A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
I caused a minor traffic accident yesterday. Well actually Phuc, my motorbike driver, was the real cause of the accident, but I was along for the ride.

It started raining on our way home from my kindergarten teaching job, so after a couple of minutes Phuc decided to pull over and put on his plastic poncho. They sell millions of these plastic ponchos in Saigon, for just this purpose -- when it rains, it really rains, and driving a motorbike is virtually impossible. Plus the fact that there are only two seasons here, which are universally referred to as "Rainy" and "Hot". Since Rainy was an inferno, I'm really not looking forward to "Hot".

But I digress.

As Phuc pulled over to the side of the road to perform the poncho maneuver, he managed to cut another motorbike driver right off. Behind me I could hear that horrible skidding, screeching sound you hear when metal meets pavement unexpectedly at speed.

The funny thing was that though I myself was a tad perturbed by the whole situation, and stood by the road casting mildly concerned glances at the victim as he calmly investigated his limbs for injuries or clothing tears, neither the victim nor my driver showed the least surprise or annoyance at the situation. Phuc merely made some tut-tutting noises, as though the poor bastard shouldn't have been in that location in the first place. Never once did he look at the other driver or vice versa, and no words were exchanged. Certainly no exchange of insurance information was expected.

I suppose it's a good thing that these little fender-benders don't result in massive road rage, but I must admit it's a bit alarming to live in a city in which a motor vehicle accident is taken so lightly. Makes me think they've all seen much, much worse.

© 2002 Katy Warren

posted by Katy at 6:36 PM