No Go in Vietnam

I recently went to Vietnam for a holiday, and while I was waiting for my cab I observed this unsafe behaviour.

While I wasn’t surprised that there was no traffic controllers, I did think that motorbikes and vehicles would at least wait for the excavator operator to swing back to a safe(r) position.

For those who haven’t experienced traffic in Vietnam and similar countries, road rules are more suggestions. Horns are constantly being honked both to warn people doing dumb things, but also so that people get a feel for who is around them. Drivers will often drive on the opposite side of the road for extended periods, only heading back over to avoid oncoming traffic. Definitely not a system I want to rely on! I’ll stick to being a passenger in a car.

It seems to work for them. I didn’t witness even a minor collision (though plenty of near-misses). The only accident I heard of while I was there was a white foreigner on a scooter who got in front of a car and then proceeded to assault the confused driver.

When we have a strong safety culture, like we do in Mining in Australia, it’s easy to forget that it’s not ubiquitous. While it’s rare in Australia to see such dangerous behaviour, it’s far more common in other countries.

Feel free to play “spot the hazard” with your team! There are so many!