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Expats Play Sneaky on Traffic Cops

Published: 09/19/2010 by ptg

Whether it’s the traffic officers who are letting foreigners get away with breaking traffic rules, or if it’s the foreigners themselves who have gotten smart on them ironically – by playing dumb – we never know. But it’s never a surprise to see plenty of non-locals driving around Vietnam’s streets in motorbikes. The country had become an increasingly popular expat destination in recent years and is recognized as a safe place for foreigners to live and work. Expats are attracted by the nice weather, low cost of living, lively culture and the steady improvements. On top of that, finding your way around isn’t at all that hard as many are so willing to help. But with the ease of getting a Vietnamese driver’s license, one can enjoy more freedom in circling the maze of streets, especially in a big city like HCMC.

Anyone who is spotted driving around without a helmet or in the wrong lane naturally gets pulled over. By observation, foreigners seems to get away quicker than locals as they can always come up with more excuses. They can either pretend not to understand Vietnamese, or they are not aware of the rules. But mind you, their list of ‘tricks’, as many cops (who don’t buy the sneaky moves) want to call it, could get really long.

Take RJ, for instance. He is an American teacher living Ho Chi Minh City. RJ talks of being pulled over by traffic police almost every weekend for driving in the wrong lane. He stops and waits on the sidewalk, alright, but once the officer recognizes he is a foreigner, he gets a friendly wave instead of a violation ticket.

But you see, that is just one of the many episodes that happen day after day and week after week in the busy streets of Vietnam. RJÂ’s story is just a tiny reflection of a larger game of cat-and-mouse played by expats to prevent traffic police from stopping and fining them for breaking road rules. But some could go a little overboard than just playing sneaky. Others, let us say, could be plain stubborn. Some expats claim to have simply ignored a police officer who is trying to stop him. When chased by the patrolman, he just kept driving. Was he in big trouble? Well, the frustrated officer gave up coming after him and obviously, the foreigner got his way.

But are all traffic officers really letting all these happen under their noses? Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Vo Van Van, vice head of the HCMC Traffic Police Division, said police have fined a total of about 600 foreigners for violating traffic law since 2008 in HCMC. Hmm.. not bad. But obviously, they can do better. They pretty know how much a large number of foreigners visit or stay in the country, thus, there should be an effort to resolve this never-ending dilemma. The Lt.Col. believes it is important to set up a taskforce that is able to speak foreign languages to handle violations of traffic law by foreigners. They should also get more training in terms of handling these scenarios and be aware of the laws involved for the matter. For instance, traffic police are not allowed to keep a driverÂ’s passport. However, they can confiscate other papers issued by Vietnamese agencies like visas, residence registrations or the motorbike of the violator to ensure that the fines are enforced.

Most of the violations expats get themselves involved in include driving in the wrong lane, no helmet and no driverÂ’s license. Though many foreigners do not admit on disregarding Vietnamese law, observations and the officersÂ’ experiences tell a different story. Hence, there should also be an effort to encourage the expats to get a driverÂ’s license to allow them to drive legally. There are certain requirements including age (must be 18+ years old), a Vietnamese visa (with the proper validity), documentations (includes application form stamped at one of these offices: embassy, consulate, government office, private company and representative office), a copy of oneÂ’s passport and permanent residence card, photos and a fee of VND170,000.

vietnam.com/article/expats-play-sneaky-on-traffic-cops.html

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I'm in my third year and I've been pulled over twice.  My mentor, for lack of a better term, had advised me to ignore them if I was singled out.  That advice doesn't seem wise, so I always pull over.

The first time I was pulled over, it was for running a red light.  It was late and I was one of the only riders on the road, so ignoring them wasn't an option, anyway.  He walked up to my bike and told me to dismount.  He then threw a salute at me, which I promptly returned.  "You have violated Vietnamese traffic law!" he began.  "The light was green!", I pleaded.  "No, no...red." came the reply  "OK, I'm a bad man."  I said with a smile.  He then asked for my paperwork and I gave him what I had. "These are copies!"  "Where's your driver's license?" I pointed to my American license.  "You don't have a Vietnamese license?" asked the officer.  "No, I just haven't gotten around to getting one."  Then came the misdirection.  "You're English is pretty good.", I said, "I thought the police here didn't speak English."  "Not many of us do."  I then proceeded to teach him and his cohorts:

Go ahead, make my day!
Do you know how fast you were going?
Where's the fire?

and

Up against the wall scumbag!  Spread 'em wide!

As I was teaching the last one I thought to myself "I hope he doesn't use that on me now!"  He didn't.  He just said "You can go now."  I then committed an error by saying "What, no coffee money?"  Oops! The door was open, so I payed a 100K "fine" and was off and running again.

The second time I made an illegal left turn.  I knew they had been there busting people the day before, but I didn't see them, so I made the turn, along with a few others.  Then I saw them and heard someone yell.  I looked and it was 2 drunks who had either been recruited, or had taken it upon themselves to point out violators of Vietnamese traffic laws.  Much to my surprise the cops pulled me over and told me to dismount.  I was saluted, again, and he then asked me where I was from.  "The USA."  I replied, hoping that his hometown hadn't been bombed to the stone age in the war.  "You made a bad left turn."  he said.  "I just followed everyone else, many people were turning."  He looked around a few times,m so I figure he was seeing if he could safely get a donation to the policeman's ball, without anyone seeing.  "Sorry, I won't do it again officer." I said.  "OK, you can go." he said, with a hint of disappointment in his voice.  He didn't even ask for my ID.n  As I was pulling away the drunks yelled at me again, so I stuck my tongue out at them and then laughed. 


I have my license now and I do my best to obey the laws of the land, even though no one else seems to.