Helmets

Helmets.

They can be the most important thing and the most annoying thing when it comes to motor bike riding. They have been a big issue for a long time in Vietnam. Helmets were not highly used a couple of years ago, and the rate of deaths and injuries due to traffic accidents was much higher. According to Grieg Kraft, an American man who lived in Vietnam in order to promote helmet use, in 2000, fewer than 3% of Vietnam motorbike riders wore helmets. 25 riders were killed everyday, and many of them were from brain damage (1).

Many people in Vietnam don’t like wearing helmets because of the lack of comfort, especially during very hot months. And, they can feel heavy.  I know this from experience.  My housekeeper used to pick me up from school on her motorbike and by the time I got home my neck would ache. And it ruins a good hair day. Finally, Vietnamese claim that helmets disrupt their hearing…..and are not suitable for children.

This all changed on December 17th, 2007. A new law required that all people riding motorbikes were to wear a helmet.  One week, virtually  no one was wearing a helmet. A week later, nearly 100% of the people had changed their behavior due to the risk of incurring a fine. According to the hospitals, the number  of people sustaining head injuries from traffic accidents dropped immediately after the law was passed. In Ho Chi Minh City, for example, the head injury rate fell by about 50% on weekends. Hence, the helmet law was serving it purpose.   (1).

However, over time, lax behavior has crept in. Many motorbike riders do not regularly wear helmets or weak very small, fashionable head gear which is unlikely to provide much protection. This seems to be especially common with teenagers--who also appear to enjoy adventurous (i.e high speed and swerving) motorbike riding.   The other day, I want for a walk around the suburban West Lake area of Hanoi. I began to count how many motorists were not wearing a helmet. Within fifteen minutes, the number reached twenty.  And this was on a weekend day when traffic was relatively light.

Taken by me

After doing further research, I found out why I often find CHILDREN not wearing helmets. First of all, the law does not apply to people under the age of 16 (2). Parents use this to their advantage, and it aids their belief that the helmets injure the neck and throat of children, and disrupts the development of the brain of young children. I always see children sitting and standing in dangerous places, such  in the middle of the two parents on the seat or in front of the driver on the ledge between the seat and the handles. These children aren't wearing helmets, so if they fall, they have almost no chance of surviving. That is why children are involved in 90% of the traffic accidents (3).

Taken by me

Today after taking a trip downtown, I was able to capture some photos of...well, you'll just have to look for yourself.

 

Taken by me

Taken by me

taken by me

Taken by me

 Works Cited

1. "Head Injury in Vietnam." Bike Helmet Safety Institute. N.p., 21 Dec. 2007. Web.

 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.bhsi.org/vietnam.htm>.

2. "VIETNAM: Stricter child helmet law needed." IRINews. N.p., 20 Jan. 2011. Web.

25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=91673>.

3."VIETNAM: Helmet habit is saving lives ." IRINews. N.p., 16 Dec. 2008. Web. 25

Sept. 2011. <http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=81979>.

Raining Cats and Dogs

It has been raining cats and dogs here for a week. A tail landed on our porch. But the downpour never longer than five minutes.  You never know when it will happen. I was lucky  yesterday when I didn’t listen to my mom and decided to take a taxi instead of ride my bike to school. She told me she could "see the sky" and that she was "sure" it wouldn’t rain. Once I got into the taxi the rain started again, harder than it had been all week! So, you never know...

In more developed countries, there is usually not a problem with floods because of good drainage systems on the side of the roads. Here they have holes in the road but the metal bars on top usually get stolen right away. Then there is a hole in the street. Yes, in the street where people ride their bicycles and motorbikes and where people walk. However, there are still floods because of the way the street is structured. It curves more in than out so the water cannot  flow into the holes efficiently. Also, dirt and trash are being stuffed into the holes which blocks the water from getting through, which just defeats the whole purpose of the hole. Sometimes a tree stump is put into the hole to act like a warning flag. 

As you may be able to see in this picture, the water from the rain is just sitting about halfway up because it is blocked by all of the trash.

This what it looks like after a typical downpour.

(Take note that they are now having to drive on the WRONG side of the street.)

Floods are a common thing here...probably the most common natural disaster. A flood in 1964 killed 10,000 people. In one flood event in 2008, about 24 inches of rain occurred over a four day period. There were massive traffic jams as motorbikes and cars were abandoned in the waters. The death toll was about 55, including three school children who had fallen in uncovered storm drains.

I also read a story about a man named Vu Thanh Quang, 27, who was riding his motorbike on the street in the southern province of Dong Nai. The highway had just been flooded after heavy rains, and he slipped into the drainage canal and drowned. Locals said that not long ago another person had fallen into the same drainage canal. This shows how dangerous riding motorbikes after heavy rains can be.

Teenagers seem to look at flooded streets as water park rides. We were outside on our street filled with water, and I was wearing a nice pair of jeans. They weren't so nice a few minutes later though. Teenagers zipped by on their motorbikes with no shirts on, spraying water everywhere. I'm sure it was impossible for them to see anything. My mom was able to get a picture of one zipping past.

I'm sure this is great fun, especially because there is not much else to do here. But when there are floods, the holes in the streets are completely invisible, and yet, so big. Our neighbor had fallen into one of those holes on his bicycle and needed stitches on his forehead. I even heard a story about baby pugs falling into one!

Here my friend is looking at her camera and not at the upcoming hole that she will nearly fall into.














So, to sum it all up, don't drive on a motorbike during heavy rain....or at least just be careful ;)

Works Cited

Cuong, Kim. "Man Drowns in Southern Vietnam's Drainage Canal - News.VietnamHotels.net." Vietnam Travel News - VietnamHotels.net. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://news.vietnamhotels.net/man-drowns-in-southern-vietnam39s-drainage-canalnbsp.html>.

"Floods in Hanoi, Vietnam. - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M76_Msh-19I>.

"Hanoi Hit by Record Floods." News | Voice of America. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2008-11-04-voa5-66605217.html>.

"Storm Forecast to Inundate Hanoi, Threatening Northern Crops." DTiNews - Dan Tri International, the News Gateway of Vietnam. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://www1.dtinews.vn/news/news/vietnam/storm-forecast-to-inundate-hanoi-threatening-northern-crops_13257.html>.