"Guide" to moving about in Saigon

To be honest, the best advice to get around Saigon would be to to go slow. This applies to driving and for crossing the street.

Don't hesitate. If you’ve made your move, complete it. When crossing the road, don’t stop in the middle of a busy street. Other drivers are more likely to drive around and it is probably safer to keep going. People will move! Just be cautious. The general rule is to walk slow. You are more likely to get involved in a crash if you are hesitant or scared as stopping would confuse drivers who have probably already planned to swerve around you. So be confident and go.

When driving, keep to the inner city highways. As scary as the massive motorway may appear, what with cars, buses and trucks coming from every direction, cutting across lanes and beeping their deafening horns, these roads are probably safer and easier to drive on than the side streets. Not to mention, much quicker, making your travel time much shorter. In addition, bike lanes are often separate from other vehicles, so it is safer.

The worst part for me is the congestion. Being stuck at a traffic light for 35 seconds in the beating sun, with 100 exhausts pumping out fumes and heat around you, is torture. Be aware that bikes will do anything to cut in front of you. You just have to be patient. Keep your feet at a safe distance to your bike to avoid getting your foot run over – yes it has happened to me, multiple times. Drivers tend to put down their right foot when waiting at a junction, as to have the left down would risk a hot burn from the exhausts of other bikes stopped beside you. Many of the red traffic lights only apply to larger vehicles. Often bikes will chance crossing the road despite the oncoming traffic. But like I said, people will move out of the way.

For as long as I’ve been in Saigon, I haven’t witnessed any major crashes other than the minor blips that my flatmate and I experienced on our first day with the bikes. Just keep your speedometer low and you hopefully won’t experience anything too serious. Bare in mind that a crash involving a vehicle going anything above 50Km per hour with cause serious damage, so keep slow!

There are 7.4 million bikes in Saigon. With the lack of laws and road rules, there are over 20 deaths a day in Saigon caused by bike related accidents. So although I say it is safe, there are many things to be aware of. It's not simply looking out for other bikes around you, you have to watch what's in front of you and what's oncoming. Driving a bike is like a real-life hazard perception test. You have to be alert of potential dangers at all times.

To mention a few: You will experience bikes driving towards you on the wrong side of the road, bus driving at a ridiculous speed, whooping horns of trucks that'll make you jump and slow bicycles that'll cause you to break hard. And that's not all, one of the biggest issues for me is potholes. If you're picking up speed and rush over a pothole that you didn't see coming, it can really damage your tires and cause the bike to swerve. So, watch out for them, there are lots everywhere in Ho Chi Minh. Be aware that many motorbike drivers use their phone whist driving. Leave them a lot of room in case they lose control. Many Vietnamese smoke whilst they drive, so be careful of flying ash from the cigarettes. It is quite normal for people to spit in the street, however mix that with someone driving a bike at a speed and you're in a bit of a sticky situation. I'm not sure whats worse; a stranger's groggy saliva or burning cigarette ash. The rain can also really effect your drive, lower you speed as stopping distance and surface water can be dangerous if you're not an experienced driver. These are only a few of the issues I have encountered since moving here.

It’s funny to think that back home in Scotland, or any other Western country for that matter, it’s quite uncommon to ride scooters. There are a very few on the roads in comparison to Vietnam, or Asia as a whole. For me, it was a pretty big deal to get a bike and to be expected to obtain one, and be able to drive it easily. But I cannot stress how necessary it is to own some sort of vehicle in Saigon. There is a famous saying in HCMC, “Only tourists walk in Saigon”. It is 100% true; the closer to D1 the more people you see walking about, almost about 80% are backpackers or tourists trying to explore the city. Everyone else is on bikes. People will drive the bike to a destination a couple of meters down the road. Nobody walks in Saigon and the public transport is borderline medieval! In addition, having a bike heightens your freedom and accessibility to everywhere! You just need to get over the initial fear, then you’ll be a pro.

Do be aware that once you leave Saigon, the safety of the sitting goes with you. Most accidents occur on the main motorways from city to city. Buses and trucks are not as "slow" and / or as cautious as they are in the inner city. You will hear of multiple scare stories of busted up knees and collisions on the main highways in the countryside than in the city. People take more chances and don’t always respect the speed limit, so do be careful when using your bike to travel out of Saigon. It’s a different world out there; rules of the road are seriously lacking. The big vehicles do not care about bikes on the motorway. They see a clear road, so it’s you who has to be cautious about who or what is in front and behind you.

In sum, keep your speed down, don’t panic and be confident. Nerves and hesitation will cause accidents – but don’t be too cocky. Be sensible and aware that in Vietnam, everyone is much more aware of all kinds of vehicles on the road, not just the bigger ones. People look out for bikes, you are safer driving in Saigon on a bike than in many Western countries, so while you’re here, enjoy it!

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