Job Discussion Forums

[1st Sgt Welsh]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/28/driving-chest-size-vietnam

It's an old article but even so .

[Mattingly]

[mark_in_saigon]

that 1997 date seems wrong. I am almost certain that as late as 2002 it was not enforced, at least in HCMC (if it was a law at that point). They started a year or two after that, as I recall. Interestingly, it seems that compliance is falling off now significantly in the big cities, especially Ha Noi. You can watch any major street and see people going by without helmets, maybe every 20th motorbike or so, and they do not look worried about it. Then if you get on the smaller streets that do not normally have police on them, you can see much lower compliance rates. I know of some areas where about half of all motorbikes going by are not wearing them, moreso in Ha Noi than in HCMC. I really get the feeling too that some of the young guys driving are not going to pull over when asked, and I also get the feeling that they are not going to be asked, as the POleece do not want to be embarrassed. I am thinking we are reaching some kind of tipping point on driving, but it has always been so stupid, hard to say when something is really that different. I do get the feeling that the cars are pulled over a lot more than the motos, somehow those drivers feel they cannot just haul ass and blend in, the hero boys, I think they aint stoppin for nuthin.

[I'm With Stupid]

Given how law abiding cars are compared to motorbikes, they're pulled over far more often (relative to their numbers on the road). It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that car drivers have more money, could it?

[mark_in_saigon]

the funny thing about the cars, they do not get pulled over in the places where they are driving stupid, they just get pulled over randomly. Where they really get rude, no one seems to be out there controlling those scenarios. Seems to me the real problem is enforcement is not meant to pick off the dangerous behavior, it is mainly an income generation process.

I really think they have given up on the hero boys, and I think everyone knows it. Looks like there is no respect for the laws, and for good reason.

[deadlift]

[mark_in_saigon]

came into effect is kinda unclear also, I am thinking it was put out there and then pulled back more than once. I do think there was a clear date when they finally got serious about it, so maybe that was the 2007 date. But just watching reality, it almost seems like the law is going to fade out now, I really see some heavy noncompliance in the unpoliced areas along with a very good sampling of noncompliance in the policed areas, and with all the other noncompliance of so many traffic rules (hesitate to even use the word "rules" here), just wonder if the law is going to start being generally ignored again.

I don't really care one way or the other, but over here, it is possible that it does more harm than good. Not saying for sure, but possible. Helmets are pathetically light, can't use a good one or it will get stolen. If they drive worse with them on, then the protection may not make up for the increased danger. Maybe less awareness of what is out there, maybe seeing other peoples' faces embarrasses them more when they drive like idiots. Not saying for sure, but just in this place, it is possible.

[Mattingly]