Have you ever got stuck in the traffic jam? I think the common answer is “yes”, especially we’re living in Viet Nam- the most terrible place of traffic jam. Not only Viet Nam, cities everywhere are battling an increase in demand and an inability to build sufficient infrastructure to cope. So all countries in the world must face to this problem as the certain point in their way of developing.
1 The real state of traffic in Viet Nam and its effectiveness.
The traffic can be a nightmare for visitors to Viet Nam for the first time. Believe it or not, there are transport rules but people don't seem really interested in following them. Three or four people on one motor bike is a common sight, particularly with the young.
The traffic is worst during the rush hour when everyone is attempting to get to work or get home quickly. Some people ride their motorbikes on the pavement rather than waiting in the traffic jam. The people walking are just as likely to get hit on the pavement as they are crossing the roads at such times. It's crazy. Road users become very impatient, constantly using their horns when there's obviously nowhere to go, even shouting at others to get out of the way. You have to be quite aggressive or you get nowhere.
the most annoying thing about the traffic is the way people use their horns. It's a habit which serves no purpose most of the time. A disturbing trend is the fashion for installing air horns on motorbikes. This is really annoying for other people and sometimes it causes accidents.
And imagine how many people are waiting in the traffic jam, it means how many hours of working and how much gasoline we are wasting. The losses we are suffering may be more than that, the losses of health as breathing the polluted air must be taken into account. Driving motorbike in big cities brings to us zero pleasure and much stress. Bad traffic kills more than one. Of course, there’re the accidents we see and fear, but there’s also a more silent killer: traffic jam that hold up ambulances, patients caught in gridlock often don’t receive the attention they need in time and often die because of it.
2 What are the reasons?
First, it’s the way people thinking. Government set up the law, people take it serious like max 1 year then everything go back the old thing. When walking around Tam Bac Lake, I see many young people not wear helmet. And in the country side, people make law… no such a thing like “ law from government”. They don’ care much about the law as well as their own safety. Wondering about that, do you know the answer? I believe that it’s the way people thinking which can’t be changed overnight.
Second, it’s the number of cars and motorbikes on the road. People may think Viet Nam is a poor developing country, but in Viet Nam there’s an incredible number of cars. Recently, government approved a policy to allow second hand car to be imported, which is only going to add the congestion in big cities.
Third, Viet Nam has a huge population( about 85 million people until now). Our infrastructure doesn’t develop adequately with the developing rate of the population. Sad to say, it’s partly caused by the corruption that rooted deeply in the construction industry. WHY WAS CANTHO COLLAPSED AND BURRIED WORKERS? Because there’re too many gaps in the law to make the corruption easily.
3 And ….. solution!
In my opinion, I give some thoughts:
· Building new roads and new lands, broadening the old roads.
· Building intelligence into the road such as roadside sensors, global positioning system…
· Improving driver’s experience and habit, teaching the children about the traffic and making them follow the law.
· Giving the high tax on automobiles especially on the imported car( such as 80%)
In my experience, I got stuck in the traffic jam and I know the feeling at that moment bearing the noise of horns, shouting, the polluted air, and wasted time. There’s nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic when you’ve some places to go. So stop it now by doing these solutions if you want to see our cities in 10 years later better than now.
