Inspiration & Paradox 66: Chaotic traffic may not be as dangerous as you think and orderly roads may not be as safe as you perceive

I have got to agree with some people who said that the traffic in Hanoi has to be the craziest in the world. What you see is a horrendous torrential rush of cars, carts, pedestrians, bicycles, motor cycles, vans, buses, and sometimes even horse carriages, all coming from different directions and intersecting, and a perpetual honking of the honk which nobody seems to be paying attention or bothered with. Crossing the streets was a daunting and heart pounding experience for me and my family, as there never seemed to be a break in the streams of vehicles and you would never find a right moment to cross unless you take a leap of faith to step out and trust that those darting motorcycles would somehow react in time to navigate around you. Our tour guide however revealed one interesting fact – though the traffic seemed to be extremely chaotic and somewhat out of control, nobody was obeying any rules on the road, and the traffic lights and lane markings were completely ignored, the accident rate surprisingly was much lower compared to that of the big modern cities with big roads where vehicles sped at a much faster rate. I am not sure how exactly that is possible but it probably has to do with the level of vigilance which naturally soars when surrounding danger is perceived, or perhaps the monotony of freeway travel on the straight express lanes in the cities has made travelling on the road even more challenging.