As of recent estimates, there are over 58 million motorcycles in Vietnam. That means for every 10 people, there are 6 motorbikes. Traveling in the major cities feels akin to a biodiverse parts of the ocean - think of the scene from Finding Nemo when they're travelling on the back of the tortoise. The buses are the whales - everyone just moves around them. Cars are large fish and motorbikes are little minnows, quickly and expertly weaving in and out of traffic and sometimes onto the sidewalk. Bicycles were very rare like a sacred starfish. Pedestrians are akin to weirdly confident crabs. We saw many locals just walk out into the street - WITHOUT LOOKING - and motorbikes and cars would calmly and swiftly adjust their speed or angle to avoid them. 

In fancy ecology terms, it felt like one big murmuration. Like a school of fish or flock of swifts, traffic in Vietnam is like symphony of small votes by everyone, where environmental awareness trumps ego. We saw a total of... ONE accident in our four weeks in Vietnam. Whereas one 20 minute-trip in Atlanta will guarantee seeing at least two cars on the side of the highway from a crash.