you, even on major roads, change lanes when they see fit (regardless if your there), will overtake around blind corners at 40kmph, traffic lights are used at your leisure (not on major roads because of cops) and after dark many are drunk!!!  But other than that they're good drivers...   One thing which is majorly better than in Thailand are the cops/bribes...