Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Crossing the street in Ho Chi Minh City scares the living bejesus out of most tourists.
3, 4 or 5 million motorbikes – or more – fly around the city at all hours of the day.
The singular living presence known as Saigon traffic seems to pulsate from dawn to late night hours.
Unless you crave doing tourist stuff at midnight – when most everything is closed save bars and clubs – you will need to overcome fears regarding crossing the street in this city.
First thing’s first; whenever you cross a somewhat busy street the motorbike traffic is unavoidable. Liken it to a conveyor belt of traffic that keeps coming at you.
You will rarely if ever find a 10 second window when you can cross the street peacefully. Usually, this idea does not click until you leave the airport and descend into town. Then…..you get it.
Follow these tips to cross the street safely in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
1: Find a Crosswalk
Find a crosswalk to walk safely across the street.
Look for staggered white strips laid across the road.
No worries; you will find these spots routinely throughout Saigon.
Crossing anywhere else proves to be a bit too dangerous. Motorists may respect the local traffic customs away from crosswalks….or not.
Note; local traffic customs do not necessarily mean traffic laws.
For example, I have observed that in rare situations, cars and motorbikes will arrive at a red light beeping the horn at full speed. Beeping the horn means:
“I am running this red light.”
Most slow down at least a little bit but then proceed to blow through the red light.
It simply it what it is; a local traffic custom not particularly aligned with local traffic laws.
2: Look Both Ways
Look both ways before crossing the street.
Motorbikes whiz by from every direction imaginable at times.
I even look up to scan the trees for motorists (that is a joke).
Anyway, crossing without looking both ways discounts the motorbike rider zooming the wrong way down a one way street right behind you. Or maybe someone attempting to beat a light cuts across the intersection from outside of your vision field.
Look both ways for 1-2 seconds.
Spot motorbikes originating from highly unexpected directions.
You can choose to look down the sewers for subterranean traffic….or not.
3: Take One Slow but Sure Step
Take one slow, relaxed but sure step across the street.
Do not run. Never sprint. Do not hurry.
Taking one step allows motorbike riders to understand one thing: you decided to cross the street.
4: Allow Motorbike Drivers to Steer Around You
This is the challenging part for all Westerners, at first.
Western tourists live in countries where people generally follow traffic laws. Pedestrians wait for the all clear before crossing the street.
HCMC has no all clear. Even red lights do not stop some from running lights. Or people with the green make lefts or rights; pedestrians do not have the right of way here when motorbikes or cars make turns.
I cannot lie; it feels scary observing 100’s of motorbikes driving directly towards you.
However, everyone misses you because motorbike riders here have years of riding practice among millions of fellow motorbike riders.
Be mindful. Let them pass.
Running does not work. Accident imminent. Sprinting does not work. Usain Bolt ain’t fast enough to get across the street unscathed. Freezing in fear does not work. Stopping fully confuses motorists who do not know where to steer. Waiting does not work unless you have a bunch of free time for Saigon traffic watching.
4: Take the Next Slow But Sure Step and Repeat the Process
Take the next slow but sure step to make your way across the street.
Allow riders to steer around you.
Take the next step.
Allow riders to steer around you.
5: Continue to the Sidewalk
Continue stepping across the road until you reach the opposing sidewalk.
No; don’t turn around and sprint back to your origin like a chicken. You can do this.
Congratulations.
You made it.
Pat yourself on the back for not becoming the tourist version of “Frogger”.
Practical Tips
Closely observe how local Vietnamese folks cross the street.
Follow their lead to safely make it across the road.
Or, literally follow their lead by choosing to cross only when locals cross the road.
I did this the first few times to both lean from them and to allow them to block me from traffic via their body-shields.
Seeing their confidence gave me confidence; I was not in fact committing suicide by attempting to cross the street.
Do not mill around intersections too long to record videos before crossing busy areas.
After loitering for a bit too long a traffic cop motioned for Kelli and I to move along. I understand why; traffic is as hectic as is. Tourists blocking his vision for an extended period of time gummed up the works.
I also noticed that a video I shared of a tourist crossing a busy intersection was deleted. Perhaps the tourist deleted it but something tells me that the government did not want to reward perhaps unsafe behavior in shifting your attention to crossing and filming the event with a Go Pro. I do not blame the government one bit if this was the case.
Conclusion
Have fun and get outside of your comfort zone.
Following this simple strategy about 30 times during our 3 weeks in Saigon kept me alive enough to write and publish this post.
Motorbike drivers here know what they are doing.
Do the Saigon motorbike dance and enjoy traipsing around a fascinating city.
