Motorcycle Drive By

I will try to explain this as plainly as possible:

Christine (a friend) and I rented a moto for the day to see the Tombs of Hue. I was driving. I have been driving motorcycles for the past 10 years, if not for that, things could have ended differently. I’m pretty sure my experience as a driver saved someone’s life today. But I’ll get to that. Just know that there were two passengers on each bike.

Our first stop was the Esplanade on the south side of town. In front of the Esplanade, the road ends in a T. There is little traffic control in Vietnam, the few lights and signs are apparently optional. There was very light traffic when we arrived at the intersection; I made a slow and wide right turn, making sure to signal. As we were almost out of the turn, another moto came up behind our left.

I saw them coming, and noticed they were going too fast – their turn was taking them right towards us. I sharpened my turn, veering right. It was as much as I dared with Christine on the back. Still, they collided with us at the angle of 2 o’clock, knocking into front of the bike, between the steering column and front wheel.

The collision forced my handlebars, knocking me off course and compromising our balance. Either the collision or the resulting wobble knocked Christine off the back of the bike. Falling off at this time may have saved her right leg from serious damage, but again, I’m getting ahead of myself. At the time, I only remember seeing her fly off and worrying about where, and how, she had fallen.

Because of their speed, the other bike was now in front of us. They were wobbling as well, and a moment after Christine, the woman on the back fell off and was summersaulting as she tumbled to a stop. I had just about regained control of my bike when I saw her go. Even though I was breaking, I was heading directly for her: I was about 3 feet away from running over her head. In an instant, I realized I had only one option if I didn’t want to kill her…

It is amazing how quickly the brain can process information. In less than a second I realized that in order to avoid the woman on the ground, I would have to turn my bike so sharply that I would fall. Because the distance was so close, even the turn may not be enough to avoid her completely. I knew that Christine had already fallen off, so I could do what I had to without putting the bike down on top of her. I steeled myself, made the turn, and kicked the bike out from under me, slamming the bike and me onto our right side, breaking, and desperately hoping this added friction would be enough to stop the bike before I collided into her. I didn’t have time to worry about my own body.

I felt myself bounce off the dirt. The bike came to a stop. My front wheel was literally resting on the top of her helmet. Another foot, another few inches, and I would have run over her.

The woman had a bloody nose from her fall. Christine had landed in the middle of the busy street and has a nasty patch of road rash on her left calf. If she hadn’t fallen off when she did, I would have had to dump the bike on top of both of us. Because she was on the back, her right leg would have taken most of the impact if I had. I asked her about it later, and she says she has no idea why she fell then. I have a few scrapes and bruises on my shins. The driver of the other bike has nothing but the knowledge that he is a shitty driver.

One of the most remarkable things about the accident was the reaction it didn’t cause. No one came over to see if everyone was okay. They didn’t call the cops. They didn’t even seem particularly interested. Finally another English-speaking moto driver named Ti showed up and helped me exchange information. While Christine was dressing her rash, he asked the few bystanders what they had seen. It turned out the other driver was completely at fault. “It was their fault. I told them to run away,” Ti explained to us.