dan828

https://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/...n_Traffic.html

This is just nuts. I wonder if these guys would be considered to be VC.

'nother

That reminds me of when I was in Bangkok. A crowd would gather, waiting to cross, and at some seemingly random time, the entire crowd would just go. No signal. Intersections very similar to the video. But no accidents. "Orderly Chaos" is what we started calling it.

DataJunkie

Lovely traffic planning. I vote they hang their traffic engineers (if they have any).

Dahon.Steve

This was posted before. It may look nuts but it works. If all those folks on motobikes were in cars it would look like Manhattan and no one moving. That's why there's no traffic lights and you become accustomed to the madness. I suspect if you put a traffic light, you would have instant gridlock in no time.

The only one who felt out of place was the green touring bus where the driver was honking for everyone to get out of the way. He was obvious not from the area but all the other bus drivers were fine and no one was honking.

same time

I visited Saigon a couple of years ago, and yes, the traffic is nuts. But what amazed me about it was the complete lack of aggression involved. Anger and pride are just not a part of it. Everybody works together in that eerily Communist way, and the only rule is to keep moving.

Quite a contrast with driving in the US, where aggression is expected, rage is common, and the rules of the road are all based on stopping - stoplights, stop signs, red right and left arrows...

Crossing the street in Saigon is a leap of faith and an excercise in trust. Gives you a headache after a while.

noisebeam

This reminds me of a time I spent in Penang. Not as many motorbikes. Anyway I took a taxi from work to hotel every day, most drivers were good, but a few quite crazy using any part of the road or sidewalk at high speeds to avoid obsticals. Anyway one particulary crazy driver hit a motorbike, the motorbike retaliated by hitting the cab with a large object - a chase ensued with taxi and motorbike trying to hit each other again, much screaming out of window, etc. We drove a considerable amount of time on sidewalk and in opposing lanes and way faster than other traffic. The ride home took me ~20min longer than ususual due to detour and the taxi driver at the end dropped me off 1/4block from hotel and told me the ride was free and refused any payment or tip.
Al

Mentor58

I got dizzy just looking at it. The Shriners have NOTHING on these guys.

Steve W

Vanya

All/most of those motorcycles have 2-stroke engines, right?

bobby1616

The traffic is not as bad as you think. I ride these streets everyday on my way to work. Once you rode a few hundred kilometers around the city, you will say to yourself that Saigon is better than any other city in Asia. Theres this one time I hit a motorbike head on and broke his front fender but the driver just move on like everthing is ok and it was nobody's fault. And you wouldn't worry about flats since there are mobile tire repair shop in every corner. And one more thing, I wear my helmet not for safety reason but I feel when I have my helmet on, motorbike riders fear and respected me as a rider and gives me the road space that I needed, although I maybe just imagining things . So hang on and have fun.

chephy

That looks like fun! And good for your reflexes! Try turning on an autopilot driving around there!

slowandsteady

That is basically how it works in Rome too. I was scared to death for the first few days there. I didn't think I would ever be able to cross the street. I just waited for a group of old ladies and people in wheelchairs and off we went. No seriously, that's how I did it.

Nachoman

Does the word "traffic control" mean anything to you?

slowandsteady

Frustration arises when people see others not following rules. If there are no rules, there is nothing to be frustrated about. No expectations!!

Caspar_s

I think I heard that the busses hoot constantly just to let the bikes know that they are not bikes. It's just a warning.

I love that video. It would be better if there were more bikes or more electric bikes. But yeah, no road rage, no traffic blocks, just amazing throughput of people.

Sixtwo

It's the same in Taipei...Daddy drives the scooter, Mommy hangs onto Daddy, baby hangs onto Mommy, and the propane tank is tied down right behind baby!