I've bought a motorbike helmet. It happened 2 weeks ago. In hopes of obtaining my own motorbike, and disgusted by putting used helmets on my head every time I hire a xe om, I bought my own. (Because it's the law to wear a helmet, all xe om drivers always have an extra helmet for the passenger.) Even if I don't get my own motorbike, at least I'll have a clean helmet touching my hair. The helmet, not a cool one like I wanted, cost me 100 dong ($5). As I've said, it's required by law and it's one law (perhaps the only) that every Vietnamese takes seriously. I've seen the police randomly pull drivers over - trust me, you don't want this to happen to you. There's nothing more serious looking than a Communist in uniform.
But I keep thinking... how safe can a five dollar helmet really be?
Note: I learned last week that the helmet law is relatively new.
It only began on January 1, 2005. Before that, people died helmetless.
