American Traffic Calming / Vietnamese Yielding

I went to Ho Chi Min City in April of 2007. 

I was only there a few days, but I had a terrible fever the entire time.  I got it on the plane entering the country and it abated as I flew away.  I'll admit, I didn't really see things clearly on the trip.  It was quite hot, but I never stopped shivering.  Horrible time really.

I've talked to dozens of people who have been to Saigon and they all say the same thing.  They were terrified of the traffic.

Every single person says the same thing.  They didn't know how to cross the street.  It was too scary and they were trapped.  I must admit, I felt the same way at first.  The parade of motorbikes never stops.  24 hours a day, they just keep cruising by.

It is normal to see a family of five on a single motor bike.  The whole scene is decidedly terrifying to the average pedestrian.  Traffic is similar throughout most of Southeast Asia, but Vietnam seems to be the only place without a single car on the street.  Everyone prefers motorbikes.

The first taxi we rode in did a U-turn in the middle of the street and magically parted the sea of motorbikes without any trouble. 

After walking around a while, I noticed that virtually every motorbike that went past me had a rider that was smiling, waving, and looking at me.  Crossing the street wasn't a problem at all.   All I had to do was walk straight across and send no mixed signals.  The motorbikes would just go right past me.  The fumes and noise make the street seem crazy, but the bikes go less than 5 miles per hour.  People would just stop in the middle of the road to say hello to me.  Everyone casually yielded to everyone else.

Ho Chi Min City has the calmest traffic I've ever experienced.  I crossed the streets many times and never had the slightest trouble. 

Walking with a local, I even discovered a rule of etiquette.  I was told not to walk behind her but next to her.  Our group of five lined up and crossed the street not as a mass but as a single point.  Otherwise traffic stopped and bunched up. 


I've never been anywhere with such kind people.  I got a very strong impression that the commuters clogging the streets had nowhere in particular to go.  They were just out cruising for the fun of it.

I was with some friends so I didn't get to take a cyclo.

It seemed like these foot propelled vehicles fit in perfectly with the other bikes on the road. 

I went on a trip while I was there.  We rented a taxi for the day.  I was still very feverish, but our Vietnamese friend was quite motion sick.  She told us that Vietnamese people do not like to be in cars.  The whole population suffers from motion sickness in confined spaces.  Our driver didn't seem to have any problems. 

Perhaps a fear of motion sickness could account for the lack of cars on the road. 

On our trip out of town to a historic Vietcong prison camp in a mangrove swamp we proved to be the only car on the road.
We got out to admire some monkeys and bikes stopped to admire us. 

We later took a ferry and we were the only car on that too.

I've been to a lot of places, and I've never met so many courteous bikers in one place before. 

Perhaps it was just the first time I ever experienced 3rd world traffic, but it still seems the most incredible to me.  In most of Southeast Asia, you can flag down any passing motorbike and offer the rider money to take you wherever you want to go.  You just hop on the back.  Its a great system. 

Saigon was the kindest city that I was in, but there are many close seconds.  Mario, my becak driver in Yogyakarta, Indonesia will always be in my thoughts.

That's him in front of the lava-ravaged Water Temple.  The traffic in Yogyakarta was wonderfully chaotic as well.  I walked with the chickens and the motorbikes just went on by at a calm and happy speed.

In Cambodia, the drivers were a bit more hawkish, but quite nice once employed. 

This was us at a 'gas station' near Siam Reap.  Our driver was very kind there as well.  It took two bottles to fill up the tank.  We paid. 

I know motorbikes are horribly dirty, but they seem so much more friendly than cars.  Perhaps, like with a bicycle, the riders are more friendly because they are more vulnerable and involved in the world.  Maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that nobody is in a hurry to do anything. 

I feel safe on streets like that.  Throw in a cow; it's ok. 

No traffic is that calm in my hometown.  There are spots of calm traffic in St. Louis, but the calm is never constant.  I could always jaywalk freely in the Loop and across one-way streets like Chestnut, but not at all hours.

St. Louisans are nice, but drivers rarely smile at me.  In Vietnam, I was very feverish, but I do remember people smiling at me everywhere I went.

I read something a while back about traffic lights in London being turned off to test traffic flow.  The researchers found that when rules were lacking people drove cautiously and yielded to everyone.  People got where they were going faster and accidents were cut in half.  I can't find the article again, but it is interesting.  Perhaps chaos can be a good thing under the right conditions.

Now in more developed countries, bikers need laws.  Korean bikers, as 30 mph bullets in body armor shooting down the sidewalks, are a danger to everyone and themselves.