Don't complain about why it's clogged...!

A Nghe An man living far from home commented like that when he returned to visit his family and walked around the main streets of Vinh city on this occasion.

He analyzed: Almost all cities in Vietnam have the same limitations in urban planning and traffic infrastructure. They are unscientific, short-term vision, and unsynchronized... Besides, the urban population density is increasing, while cars, which take up a lot of space when operating or parking, are gradually replacing motorbikes and bicycles, leading to traffic congestion and unsafe traffic.

However, in Vinh city alone, there is another reason that is very worthy of criticism. Just observe, the traffic awareness of a part of the car and motorbike users is still poor. Traveling on many streets, especially at intersections during rush hours, is very chaotic and disorderly.

As people who use cars and motorbikes, they are equipped with legal knowledge. But it feels like they lack understanding, or disregard the regulations of road traffic laws...

The situation of illegal parking of cars still occurs on many streets despite the Vinh City Police taking strong measures to deal with it. Photo: Nhat Lan

Photo: Nhat Lan

In fact, in recent years, in Vinh city, there are many roads that always have traffic jams during rush hours (6:30 - 7:30; 11:00 - 12:00; 16:30 - 18:00).

There are intersections where traffic lights are ineffective during rush hour; even though traffic police are always there to guide and give orders, traffic jams still occur.

Therefore, in recent years, there have been many causes of traffic congestion that have been dissected and analyzed to come up with solutions. That is the planning of building many high-rise apartments in the central area. This has led to a sudden increase in population density and types of vehicles in the central areas. That is the traffic infrastructure is still weak, not synchronized, and there are no parking lots. This leads to cars having to park on both sides of the road, leading to the narrowing of the roadway...

All of these reasons are correct. However, the awareness of traffic participants is rarely mentioned. Or if mentioned, it is still sketchy, almost "reserving" this responsibility to the traffic police, traffic inspectors and urban order of communes and wards.

Right at the right-turning location, a woman parked her car, opened the trunk and prepared her belongings (photo taken on January 21, 2019). Photo: Nhat Lan

Observing some main roads that often have traffic jams such as Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Le Loi, Quang Trung, Tran Phu... in the past few days, the opinion of my friend from Nghe An who lives far away from home is very accurate.

In Vinh city, many drivers of cars and motorbikes are ready to overtake on the left; do not use turn signals when changing lanes; make random U-turns in areas where there are many vehicles in operation; and park cars on both sides of the road corridor in a very messy and arbitrary manner. There are even people who "innocently" park right at the intersection, in the part of the road reserved for vehicles turning right to do their own business, as if this were their own yard.

The intersections of Le Hong Phong - Nguyen Van Cu, Le Hong Phong - Le Nin Avenue... are often congested during rush hour due to poor traffic awareness among traffic participants. Photo: Nhat Lan

Many motorcyclists are not aware that stopping on the right-turn lane is illegal and contributes to traffic congestion. Photo: Nhat Lan