Vietnam bus plunge ‘kills 10’

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Title – Vietnam bus plunge ‘kills 10’
Source – http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Date – 14th March 2009

Yet another story which demonstrates the road safety issues at some of the world’s popular destinations for independent travellers, we have commented on a number of these over the past year from Ecuador, to Egypt and now Vietnam:

·

Belgians die in Egypt coach crash
· Families pay tribute to Britons killed in Ecuador bus crash

Vietnam is another of the destinations where fatalities from road traffic accidents are high, with over 12,000 a year, it is an issue for independent travellers when they travel.

Unfortunately these types of accident are not always avoidable as the number of factors involved which are out of the control of the traveller themselves is high; but even if we can learn to reduce those few risks which we can control, it can improve our odds considerably.

This incident in Vietnam and these fatality figures don’t include the number of near misses which can have a dramatic effect on travellers. In our own experience we know of one such first time traveller who was involved in a bus crash in Vietnam where the bus ended up hanging over the side of a bridge; the passengers fortunately managed to escape out of the back window before help was summoned. It was an experience which ruined a trip and led to the individual returning home before their scheduled return.

It is a sad fact that many travellers do find a traumatic experience like this is enough to call and end to a trip and often that is the right decision at the time, as a loss of confidence can result in further problems; besides if the positives don’t outweigh the negatives then there is little point to the travel. The key is not to let it ruin future travel and we are pleased to note our friend has subsequently travelled independently and continues to travel to this day.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Transport Options alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Tragedies like this accident happen in every part of the world but I don’t believe there is a country in the world where the level of road traffic accidents should put us off travelling. There are however considerations and judgements we should make in regard to our transport options, to reduce the inherent risks they present.

Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us our Facebook Page and our Facebook Group. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

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