Archived News: Road Safety
11.02.10 Two elderly French tourists were struct by a Vietnamese motorbike driver a few nights ago on the new road in Downtown Phan Thiet City. The couple was walking in a poorly-lit area of the city under development. The woman was seriously injured by the hit-and-run driver and was sent to a Saigon hospital. Sources say she is expected to die from her injuries.
In related news, a previously unreported, female, Vietnamese passenger, who was involved in an accident involving two german tourists in front of Swiss Village Resort in Mui Ne, has died from her unjuries this morning at a hospital in Phan Thiet.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
09.02.10 Two elderly German tourists were struck last night by a Vietnamese motorbike driver in Mui Ne Beach. The accident occurred on the sidewalk near the Swiss Village Resort. The two pedestrians were hurt badly—the woman very seriously. She was rushed that evening to a hospital in Saigon for surgery. Injuries are believed to have included a broken arm, broken teeth and serious injury to the face. The Vietnamese driver, a young man or teenager, was rushed to a hospital in Phan Thiet. Pools of blood remained on the street after the accident. The horrific accident comes as part of an ongoing problem in the resort destination of Mui Ne. Ambulances can be seen and heard running across the beach resort area with automobile or motorbike accident victims every night. More and more these victims are foreign tourists—and like last night, pedestrians. Causes of these incidents include drunk driving, speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road, and entering traffic without looking. Nearly all of these accidents are easily preventable but there is no visible enforcement of traffic laws in Mui Ne—particularly during the evening.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
02.01.10 According to witnesses, a Consulate-General's car was involved in an accident this morning in front of Seahorse Resort. The motorbike appeared to have collided with the side of the Asian diplomat's car early in the morning. Police appeared to have responded promptly to the scene of the accident, thought the diplomate was delayed at the scene for a few hours.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
01.01.10 This evening at approximately 9:35pm a Mai Linh taxi struck a local man seated on a motorbike on the side of the road and immediately fled the scene. The accident happened in front of Shades Appartment and Joe's Cafe. The man was given first aid by bystanders but an ambulence failed to arrive after 45 minutes, though an ambulence sped past the scene, apparently in response to an unrelated accident elsewhere on the beach. The police arrived at approximately 10:30pm, after the man had already been taken to the Ham Tien clinic by a friend.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
01.01.10 Yesterday evening Two Vietnamese men drove a motorbike into a group of Russian tourists, sending two to the hospital, but immediately left the scene of the accident. The incident occured between 10 and 11pm on New Year's Eve, in front of the Swiss Village Resort. Police did not investigate the scene of the accident. The roads in Mui Ne have been highly chaotic over the holiday vacation, with no observable presence of law enforcement, despite high levels of traffic and drunk driving.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
11.10.09 Yet another person was killed last night in a collision between a motorbike and automobile in front of the Sea Links Golf Course entrance and Victoria Resort. The fatal accident is unfortunately just one of many such incidents, in a long, deadly trend that will likely only get worse as we enter the upcoming tourist season. A number of serious accidents also occurred on the other end of the beach last night, in Mui Ne Village. Though ambulances were called to the scene, we have yet been unable to assertain the nature of the accidents.
A September 29th accident in Binh Thuan Province; one of at least 3 serious accidents with significant injuries and/or fatalities in the province over the last two weeks. Photo by Tuoi Tre.
29.09.09 Tragedy struck Mui Ne this weekend, when "Fabrizio," co-owner of the popular Good Morning Vietnam Italian Restaurant chain, was caught in a fatal accident in front of the Victoria Resort. He later died from his injuries. We wish to express our sincere condolences to his friends, family and colleagues.
Fabrizio's untimely passing follows a long series of deadly accidents at that location this year, many due to trucks and busses driving on the wrong side of the road, at high speeds.
 Click here to read a note of condolence from Jon Tuck at The Hot Rock. We whole-heartedly agree with him.
31.08.09 Last night two girls were killed on the road between Mui ne and Hon Rom, when a car struck their motorbike, acording to locals. Hon Rom is largely popular with Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean tourists, and long known for prostitution. The deaths follow a long list of gruesome fatal accidents around Mui Ne and Phan Thiet this month. This week banners were hung throughout downtown Phan Thiet, in apparent response to the accidents, with propoganda messages like "Wear a Helmet", "Don't ride with 3 people on a motorbike", "Stop at red lights or when people are in the crosswalk", and "Don't drive after drinking rice wine and beer." The signs are perhaps needed, given the September 2 holiday falls on Wednesday--a day when fatal drunk-driving accidents are common in Mui Ne. However, a much-needed traffic police presence in the city remains to be seen.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
Update: 23.08.09 According to witnesses and friends of the victim's families, the 2 women killed Friday night were on their way to the hospital because they believe their entire family had swine flu and were seeking medical attention. The two women were passengers on a motorbike, driven by a third person (a man) who survived the accident. The dump truck that killed them was tailing them at high speed. When the truck blasted its horn, it startled the victims, who fell off the motorbike, and were subsequently crushed by the truck. The funerals were held the next morning (yesterday).
