Accident

Well, maybe writing the almost accident a few days ago jinxed me. Because tonight was a full-fledged "motorbike collides with car" accident.

Tonight I went around with Em Hoang, a third year medical student. He took me around the District 1 area, we walked around a bit, and then stopped at a coffee shop for awhile. On the way to my house we got into a small accident, really very minor, but shook me up.


Video of Em Hoang - I speak "Americanized Vietnamese", and he answers in English. Haha this is probably the only footage I will take of me speaking Vietnamese because I sound like a hillbilly. =/

Em Hoang was already driving very slowly to follow the house numbers and a taxi van that was to the left to us was slowing down and turned across our path into the gas station. It was seriously in slow motion - we got caught between the van and the curb of a sidewalk - the van hit the motorbike and the we fell onto the ground, motorbike landing on its side on top. Double prayers of thanks for helmets and brakes.

I am very lucky that I did not land harder than I did. Em Hoang was driving slowly and I landed on the sidewalk, not the ground. Soft landing, and I had a helmet. (yay safety laws!) But if either of us were driving faster, it would have been really bad.

So everything is okay, just kind of shaken up, but there is no damage to anyone or anything. People came over, reviewed the accident, asked if everyone was okay, checking out the vehicles - the driver definitely did not have his turn signal on but also we were in his blind spot. I don't know what would have happened if something more major had happened - I'm pretty sure that most people do not have insurance here - but I did purchase international medical insurance the day before I left, so I would have been covered.

4 weeks already in HCMC, every day on a motorbike and only 1 minor accident...sheesh let's hope that's as bad as it gets...