Car crashes into 3 motorcyclists riding in the opposite direction

The incident took place on August 19 on Au Co Street, Tay Ho District (Hanoi) and was captured by the car's dashcam.

Three motorbikes were seen tailing each other crossing the road, seemingly to enter a side road, while the car driver appeared to be distracted and did not brake when the motorbikes were preparing to cut across in front of the car.

"I think the car driver was probably looking at their phone or something, only to jerk and brake when they saw the motorbikes in front, as they wouldn't maintain that speed otherwise.

Perhaps the driver was complacent because this was a road with a solid median strip, not thinking that there would be motorbikes driving in the opposite direction and cutting across the road like that," Facebook user Hoang Thai commented after watching the video shared on social media.

Most opinions suggested that the major fault lay with the motorcyclists driving in the opposite direction, while the car driver's fault was not paying attention.

However, user Do Linh argued that on this stretch of road there was a solid median, but no "No Entry" sign at the beginning of the median strip, nor were there directional arrows on the road surface, so logically, the motorcyclist was not wrong, even though they were actually crossing the road in the opposite direction.

Based on Appendix B QCVN 41:2019/BGTVT, the "No Entry" sign for the opposite direction is sign P.102.

Sign P.102

- Used to indicate roads where all types of vehicles (mechanized and non-motorized) are prohibited from entering in the direction of the sign, except for priority vehicles as regulated. Pedestrians are allowed on sidewalks or road shoulders.

- The direction opposite to the placement of sign P.102 is the right direction, wherein vehicles are allowed to travel, therefore an I.407a sign or R302a or R302b must be placed at the beginning of the median strip to indicate the correct direction of travel.

Sign I.407a only allows vehicles to travel in the direction indicated by the arrow, prohibits U-turns, except for priority vehicles such as fire trucks on duty; military, police vehicles on urgent duty; ambulances...

Sign R.302 (a,b,c) "Direction to go around obstacle" is used to indicate the direction vehicles (mechanized and non-motorized) should take to pass an obstacle. The sign is placed before the obstacle and depending on the direction of travel: must turn right; must turn left; or must choose to turn left or right, selecting the appropriate type of sign. The sign is mandatory for all vehicles.