Vietnam wears a helmet!

Vietnam is a motorcycle country. Two wheels (about 90%) greatly outnumber the cars on the road. But as seen in the images on my two previous Vietnam-related posts here, hardly anyone there wore a helmet on the road. Thankfully, that’s a thing of the past.

So how did the country get it’s more than 12 million riders to wear one? Well, it all started with this campaign.

The ads featured in campaign were made by Ogilvy and Mather Vietnam for Asia Injury Prevention Foundation. The campaign utilized actual motorbike accident victims.

• See here the English version of the shock ad they showed on their national TV in full.
• And here are the equally disturbing print/billboard ads: “I don’t wear helmet because… it ruins my hair | they don’t look cool | it makes me look stupid.”

On December 15, 2007, wearing a helmet became mandatory (Government Decree Number 32 – Mandatory Helmet Law) to all motorbike riders in Vietnam making it one of the world’s most successful public-health initiatives in years. My recent visit there is proof that indeed, everyone now wears a helmet there and not just in Ho Chi Minh but in the rural areas as well. Our tour guide said not everyone is happy with the new law but all are forced to comply than pay the fine of 200,000 dong or roughly about U$D12.

And since the “coolness” factor ranks high for most Vietnamese riders, some of their helmets (they used to jokingly refer to these protective headgears as “rice cooker”) don’t look like helmets at all! For a rider like me, Vietnam roads was practically an endless showroom of fancy helmets money could buy. There are ones that are shaped like baseball caps, cowboy hats, bowler, sola topee, and knitted beanies. There are colorful visors made of cloth attachable to a plain-looking helmets. At one time, I think I even saw a helmet that looks like the familiar Vietnamese straw hat (Nón lá ). You name it, they have it!

And since I myself fancy unique helmets, I bought some for myself. I even bought one for my daughter which is shaped like a ladybug. That one’s just too cute to pass up. See them here.

Yes, these are no ordinary hats. I actually another that looks like a red army hat, but I already gave it to a nephew before I could take a picture. Each actually have hard shell and foams inside. Price tag is VND150,000 or roughly PHP450 or USD10. Really cheap!

Obviously, these helmets may prove wanting in Snell or DOT helmet safety standards but it’s a start for Vietnam. I tried using one during a recent ride to a nearby mall here and the visor hinders me to go faster (maybe that’s a good thing) since it feels like the helmet would come-off despite the buckle. I guess wearing a helmet with a visor just takes a little getting use to.

I’m also psyched-up that traffic police might flag me down one of these days for wearing it. Fancy helmets like these are not (yet?) common here in Manila. If and when, I’ll simply knock on my head for the cop to know there’s actually a hard shell underneath my chosen headgear and wish they’d let me go without much trouble. *fingers crossed*

If you fancy helmets like these, there are numbers of shops in Ho Chi Minh with plethora of choices to choose from. But of course, nothing beats a full-faced, DOT/Snell certified helmet when it comes to protection.

Use your head; wear protection!

-o-
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J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com