How to be a pedestrian in Vietnam and not get killed

I previously wrote an article about how to drive a motorbike in Vietnam and not get killed and I figured we would stick to the streets and investigate further because not everyone drives.

The streets in Vietnam are chaos and seeing as how I have seen almost no sort of road enforcement of anything in the years that I have lived here I am very surprised that there aren't accidents just all the time all over the place. I have only witnessed a couple of accidents in those years and they were pretty minor where the police didn't even need to get involved.

Being a pedestrian in Vietnam carries with it its own dangers as well because the apparent chaos on the roads extends to those who are walking as well. While Da Nang isn't as terrible as other more populated places like Saigon and Hanoi, it is still pretty chaotic and you need to be on your guard. I don't know many people that have ever been struck by a vehicle but it can be daunting when you try to walk around and encounter this.

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Believe it or not you can actually navigate this on foot even though it looks impossible.

Here are some tips.

• Approach corners with extreme caution

Footpaths are generally non-existent in this country and if they do exist they either need to be constantly patrolled by security guards or it will turn into a parking lot very quickly. In larger cities motorbike will actually use footpaths as a road and they will toot their horn at you if you are walking on it to get out of their way - which seems very backwards to me but hey! I'm a visitor here and I don't make the rules.

Corners are particularly dangerous because for some reason the motorbikes seem compelled to treat every corner as if it was Moto-GP and leave around 4 inches between them and curb.

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This combined with the fact that corners are generally very valuable real estate where the shop owners will "mark their territory" with corner potted plants and now you have bad visibility issues to contend with as well. It is always a good idea to approach any corner expecting someone on the other side of it to treat it as if the road belongs to only them. So keep your head on a swivel and peek around corners as much as you can and for the love of all things holy stay as close to the curb as you possibly can.

• Forget everything you know about crosswalks

Crosswalks are meaningless in this country yet the paint them all over the place. Virtually every corner has a crosswalk on them to the other side and in my country these areas are places where pedestrians have right of way. Striking a pedestrian in a crosswalk with your vehicle where I come from would have extreme consequences for the person operating the vehicle but that is not the way it works here.

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_{Zero F**ks given}

Crosswalks or as many of my non-American friends call them, "zebra crossings" are a waste of paint. They mean absolutely nothing to the people that are on the road and they will not give way to pedestrians because of it. I don't know what the law is in these situations but if they are supposed to give way to people walking, they certainly don't do so. So when you see a crosswalk, just pretend as if it wasn't there. If you go marching out into a crosswalk with the confidence you might have in NYC or any other US city, you are setting yourself up for disaster or at least someone slamming on the brakes and you getting shouted at.

• Use Vietnamese people as a shield

This sounds mean if you take it at face value but it is actually a great way to get across busy streets. The Vietnamese have always lived in this sort of chaos and they know how the traffic is going to behave. They are veterans of the "sport" so to speak and know the game a lot better than you do.

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Some of the feats of bravery I have seen performed by Vietnamese locals are just astounding to me and one of the takeaways from this that I have seen is that once you start moving forward across a lane of traffic DO NOT STOP WALKING. Apparently the traffic is preparing for your arrival and will maneuver out of your way. At some of the crazier intersections I will find a Vietnamese family, sometimes with a baby stroller, and walk to the right of them. They know what they are doing and are great guides even if they don't know that they are guides.

• Walking with traffic at your back is always better

Remember what I was saying about how drivers here corner like they were in Moto-GP? Well a lot of the danger of all of this is eliminated if the drivers can see you beforehand. They are experts at avoiding what is in front of them and very few pedestrians are actually ever struck by vehicles. This is, of course, provided they can see you before they encounter you.

While I too enjoy being able to see the dangers that may exist in front of me, it is actually a much better idea to walk with the flow of traffic so that the people behind you can make some sort of attempt to accommodate you. If you are walking into the flow of traffic, motorists have far less time to notice that you are there at all and this can be problematic.

Even though the roads look like absolute mayhem to someone visiting, there are far fewer accidents here than you might expect. Simply walking around can be a stressful activity but it doesn't have to be if you just accept the fact that you are no longer in the west and the rules of the road are totally different here. I think if you follow the above steps that walking around and using your actual steps can be a much more relaxing experience.

There is a method to the madness here and once you understand that, things will be a lot easier for you!