Page 8
3/8/24
Doing my part…
People often ask me why I don't drive a motorbike to get around. My standard answer is quite simply “for your safety”.
As I've noted previously, everything that we would get a ticket for in the US, people here do on a regular basis (driving on the wrong side of the street, crossing traffic lanes without signaling, not stopping for traffic lights, tailgating, driving on the sidewalk, entering traffic without stopping or waiting for a pause in traffic, to name just a few things). By the way, I have never seen a stop sign here - to my knowledge, they do not exist.
So here is how I figure it. People in Vietnam walk like they drive. In the US, the default is to drive on the right hand side of the road or walk on the right side of the sidewalk. Not the case here. It's drive wherever you want and walk wherever you want. Back home, people wait for others to pass by them before merging into the flow (so to speak). Not here. Here you do not even look into oncoming traffic (pedestrian or otherwise) before entering from a side street; you just turn into the street keep on going - it's up to the oncoming person/traffic to brake for you and let you in or move to another lane. The same applies to waking on sidewalks, pathways, streets, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've created chaos at the park or on a sidewalk by following “American rules of the road”.
I am capable and able to drive a motorbike, however, if I were to do so, I am certain I would leave a trail of carnage behind me and cause innumerable accidents all around me as I violate every Vietnamese rule of the road.
Let's face it. Me taking a Grab (Uber in the US) saves their life, and mine, and makes the roads of Vietnam just a little bit safer. Happy to do my part!
NOVEMBER p.2, p.3, p.4, p.5, p.6, p.7
DECEMBER p.2, p.3, p.4, p.5 p.6, p.7, p.8
MARCH p.2, p.3, p.4 p.5, p.6, p.7