Does traffic in Saigon really require its own blog post? Hell yes.
I think everyone else in my group has explained how difficult it is to cross the streets, so I’ll just touch on it briefly. Basically, there are a couple cars on the road and then a bazillion motorbikes. And they don’t stop for anything (slight exaggeration). So naturally that makes crossing the streets rather difficult. Instead of stopping or slowing down for pedestrians, everyone just dodges you. It takes some time to get used to stepping into oncoming traffic and predicting which motorbikes will stop, which will swerve in front of you, and which will squeeze behind you, but we’re all pros now! The key is to be predictable. You can’t start running or decide to turn back or else no one will know how to dodge you. You have to time it well when you leave the sidewalk (avoid cars because they will just run you down) and then just trust that no one is going to hit you.
I think everyone else in my group has explained how difficult it is to cross the streets, so I’ll just touch on it briefly. Basically, there are a couple cars on the road and then a bazillion motorbikes. And they don’t stop for anything (slight exaggeration). So naturally that makes crossing the streets rather difficult. Instead of stopping or slowing down for pedestrians, everyone just dodges you. It takes some time to get used to stepping into oncoming traffic and predicting which motorbikes will stop, which will swerve in front of you, and which will squeeze behind you, but we’re all pros now! The key is to be predictable. You can’t start running or decide to turn back or else no one will know how to dodge you. You have to time it well when you leave the sidewalk (avoid cars because they will just run you down) and then just trust that no one is going to hit you.
However, what I find even more amazing is how the cars and bikes interact with each other. I am a super organized person. Not in the sense that I’m clean or neat, but I like things to run as efficiently and smoothly as possible. And this makes Saigon traffic a nightmare for me but also fascinating. The lane lines are kind of a joke because they’re completely ignored. Like, so ignored that bikes will drive on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic and sometimes on the sidewalk if that’s the clearest route (while honking at pedestrians because how dare we think it’s okay to walk on the sidewalk). Every time a light changes from red to green, there’s a 10 second window where the people who just had a green light still think it’s their turn and the people who just got a green light don’t want to wait for the intersection to clear. So literally everyone is going!! Seems dangerous, right??? But that’s not even the craziest part. The craziest part is that it actually works. I haven’t seen any collisions. I haven’t had to sit in stop and go traffic while taking taxis; when everyone always thinks it’s their turn then no one ever has to stop. It’s seriously mind-boggling.
This kind of traffic naturally results in a lot of horn honking. There are the typical hey-asshole-you-suck-at-driving honks and I’m-trying-to-avoid-a-collision honks. But there are some fun new ones, too! Like the I’m-driving-behind-a-motorbike-and-I’m-annoyed-by-that-so-I’m-just-gonna-honk honk. And my personal favorite, the I’m-about-to-do-something-totally-illegal-like-go-really-fast-through-an-intersection-when-it’s-not-my-turn-at-all-so-stay-out-of-my-way honk.
This honking drove me crazy until I actually had the chance to ride on the back of An’s (one of the program coordinator’s) motorbike. This was about a week into our time in Saigon, so I was pretty used to Saigon traffic at this point. Good thing, or else I wouldn’t have learned to trust that no one will hit me and I would’ve been really freaking out. But instead of freaking out, I loved it and can’t believe I almost left Saigon without seeing it on a motorbike. And the honking was actually insanely comforting. I wasn’t even the one driving, and I still really liked always knowing if there was a car nearby and in general where everyone was just from listening to the horns. I’d say all the honking actually is a big reason why there are few collisions.
TL;DR: Saigon traffic is amazing, terrifying, frustrating, confusing, chaotic, and harmonious all at the same time. And I never ever want to drive a car or motorbike in it because I would probably have a heart attack or at least pee my pants.
This honking drove me crazy until I actually had the chance to ride on the back of An’s (one of the program coordinator’s) motorbike. This was about a week into our time in Saigon, so I was pretty used to Saigon traffic at this point. Good thing, or else I wouldn’t have learned to trust that no one will hit me and I would’ve been really freaking out. But instead of freaking out, I loved it and can’t believe I almost left Saigon without seeing it on a motorbike. And the honking was actually insanely comforting. I wasn’t even the one driving, and I still really liked always knowing if there was a car nearby and in general where everyone was just from listening to the horns. I’d say all the honking actually is a big reason why there are few collisions.
TL;DR: Saigon traffic is amazing, terrifying, frustrating, confusing, chaotic, and harmonious all at the same time. And I never ever want to drive a car or motorbike in it because I would probably have a heart attack or at least pee my pants.