Hanoi is the capital and largest city of Vietnam. Recently, it has also been recognized as one of the safest cities in the world. However, in Hanoi, all is not well. When it comes to this city, visitors and locals complain about the problem of traffic.
Traffic in Hanoi today is extremely chaotic. Driving on the road to Hanoi is described as going into battle. Food blogger Noodlepie mentioned that "taking off on a motorcycle in Vietnam about three or four years ago" because it made him "zero pleasure and mucho stresso". You always run the risk of running into a traffic jam, regardless of whether it is at rush hour or not. This fact can be explained by two main reasons, transport and compliance with the rules of the road.
The first reason related to this problem is an increase in the number of private shipments. The estimated population of Hanoi is 6,232,940 (2008), which is the most crowded city in Vietnam. In addition, Hanoi is also the most important political, cultural and economic center of Vietnam, so it attracts a large number of employees from other provinces. Consequently, the number of private shipments has increased dramatically. People believe that the Vietnamese are poor, but there is an incredible number of cars in Hanoi. Each family can own 3-4 bicycles and possibly another car, which is now very common in Hanoi. This large volume of private transportation added with other public transport such as cyclones, taxis and buses often caused congestion on the roads of Hanoi.
In addition, although the Vietnamese rules of the road are quite strict, many people still do not complain about them seriously. Very often there are red lights or wrong traffic on the streets against traffic. Marking lanes, including pedestrian crossings, exist but are completely ignored. These violations are very dangerous and can lead to accidents. The congestion is even worse at rush hour, when everyone rushes to go to work or quickly return home. People are impatient, constantly using their horns, when they clearly have nowhere to go, even shout at others, to get out of the way. As a result, roads are often found within 1-2 hours. This picture accurately describes what is happening on the roads of Hanoi.
Next year, Hanoi will celebrate its 1,000th anniversary. The authorities should introduce their own rules to solve the problem of traffic, so when tourists visit Hanoi, they will remember Hanoi with beautiful images.
