Nothing new about the topic of scooters and motorbikes in Vietnam. It's been flogged to death, but pardon me while I resurrect it just briefly.
When one initially arrives here from somewhere such as the United States, he's overwhelmed and a bit amused by all the scooters. 'Do people really use these things as a primary and even sole mode of transport?', he'll likely think to him or herself for many days on end. Stage 2 is realizing the answer to this profound question is a resounding 'Yes!'. Stage 3 is annoyance. Well, I can't speak for the general foreign population here, but that was my sentiment, and I don't think I'm so many standard deviations off the mean, at least in my opinions about such general matters. Annoyance at the noise and exhaust and the presence. The neverending presence. Naturally one expects the presence of scooters in the streets, but that's not the extent of it.
In the United States sidewalks are a sanctuary for pedestrians and the pedestrian holds dominion in the eyes of the law over all mechanized and motorized modes of transport. But here scooters make frequent and liberal use of the public sidewalks (THEIR public sidewalks in their eyes no doubt) and pedestrians must keep a constant vigil to remain uninjured. Thus stage 3. I think I've reached a new plateau in my understanding and acceptance of scooters and I think I'll call this new redoubt.... Let's see, how about stage 4? Stage 4, the domain of those who've learned to see scooters as both necessary for the development of Vietnam and the improvement of its peoples' standard of living, but also as imposing a tax of the aforementioned negatives. I imagine nearly 100% of Vietnamese touch down immediately in stage 4, either bypassing the previous 3 altogether or experiencing them while in the womb bouncing and swaying comfortably along with Mom, soothed by the prenatal buzz. But now I feel there is something beyond stage 4, meaning I see a certain beauty, not in scooters themselves individually or collectively, but in their motion, especially their collective coordinated motion. Much of the mores of a society can be seen in the conduct of its drivers on public streets (and sidewalks!) I believe. In Vietnam, as contrasted to the United States, scooter drivers see themselves as part of a flow with each individual having the responsibility not to disturb it and it's a system that works amazingly well here. I'm not trying to say it's a system that should be adopted elsewhere, as Vietnam has its own set of physical and economic constraints it has to live with, but there's a general sense here that the roads (and sidewalks) are truly public. Most drivers in the United States have a sense of temporary private ownership of the pavement in front of their moving vehicle and the laws reflect this, or maybe vice versa. The idea of 'right of way' is not so strong in Vietnam and it no doubt stems from their history and government, past and present.
And it's really nice to watch in action! I've found myself mesmerized after dark on numerous occasions by the confluence of lights that enter a Saigon traffic circle and then mingle and disperse with the perfect fluidity of flowing water, each driver a drop in the stream. Traffic circles don't exist except at a few intersections in Saigon, and the modern traffic control device called the traffic light, like a dam blocking a wild and free river, is becoming more prevalent here. But even a traffic light imposes a certain rhythm by pausing the flow and introducing a rising and falling heartbeat into the traffic that a pedestrian can see and hear and almost feel as he or she approaches an intersection. It's hard to see the traffic lights here as a pedestrain and there are not many pedestrian signals, so the predestrian often has to figure out for himself if it's safe to step off the curb and attempt to venture across. It's not completley up to fate, however, as it's possible to develop a sense of when the cross-traffic is about to erupt from its stopped condition, like sensing an impending stampede in a herd of restless animals. Perhaps the Saigon traffic engineers are superlative in their traffic management abilities or it's the just the continuation of the more natural rhythm mildly constrained, but you can supplement your basic senses of sight and hearing with another predictive sense of traffic flow at traffic lights here and thus improve your chances of another day unscathed. This predictive sense derives from the sight of traffic slowing in one direction while a restive jostling and a rising motor crescendo following a brief trough begins in another and it serves as a the beginning of a grace period in which the pedestrian already in the street can quickly scamper out or as a warning to one about to step off the curb. In any case, it serves one well to pay attention. Below is a video of a busy intersection controlled by a traffic light.
There are more and more passenger cars appearing on Saigon streets and I fear it will change the nature of the traffic here, both for motorized vehicles and others. I can see the different attitude of most car drivers and it's a familiar one unfortunately, the attitude of forcing one's car where one desires to go in a 'move out of my way or else' tactic. Where this will lead is hard to say, as the streets here are already choked with vehicles other than passenger cars, and this is a problem almost everywhere in Asia ex-Japan. It's just one of the many changes and choices facing Vietnam in the not so distant future.
Departing Saigon for the beach town of Nha Trang tomorrow and will stay there for a week or 2. I've heard it's very nice.
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