22.08.09 Last night in downtown Phan Thiet near the city fire department, on an evening set aside by the government to pray for the souls of accident victims, at least two more women were ploughed over by a dump truck in the grisliest traffic accident to hit Phan Thiet yet this week. Though we believe there were probably only two victims, after a visual survey of the human remains, we were unable to rule out the possibility of additional victims, due to the extremely graphic nature of the accident. Last night's tragedy is sadly only one of many in a long series of horrible accidents around Phan Thiet and Mui Ne recently. This morning dried pools of blood and residual body tissue encircled by chalk remains across much of the street lane dowtown.
Read more about road safety issues in Mui ne.
Urgent Update 20.08.09 New dried pools of blood on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street mark the apparent spot of yet another gruesome fatal accident last night, just up from Victoria and Sea Links. At this time we are advising tourists not to ride motorbikes or bicycles in Mui Ne. Pedestrians should stick to sidewalks and the beach for the time being. Do you have a complaintor concern about road safety or any other issue in Mui Ne? We want to hear from you!
08.08.09 Four Days after a series of deadly accidents around Mui ne, the pools of dried blood remain and the busses are still on the wrong side of the road. Click here to visit the Mui Ne Blog and read more.
Tragic Bus Crash at Dai Ninh, Binh Thuan Province
14.03.09 Phan Thiet, Vietnam. A speeding bus fell off a cliff near Dai Ninh in Binh Thuan Province early Friday evening, killing at least ten people, including nine Russian tourists and their translators.
Eight people were killed in the fall, and two reportedly died later in the hospital. Fourteen others remain hospitalized, some in critical condition. Among the survivors are several young Russian students and the driver.
The bus from the crash,
now stored across from the Phan Thiet Fire Station
The bus left 5am Friday morning from the coastal resort town of Mui Ne, heading to the mountain resort town of Da Lat for a day trip. Both locations are popular tourist destinations. On the return trip, around 7pm, the bus plunged some 100 meters over a cliff on the windy mountain road. The survivors were rescued around 11pm and first taken to Lam Dong Hospital near Da lat, but later transfered to Benh Vien Cho Ray in Ho Chi Minh City.
The View from Dai Ninh
There were at least 22 people on the 39-seat bus owned by the An-Lanta Tourist Company, most of whom were Russian tourists. Apparently this was the driver's first time driving the dangerous stretch between Mui Ne and Da Lat thorough the mountains of the central Highlands. His inexperience on the windy road was likely to be a contributing factor in the deadly accident.
09.12.08 In a stunning twist to the recent controversy of Phan Thiet Police confiscating motorbikes from Foreigners without Vietnam-issued drivers licenses, authorities today announced a special "Road Clean-up Day in Mui Ne." The publicized purpose of the initiative was to rid Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in Ham Tien Ward (Mui Ne Beach) of foreign drivers. MuiNeBeach.net has already confirmed that the initiative has gone a step further, with at least one foreigner pulled over today, and their motorbike confiscated, despite posessing all the legal paperwork, as well as numerous foreigners pulled over for driving without the Vietnam-issued license.
It is unclear why the police have chosen to enact such hostile tactics towards tourists, particularly in a very important week for tourism in Phan Thiet City. The 3rd Annual National Singer's Day for Charity (Singers with Hands Across the World) is set to kick off with a concert involving up to 200 top singers and performers in Phan Thiet on Wednesday, 10 December. Sea Links Golf Club is also hosting a major media event on Friday with an open house for customers and golf tournament. Both events are intended to draw large numbers of tourists and expats from Saigon. Many of them will certainly intend to drive while visiting the area.
According to Vietnamese law, all foreigners must have a Vietnam-issued drivers license to drive in Vietnam. The process is both confusing and time consuming--many tourists give up in frustration before completing the application. Although Vietnam is listed as a signatory to the agreement on international drivers licenses, it does not honor the agreement. However, the law is rarely enforced--and reported cases of periodic enforcement have been restricted to Mui Ne.
Police detaining foreigners in Mui Ne. Vietnamese motorbike drivers coordinate with police to profit from the roadblocks by transporting stranded tourists.
22.11.08 This week Phan Thiet police launched a campaign of roadblocks to detain foreigners and confiscate motorbikes driven by foreign tourists without a Vietnam-issued driver’s license.
Vietnam’s driving laws have been anything but clear to foreign tourists. Vietnam is listed as a co-signer of the treaty on International Driver’s licenses. However, Vietnam does not honor the agreement. Vietnam law instead insists that all drivers must have a Vietnam-issued driver’s license, but the process is not plainly laid out, and can require numerous trips to embassies, police offices, and payment of a variety of fees.
In practice however, cities do not enforce the law, acknowledging the damage the restriction would do to tourism, and the unwanted paperwork that enforcing the law would cause. However, Phan Thiet police have been the sole law-enforcement agency in the country to periodically enforce the rule.
