Traffic safety in Vietnam is rapidly deteriorating. There are many reasons why, such as motorbike operators making illegal turns or entering the wrong lane, sometimes even against traffic.
Perhaps a car, truck or bus driver is to blame for occasionally committing violations intentionally, with utter disregard for the law and the safety of other commuters. However, I feel aside from the basic reasons, the source of the problems can be identified by the lack of individual accountability.
I have had several fender benders while driving and being driven in Vietnam. The first thing every driver committed to explain to me, is how poor they are, and that in their mind they believe that fact omits them from any responsibility for their erroneous actions. In one case a drunken motorbike driver rear ended my car at a red light. He had hit me so hard that I initially thought I was rear ended by another car.
When the HCMC, district 7 traffic police came they simply allowed the offender to carry on his way, their reasoning was that he was poor and he needed the bike to feed his family. I understand the officer wanted to be compassionate for the less fortunate, but at some point we need to draw the line and determine how much sympathy should be allowed in instances such as this. After all if that man were to hit and injure or kill a citizen driving a motorbike, how would that person be able to feed their family?
Furthermore, if you review the case in which eighteen year old Pham Thi My Linh assaulted a traffic cop, she cited the same reasoning, that her family was poor and they needed the bike for whatever reason. I have never witnessed such an unreserved display of shamelessness. Being poor does not and should not provide citizens with legal protection a “get out of jail free card” if you will, nor should being rich for that matter.
If the citizens don’t want to personally accept accountability for their own actions, no matter what class of wealth they come from, then the legal system should oblige them to accept it. This means that if their families need that motorbike to put dinner on the table, then they had better adhere to the laws of traffic. Legal obligation of accountability is the only thing that is going to resolve the current matter.
Christopher Blank
Business & Investment Opportunities
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