Driving culture

Vietnamese people usually only take the driving test when they are about to buy a car. In many cases, they buy the car first and then get the license. Some people are so stubborn that they drive for years before taking the driving test. Of course, this number is not the majority - thank goodness. Otherwise, Vietnam’s traffic would be even worse, although I can’t imagine how much worse it could be…

The problem is that, for Vietnamese people, a car is not just a means of transportation. It is a brand face representing success and wealth. It is a wall that separates its owner from those of a different class. At that time, people no longer evaluated cars based on the usual criteria such as price, design, and functionality, but only by looking at the car company logo to evaluate the car. They even evaluated its owner: driving an Audi or BMW means a young master, more luxurious and mature driving a Mercedes or Porsche, and driving a Lexus means a successful businessman... So much so that young people have a new-age "idiom" "Just by looking at a car, you can tell it's handsome/pretty".

It seems that because of that, the Vietnamese driving culture is also very strange. For example, turning on the headlights in the city (especially for those driving SUVs, high-rise cars with high headlights on are a disaster!), parking/turning around in alleys/narrow roads (no wonder there are traffic jams?), not slowing down when driving through puddles when it rains (thank you guys for helping people save money on shower water), washing the windshield while driving in the middle of a crowded street (very useful for those who drive motorbikes and get sleepy). But among the uncivilized behaviors of car drivers, nothing is more disgusting than rolling down the window and throwing trash on the street. Once, my friend and I were riding behind a car (also a Camry), enjoying the autumn in Hanoi, when we got hit in the face with a banana peel. But that was still quite lucky, because if we were riding behind a passenger bus on the highway, we would have easily gotten a few bags of vomit.

Why is the Vietnamese driving culture so bad? I think it is partly because we do not see cars as a means of transportation for the very common need of daily life. With that mentality, we do not see ourselves as normal road users and do not have the necessary respect for other road users. But the truth is, cars can make you look more classy, ​​but they do not give you any other rights than those who drive motorbikes, bicycles or even walk.

I hope that at some point, Vietnamese people will stop assigning functions to cars that manufacturers never thought of, such as showing off, showing off, making a show... People will buy a car when they feel it is necessary, within a price range that suits their needs and economic conditions (instead of trying to buy an expensive car to keep up with their friends) and drive in a civilized manner - that is, respecting other road users. I think we can start by considering driving a car as a life skill. People can go to school to get a driver's license when they are old enough - even if they don't have a car or intend to buy a car in the near future. Just like you should learn to swim even though you don't know when you will go to the beach, it's simply equipping yourself with a necessary skill.