Starting from this month in five major districts of Ho Chi Minh City, a fine will be imposed on motorbike drivers who carry children aged 6 and over without a helmet.

This sanction should have been put into practice a long time ago, but better late than never. Especially if we take into consideration the critical condition of urban roads as well as the regular frequency of traffic accidents, everyone (even children) is at their own risk while on the street.

Despite the fact that some adults are aware of this risk, they create “horror scenes” on the roads which frustrate me when I witness one. For example, an adult wearing a stable helmet, carries a child (sometimes two or three children) without a helmet and drives at high speed, or another one uses only one hand to drive and carries a baby on the other hand.

“Save the best for the children” is a familiar slogan seen everywhere in Vietnam. Somehow, I doubt whether what Vietnamese children have been going through is really the best saved for them.

Helmets for children don’t cost too much, nevertheless, parents have used a great number of execuses in order not to buy helmets for their own children. Even with this sanction already put into practice, they still don’t want to comply completely with it.

The sense of civic responsibility

It is undeniable that the Vietnamese constantly violate traffic laws, and they are always spitting and dropping litter. Usually, their sense of civic responsibility is blamed, a sense that originated from the behavior which they have observed daily since childhood.

Once, I gave a helmet as a present to a kid in my neighborhood. He has never worn it. As his mother told me, “It is not necessary, no one fines a kid!”

Undoubtedly, this kid will grow up to fear the traffic police and the possibility of being fined, instead of complying with the law consciously for the sake of his own safety.