A web post this month by the world’s largest travel guide
book is reminding Vietnam that its traffic problems are reaching foreigners.
The warning is not new but it once again rings the alarm
bell for both the government and locals in Vietnam, where a record 11,500
people died in 15,000 road accidents nationwide in 2010, according to the National
Traffic Safety Committee.
Lately, visitors have worried about the traffic chaos here
because a bus with 40 passengers, 30 of them foreign, flipped over in the
coastal Co Ma mountains July 13, injuring 13.
What’s more, Hanoi expat George Heydlauff decided he’d had
enough on July 2 and tried to enforce traffic rules at a hectic intersection by
grabbing onto offending motorcycles. Some criticized the method, while others
strongly praised the attempt at order.
What you pay for
Tourists must remember that, when it comes to long-haul
buses and taxis, quality depends on price. Buses, minibuses or minivans are
often overflowing with passengers, as well as inexperienced and reckless
drivers.
“Not to put too fine a point on it, a lot of buses don’t
have working bathrooms and the further back you are, the worse the smell gets,”
Hewitson writes of night buses. He also asks tourists to watch out for rampant
swindlers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
“For many, motorcycle taxis are the only way to truly see
the thronging streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,” he writes. “However,
although unlikely, scams can happen and your best protection is a decent
knowledge of where you are going and points along the way.”
Cabbies have been known to overcharge international visitors
and sometimes even steal from them.
If traffic and tourism authorities are paying attention,
they should provide backpackers with low-priced and safe buses, especially for
ancient sites in The Old City of Hue, Hanoi’s Old Quarter, and “Saigon in the
Past”.
Motorbikes are encroaching zebra crossing while walkers are
crossing on Le Duan Street in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City
source: tuoitrenews
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