Bad driving - share your stories here

[slicedndiced]

Yeah, Ho Chi is interesting, I thought China was bad with it's free for all driving but it's up another level in Vietnam. Nearly got hit by vans twice in two days.

Actually riding a scooter there daily for years is even more interesting. The things you see!

Over 10,000 deaths a year stands testimony

 

[scon]

Fish and birds don't have rules;they have perfect faith and mild magnetiised synchronicity;travelling in forever without banging into each other

 

[Stocks_go_Up]

 

[JuddsABlue]

Saw one this afternoon

Old lady, heading to an interesection that has 3 options

Straight
Veer right
Turn right

The old lady wanted to turn right, but entered the veer right lane, so when the straight/veer right light went green she panicked so went forward and made a hard right turn in the middle of the interesection (this is on napean highway/glen huntly rd intersection)while 4 lanes of napean highway traffic are going different directions either side of her

As a gap appears (she cant see far enough down the road to see another wave of oncoming traffic) she gently drifts across the intersection while I watch with a grimmace to see if shes going to avoid the stampede of cars coming her way. Well, she makes it of course, but it was close, but what she does next is something that always amazes me.

She stops at the red light for the cross section traffic, leaving the ass of her car still sticking out in to the oncoming traffic

As the cars pile up behind her trying to turn in to the st and beep their horns, she sits there waiting at this pretend red light that was never designed for her. Eventually someone walking on the footpath runs over and tells her to drive, the red light isnt hers

She takes off, ready to tear it up at the next intersection I'm sure

 

[JuddsABlue]

Brief example

 

[Shell]

As the cars pile up behind her trying to turn in to the st and beep their horns, she sits there waiting at this pretend red light that was never designed for her. Eventually someone walking on the footpath runs over and tells her to drive, the red light isnt hers

She takes off, ready to tear it up at the next intersection I'm sure

Lmfao.

The poor dear. That's what we all have to look forward to... a descent into senility and bad driving.

 

[Doss]

One thing that really, really annoys me (when you have two lanes going straight at an intersection) is when someone sits at a red light without any indicator on, and then as soon as it turns green, suddenly they put the right indicator on and you're completely lampooned behind them.

I would have got into the left if I'd known you were going to do that, you utter pillock.

 

[Bacon Warrior]

One thing that really, really annoys me (when you have two lanes going straight at an intersection) is when someone sits at a red light without any indicator on, and then as soon as it turns green, suddenly they put the right indicator on and you're completely lampooned behind them.

I would have got into the left I'd known you were going to do that, you utter pillock.

I do that sometimes just to piss people off. The look on that plebs face when I look in the mirror always makes me laugh.

 

[Doss]

I do that sometimes just to piss people off. The look on that plebs face when I look in the mirror always makes me laugh.

Aren't you a solid citizen then.

 

[winnyblues]

Yeah, Ho Chi is interesting, I thought China was bad with it's free for all driving but it's up another level in Vietnam. Nearly got hit by vans twice in two days.

my rents are from nam, traffic is crazy in saigon you gotta keep walking and let traffic go around you.. crazy when over here its the opposite. My bad driving experience involve near crashes and crashes.
Worst though qas after a night out 2 n half years ago and one of my friends died. Only 1 minute after leavung the venue and she didnt have a sealt belt on and our friend who in hindsight should not have driven after consuming alcohol, hit a wall at 60km. I broke 4 ribs but **** my life this still haunts me

 

[Doss]

Ah, good old Vietnam.

The initial drive from Saigon airport to where we were staying (right near Ben Thanh Market) is eye opening. And freakin' scary.

The key when crossing the road in these places is to not hesitate- walk steadily and confidently. The traffic will weave around you. Try and run in fits and bursts and you're much more likely to come to grief.

 

[the_interloper]

Ah, good old Vietnam.

The initial drive from Saigon airport to where we were staying (right near Ben Thanh Market) is eye opening. And freakin' scary.

The key when crossing the road in these places is to not hesitate- walk steadily and confidently. The traffic will weave around you. Try and run in fits and bursts and you're much more likely to come to grief.

I was in Asia recently and it took me a few goes to figure this out, ****en scary stuff crossing those roads.

 

[Doss]

I was in Asia recently and it took me a few goes to figure this out, ****en scary stuff crossing those roads.

Crossing the mega intersection at Ben Thanh market, with the bus station in the middle of it, was something else.

About seven or eight roads all converging, bus stop in the middle with homeless types and rats the size of small cats running around. Can't forget that in a hurry.

 

[slicedndiced]

Crossing the mega intersection at Ben Thanh market, with the bus station in the middle of it, was something else.

About seven or eight roads all converging, bus stop in the middle with homeless types and rats the size of small cats running around. Can't forget that in a hurry.

Indeed.

