You think you’ve been in bad traffic????

 Scooters,scooters everywhere…. Here’s a collection of the traffic pictures I’ve taken while in Ho Chi Minh City. Please try to remember these pictures the next time you find yourself in heavy US traffic.. All of these have been taken over the past three days during our visit. Nothing has been enhanced or changed in any way…. It was often frightening, very very frightening…

Often you would see families on scooters together. One family, one scooter.

Average street corner

Close up view of the average street corner

Scooters are the most common form of transportation here. The cost is a factor as they are much less money to buy than a car. I also think the scooter gives you so much more ability to reach your destination faster than by car or bus.  

And that video is a simple drive through traffic… it gets better..

All of these scooters will zoom ahead the minute the light turns green.. some will turn right,some left into oncoming traffic without a care and many straight ahead, careening between any and all cars in their way…

And just forget the thought of grabbing an Uber….Uber has left the country because the model doesn’t work well here.. Look at each of these scooters with the green shirted,green helmeted drivers. Its a company called GRAB and they function as Uber except they are using scooters! Anywhere you saw a green helmet ( and they conveniently carry one for their passenger)  that was a GRAB bike and passenger. GRABGet also is like Uber Eats or Grub Hub.. we saw many with coolers on the back delivering food to a business.

 I found a T-Shirt for sale with the logo below:

And that’s the truth! 

Every intersection becomes a game of wills between the participants..cars,buses and scooters all vie for the right to flash ahead.  As a onlooker, I felt like I was watching the proverbial train wreck. I knew I should look away but somehow my eyes were drawn to it! 

Anyway, Next time you find yourself thinking you are stuck in terrible traffic, think back to this post! Better yet, make copies of these pictures and clip them to your visor..when stuck pause for a moment to consider what you would do if you were somewhere else, say a small street in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

( and I guess I should tell you that for the entire three days of watching this play out in front of my eyes, there was never NEVER an accident! Lots of horns blowing, but never an accident)