Crossing the Street in Saigon

You're better off just not looking.

Seriously.

In Saigon, there are 99 motorbikes/ scooters for every car. Most intersections do not have traffic lights. It’s every man, women, and child for him or herself. But somehow it works. Because the immense amount of traffic is made up of the relatively more nimble motorcycles, traffic has a much more organic, shape-shifting feel to it.

If you stand on the corner and wait for an opening in traffic, you might be there for a long time. Instead, you should just go ahead and step off the curb in faith and steadily start walking to the other side of the street. Trust me, the motorcycles would really rather not hit you. It puts a real crimp in their day. They will adjust to accommodate you. As long as your actions are predictable. Once you start crossing, don’t stop. And absolutely under no circumstances should you back up. As long as you keep walking at a steady pace, you’ll be fine.

Keep your eyes on the far curb; it’s better if you don’t look at the motorcycles coming at you. If you’re looking at the drivers then they’re trying to guess what you’re thinking. They’re the experts here.

It’s scary having dozens and dozens of motorbikes rushing at you and whizzing past you, but they will avoid you.

You’ll be fine. Just take a deep breath and go.

Saying a little prayer before you step off the curb isn’t a bad idea either.

Jack

Note: surprisingly, this whole system actually works pretty well. But that’s not to say there aren’t accidents like this one. Happily, moments after I managed to snap this picture, both riders got up and rode off.