I went out for lunch with my friend at the Singapore Fast Food shop. I took a
xe om home and then the accident happened. I'm always scared going on the back of a
xe om and usually choose old men for my trips because they mostly drive slowly and carefully.
The old man was driving quite slowly but a guy cut us off really suddenly and of course, the man couldn't stop the motorbike. The result, as you can imagine, was me flying over the motorbike after the third motorbike hit us from behind. At that moment, I just didn't know what was happening to me because it happened so fast. The old driver was on the road with a bleeding head, the guy who pulled in front of us had cuts and bruises on his legs but was still sitting on his motorbike looking at us. The third motorbike was fine and disappeared quickly after the accident. I gave my driver 200,000Vnd for him to pay for a hospital visit and asked another
xe om to take him to the hospital.
It was a mess because everyone said it wasn't their fault, but we all blamed the guy who turned in front because he didn't check before he turned. People were shouting at each other and I told them to call the police. Finally, two police men came and I had to tell them the full story with two other people. The police man started wandering around trying to find a stone to draw on the road and take some measurements. After five minutes, he had found something from the other side of the street and started drawing. They left afterwards with two motorbikes on the back of their truck and invited the two drivers to a meeting at the police station thenext morning. I hope everything went ok with the old man's head and his motorbike.
16 comments:
Wow! That must have been scary. You were lucky to walk away with no injury. From now on, take a taxi.
Even with all my crazy taxi tales, that's why I don't get on a moto. Get a helmet or something - the new snazzy Yamaha branded helmets are pretty good looking.
I go by that intersection everyday, and had a late dinner at that KFC just two days ago!
Chao anh Tu. Glad you're okay. I have some pretty horrific stories of motorbike accidents that I'm still unable to really write about on my blog. One is about my French boyfriend who died in a motorbike accident in Hanoi when he was 16; another is about a man my taxi hit one night. I think he might have died too because I remember holding him before they drove him to the hospital, and blood was spilling out of his mouth. I've been in several "minor" accidents myself but never on the back of a xe om.
Glad you are ok... no bruses or cuts?? amazing...
i'm back! glad to see you are still blogging. too bad about the accident, it looks pretty bad.
april
Gosh, reading this makes me scare and sad for that old driver. I hope he's okay. This must have been scary for you. I wouldn't know what to do if it was me your shoes, especially with people yelling back and forth! I hope you check up on what happen to the old man and post. :(
it's really sad how these accidents are commonplace in Vietnam :( I'm glad you're ok and I hope the old man will be ok too...sigh...
Glad you're ok.
Looks like the old man has tobacco on his cut. The ideal clotting agent in Vietnam my mom did that once and did bother going to the hospital for stitches.
Tu,
I'm glad to know you survived the accident. It was thoughtful and generous of you to give the xe om driver money for the hospital visit. You always did look cool with your shades on sitting on the back of motorbikes, and you'd look cooler still with a helmet on. Be well.
My Linh
I am glad and grateful that you are OK! Also proud of you for caring for someone else though you didn't have to! May that bring more good fortuen your way!
alan
Horrible! While in Thailand, I met so many other travelers with scrapes and scars from their motorbike accidents, and it's more common than you'd think.
Ooh, glad to hear you weren't seriously hurt. I read in Tony Bourdain's book ("A Cook's Tour") about the traffic in Vietnam. It seems like there would be more such accidents.
Thanks for all comments. I am just fine now.
I'm constantly annoyed by the crazy way Vietnamese people drive. It's like they have no common sense. Glad you're ok. Keep on blogging!
Why pay 200,000D ? I know its only $20 Australian. But the old man wouldn't have gone to a hospital.
You may as well have paid for a stick of testracycline (15,000 dong) and given him that.
He would ask his wife or relative or friend to look at it,and they would stick it up with thread if needed.
Oh well, no harm done. He might have needed 200,000 dong to repair his bike afterward.
I gave him 200,000vnd to help him and I think it's ok
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