A Japanese woman was killed there recently when she hesitated. Bus killed her.

You've only seen the baby rats it seems.

 

[Doss]

Indeed.

A Japanese woman was killed there recently when she hesitated. Bus killed her.

You've only seen the baby rats it seems.

Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised. That intersection just looks like an accident waiting to happen.

I hear the fully grown rats are too big even for the old Viet Cong tunnels.

 

[slicedndiced]

Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised. That intersection just looks like an accident waiting to happen.

I hear the fully grown rats are too big even for the old Viet Cong tunnels.

Like I said before, over 10,000 people a year die on Nam roads and a fair proportion of them are pedestrians.

Intersections like the one mentioned are commonplace throughout wider Vietnam, thanks to the colonial French occupation and their wish to "Parisian" everything.

In my 3+ years there you would hear of at least 15-20 foreigners dying nation-wide.

I'm reasonably sure that I saw a rat with a saddle on it once

Nah, some of them are freakin huge and probably the only animals which genuinely scare the crappola out of me.

 

[scon]

Dockers are sending their inside mids to train at that intersection.Webber is currently organising to get some bigger rats down there.
I'm in Thailand at the moment and I reckon they're pretty good.The Viets should have their vehicles confiscated.

 

[slicedndiced]

For those unaware, here is a vid of the intersection, but it doesn't really do justice to the chaos.



From a personal perspective, Ben Thanh markets would be the WORST place in Vietnam for tourists.

It is unfriendly, full of sharks, muggers, pick-pockets, bastard police and dodgy taxi drivers, (whose latest strategy is to lock tourists in the taxi and demand outrageous fares under the threat of violence), and it's not even cheap!!

Stay away.

Do yourself a favour, get your hotel to give you directions to a big market OUTSIDE OF DISTRICT ONE, and you will have a ball. You'll, more than likely, be the only foreigner there and the people will treat you like a rock star.

And don't be afraid of the street food. It is fantastic.

 

[Doss]

I have a picture of an absolute ripper of a traffic jam I happened to witness somewhere in the French Quarter in Hanoi, slicedndiced. I'll post it up when I locate it...

 

[Doss]

The other thing is, and it's quite hilarious really; you become utterly desensitised to people tooting car horns in a place like Vietnam, and it happens surprisingly quickly.

I was there for only three weeks (some of which was spent in quieter places like Sapa and Cao Bang), and upon returning to Melbourne, I found it took a couple of days to readjust to the fact horns here mean someone is generally pissed off, as opposed to just saying "I'm coming through".

 

[scon]

Thai's don't tootI've covered fair distances in both taxis and riding a motorbike and what would instigate a 'grade one bricking level road rage incident in Perth,doesn't even prompt a tiny toot!!Very tolerant bunch on the roads.
Good luck to the taxi driver who locks me in his cab

 

[slicedndiced]

Thai's don't tootI've covered fair distances in both taxis and riding a motorbike and what would instigate a 'grade one bricking level road rage incident in Perth,doesn't even prompt a tiny toot!!Very tolerant bunch on the roads.
Good luck to the taxi driver who locks me in his cab

Watchya gonna do tho?

They take you down some alleys where you have nfi where you are, and have a few goons for added effect. It goes down all of the time. And they WILL bash you.

A tip for nothing to all. If a Nam cab has tinted windows, (even if it is painted as a trusted company like Vinasun or Mai Linh), do NOT, under any circumstances, get in.

 

[scon]

I'd cop a hiding perhaps.Once the damage to the inside of his cab reached a certain number of dong he would open the door and she'd be on!Love a bit of biffo.So long as there's no machete it's all good.

 

[slicedndiced]

I'd cop a hiding perhaps.Once the damage to the inside of his cab reached a certain number of dong he would open the door and she'd be on!Love a bit of biffo.So long as there's no machete it's all good.

They do love their machetes.

Three young blokes just got the death sentence for stealing bags from scooter passengers.

No grab and run for these dudes. They literally hacked off peoples arms to get the booty.

I was there when it was happening and it was more than a little off putting.

 

[Plugger35]

I've been to Thailand, haven't been to Vietnam.

Didn't find the traffic or taxi drivers too bad there, apart from them trying to sell you hookers, suits and other shit while you're in the taxi. I did get stuck in a pretty bad traffic jam in Bangkok though going from the airport to my hotel in peak hour, after sitting there for ages going nowhere the taxi driver said if I gave him extra money he'd go on one of the toll roads with a lot less traffic. It might have been a scam to get more money out of me but I was happy to pay extra to get out of that traffic jam.

They do love their machetes.

Three young blokes just got the death sentence for stealing bags from scooter passengers.

No grab and run for these dudes. They literally hacked off peoples arms to get the booty.

I was there when it was happening and it was more than a little off putting.

Armed robbery.