Traffic in Vietnam
One of my lasting memories of Vietnam will be the traffic- anyone who has had to cross the road here will no doubt say the same. Traffic in Vietnam is chaotic. I understand that traffic accidents, mostly involving motorcycles are an increasingly serious hazard. At least 30 people die each day from transportation-related injuries. Traffic accident injuries are the leading cause of death, severe injury and emergency evacuation of foreigners in Vietnam.
Traffic moves on the right, although drivers frequently cross to the left to pass or turn, and motorcycles and bicycles often travel against the flow of traffic. Horns are used constantly, often for no apparent reason. Streets in major cities are choked with motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks, bicycles, pedestrians and cyclos. Outside the cities, livestock compete with vehicles for road space, and I watched a herd of oxen being led the wrong way down the main road close to Hanoi airport!. 
On the way to the Mekong Delta we got into a gridlock which took lots of waving and horn blowing to solve!
It appears that drivers do not follow basic traffic principles, vehicles do not yield right of way, and there is little adherence to traffic laws or enforcement by traffic police. There are sometimes arrows on roundabouts showing which way you should drive round them, but these seem to be ignored and people go the way that they want to. Most junctions do not have lights, so it is a total free for all. The number of traffic lights in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is increasing, but these seem to be suggestions only, and whilst most cars do stop for them, motorbikes do not. 
There are occasionally what appear to be zebra crossings, but they do not seem to have the same status as in NZ and you are just as likely to be run over on one of them as anywhere else. Most Vietnamese ride motorcycles; often an entire family rides on one motorcycle, with no helmets, although there is a law due in next week which encourages people to wear helmets. I wonder whether this will be ignored as well?