A tourist struggles to negotiate with Phan Thiet Police in Mui Ne over the confiscation of their motorbike.
The roadblocks have been established in central Ham Tien in front of Phuoc Thien Pagoda, and on the west end of the beach near Allezboo Resort. The purpose of the roadblocks is solely to detain foreigners. Unfortunately drunk drivers and large trucks speeding on the wrong side of the road seem to pass freely.
Most tourists visiting Mui Ne now prefer to drive themselves to see sights. Jeep tours are on a sharp decline. Numerous tour companies now rely primarily on motorbike rentals for their revenue Many tourists have complained that if they cannot freely explore the area on their own, that they would prefer not to even visit Mui Ne.
Watching the police load motorbikes into their truck remarked “Why should I bother to come to Mui Ne? I can drive around Nha Trang myself without all this hassle. How do you expect us to find your bars and restaurants if the police won’t let us drive around?”
Drunk Drivers Claim More Lives in Mui Ne
30.08.08 Earlier this week, in a terrible, but sadly preventable tragedy, two street sweepers were killed in Mui Ne by drunk drivers. We wish to express our sincere condolences to the friends and families of these fine public servants. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the fine work that they have always done.
Unfortunately fatal accidents have become far too common on Nguyen Dinh Chieu due to the frequency of drunk driving, speeding, and both truck and bus drivers constantly driving on the wrong side of the road. All day long, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorbike drivers are run off the road and into the ditch by negligent Vietnamese bus and truck drivers.
Mostly local Vietnamese are injured or killed in these accidents, but according to locals, more than one foreign tourist has been killed in recent years. After a previous accident, local authorities responded by temporarily banning foreigners from driving in Mui Ne. Of course this addressed only the symptom of the incident and not the source of the overall problem—local drivers as well as drivers coming from Saigon and Nha Trang, who are violating traffic laws.
The local government has taken some effective steps in recent years by creating a beautiful walkway along the beachside of the main road, as well as the development of a new highway so that construction vehicles and large trucks can bypass the tourist district. Street lights were also added several years ago to light the road in the evenings.
While these items are a significant advancement over previous conditions, we still have a long way to go before Nguyen Dinh Chieu can truly be considered safe for both local Vietnamese residents and foreign visitors. More speed bumps are needed, as well as traffic police to stop drunk driving, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road. We hope that Phan Thiet authorities will continue in their efforts to make our streets safer.
07.06.07 A serious traffic accident in Binh Thuan Province killed 4 people and injured 33 others this week. The passengers were returning from a wedding. The bride broke her arm and the groom had minor injuries. Both drivers were killed, as well as the passengers closest to each driver.
13.05.06 On April 10, a German touris was killed in front of the Sea Breeze Resort. He was apparently driving a motorbike on the wrong side of the rode and hit a bus at high speed. The man was reported to have died instantly. Locals have said the man was driving haphazardly. Fatal accidents involving locals outside Mui Ne, including Phan Thiet, are very common (often due to speeding and/or drunk driving) but serious accidents involving tourists around Mui Ne are very rare.
Local police have responded aggressively by hiring translators and stopping all foreign drivers at multiple roadblocks in the area. Reportedly, any driver who does not posess a local Vietnamese driver's license has their vehicle confiscated and must make their way on foot. The new effort is seen as a way to preserve Vietnam's image as a safe tourism destination by taking foreign drivers off the road. There is some concern that tourists will be frightened away by the frequent roadblocks as even foreign passengers could be subject to detainment with questioning.
The police appear to be enforcing a national law that has long been on the books, but in practice was suspended in regard to foreign tourists in order to promote tourism. In much of the country foreigners have been allowed, in practice, to drive independantly, and have been all but impervious to roadblocks.
The development is already impacting local tourism. The situation turns off the more adventurous tourists who like to explore on their own. A small, but not insignificant class of tourists like to travel Vietnam crosscountry by motorbike, but now can no longer stop in Mui Ne on the way (without getting stranded).
Some seasonal expats have decided to cut their time short in Mui Ne this year due to the inconvenience the situation is causing them. Some teachers and businessmen in Saigon are now driving to Vung Tau or Nha Trang for the weekend instead.
There are several issues that complicate the situation. When a tourist drives themselves they have the power of choice and freedom to explore. Tourists who don't know the area and are forced to go with a driver tend to end up only at places which pay the driver a commission. The little out-of-the-way businesses suffer. The moto fare (with driver) to some of the attractions in Binh Thuan Province can be as much as 3 times the price of renting a motorbike for the entire day. This discourages sight-seeing around the area.
Expats report that attempts to apply for local Vietnamese Driver's licenses are frought with difficulty, frustration and failure. Disinformation and contradiction abound at police and government offices in regard to licenses. The problem is comparable to tourists trying to renew their visa in person, without assistance. Without a tour company to "work out the kinks" it is all but impossible. Perhaps tour companies could/should start arranging for driver's licenses as well visa renewals. Only time will tell if this will become necessery or if local officials will simply lose interest and we go back to business as usual.
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