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I was in Vietnam recently. To the westerner their city streets look chaotic and impossible to cross as most people get around by motorbike and there is rarely a

by jeza 14y ago

I was in Vietnam recently. To the westerner their city streets look chaotic and impossible to cross as most people get around by motorbike and there is rarely a gap in traffic. Though it turns out if you cross the road slowly and predictably, it's safer than crossing the street in any western cities. The motorbikes will just go around you or if that's not possible they'll stop. You have to be a little more careful of cars though. Overall they seem to have little or no concept of anyone having right of way on the road (technically that doesn't apply here either but people seem to think they have right of way). Drivers just always have to be on alert.

AngryParsley 14y ago
It's not safer. The US has 15 deaths per 100,000 vehicles per year. Vietnam has over 1,200 deaths per 100,000 vehicles per year. Even if you only look at road fatalities per capita, they still have 50% more than the US. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-re...
- jeza 14y ago
  Thanks for the stats. I am actually in Australia, which has even fewer fatalities (8 per 100,000 vehicles according to that link), which could probably be attributed to strong government advertising campaigns and enforcement of speed limits. We have a similar attitude towards pedestrians as the US and the penalty for killing someone while driving is a watered down culpable driving charge which only applies for dangerous driving, rather than manslaughter. Would be interesting to compare the crash rates still, but rather academic if the fatalities are so much higher. In any case I maintain that crossing the road in the same manner we did in Vietnam would have you pancaked here on a busy road with cars travelling at 60 km/h. The difference is that people just don't do that here.
- Drbble 14y ago
  It's would help to get deaths per mile driven, too. Do Vietnamese cars drive more or less than Americans? My auto sits in my garage all year, quite safely.
  - jeza 14y ago
    Could certainly be factor. Though the other thing is that all those vehicles in Vietnam are motorbikes, so any accidents at speed are likely to be more fatal. Though for the original topic then pedestrian fatality stats would be useful as well. In any case I'd personally rather live in a city that is well served by public transport rather than lots of people riding around on motorbikes or driving cars.

by jeza 14y ago

AngryParsley 14y ago

It's not safer. The US has 15 deaths per 100,000 vehicles per year. Vietnam has over 1,200 deaths per 100,000 vehicles per year. Even if you only look at road fatalities per capita, they still have 50% more than the US. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-re...

jeza 14y ago
Thanks for the stats. I am actually in Australia, which has even fewer fatalities (8 per 100,000 vehicles according to that link), which could probably be attributed to strong government advertising campaigns and enforcement of speed limits. We have a similar attitude towards pedestrians as the US and the penalty for killing someone while driving is a watered down culpable driving charge which only applies for dangerous driving, rather than manslaughter. Would be interesting to compare the crash rates still, but rather academic if the fatalities are so much higher. In any case I maintain that crossing the road in the same manner we did in Vietnam would have you pancaked here on a busy road with cars travelling at 60 km/h. The difference is that people just don't do that here.
Drbble 14y ago
It's would help to get deaths per mile driven, too. Do Vietnamese cars drive more or less than Americans? My auto sits in my garage all year, quite safely.
- jeza 14y ago
  Could certainly be factor. Though the other thing is that all those vehicles in Vietnam are motorbikes, so any accidents at speed are likely to be more fatal. Though for the original topic then pedestrian fatality stats would be useful as well. In any case I'd personally rather live in a city that is well served by public transport rather than lots of people riding around on motorbikes or driving cars.