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Anh's Law
A Call For Safe Driving Education
Copyright © 1998-2008 Vietnam Venture Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Updated April 4, 2008
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Anh's Law
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This public service campaign began immediately following the 10 February 1998 accident that nearly took Phuoc Anh's life. It could have been worse. He could have become a vegetable.
2008 UPDATE: the helmet laws are now being strictly enforced; fines of 200,000 VND (US$ 12.50) are being collected on the spot, and now nearly everyone wears a helmet. Thank goodness. It took only 10 years.
2005 UPDATE The material presented here retains its relevance. Helmets are still not being worn and the law is not being enforced. See the May 2001 edition of Vietnam Vignettes.
May 2002 saw the first production run of new styled helmets to fit the needs of Vietnam riders for comfort and vanity, without loss of safety? Click here to read about this non-profit venture.
In August 2000 a new law mandating the use of safety helmets was again decreed, the third in five years. See the August 1, 2000 edition of Vietnam Vignettes to read about this latest attempt to save lives in Vietnam.
However, two weeks before the June 1, 2001 universal application to all drivers and riders of motorbikes, rather than expanding the law's application to all drivers, the government announced that the law will NOT be enforced except for highway driving. How this will save lives is a wonder as there are perhaps less than 300 km (188 mi) of restricted access highways in the 100,000 km (62,500 miles) of all roadways in all of Vietnam.
Now,
once again,
motorcyclists across the country are being required to wear helmets on certain
roads. This comes under Ministry of Transport regulations, which came into
effect January 15, 2003.
Anh's Law
Phuoc Anh's Message
Responses To Reasons Not To Wear A Safety Helmet
Public Safety Campaign
Sponsorship Levels
Campaign Committee Letter
Open Letter To People Of Vietnam
Correspondence With Phuoc Anh and the Campaign
Committee
| Anh's LAW. Used as the
pronoun "I", "you," and "he," the word "Anh" also
means "brother." In Vietnam, people refer to themselves and to each other as
"brother." Anh's Law is derived both from the pronoun used between all Vietnamese men of similar age, and the name of a young Vietnamese man who has become the role-model for all Vietnamese. Phuoc Anh has a story to tell about his experience that directly generated Anh's Law. Typical of most young, urban Vietnamese, his story is about a voluntary effort by people to help each other. This is Anh's Law: You care for them and their well-being. You love them. Therefore...
Don't Allow What Happened To Me Happen To You, says Phuoc Anh. |
| This is me, six months before a motor bike accident. Working hard to help support my family, I had a good job, earning a good salary. Living at home, in my spare time I enjoyed singing karaoke, drinking coffee and driving around with my friends. I went to Dalat with my fellow workers for a wonderful working holiday. Sitting on this bench, high in the mountains, I felt as if I were on top of the world. What could I tell of the future? To see me close up, please click on my photo. |
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Then, I fell from a normal, unspectacular, motor bike accident.
Of course I earlier considered wearing a safety helmet..., for about one second. There were many reasons for me to NOT wear one:
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This is me, still in a coma two
weeks after I injured my brain. The scar on my head’s left side is even larger than
this one on my right side. I fell from an unspectacular accident. There was little damage
to my motorbike. The bike that struck me suffered no damage. The other fellow got up and
drove away. Neither of us wore a safety helmet. Only I struck my head. Taken to the hospital after an hour and a half delay, following two operations within the first 24 hours, my chances to live were less than 50 percent. More than two weeks later, still in a coma, my chance to be independent was still an open question. Independent means the ability to feed, wash, and dress myself. |
I am relatively lucky. The original trauma and secondary swelling did not harm me more, or kill me. Now independent, I walk, talk and appear normal to people who did not know me before the accident. However, the accident and swelling of my brain caused permanent and serious damage. I will know more about the permanent changes that occurred in my cognitive abilities, motor skills and personality when I complete six months of hospitalization, rehabilitation and close observation.
The physical scars are easy to see. A 5 cm (2 inch) diameter piece of skull was removed. My brain can be seen throbbing as it is now only covered by skin and hair. I will need a second operation to close the hole before the year is out. Of course, I also have emotional scars to carry for my life.
Thankfully, I don't remember all the pain: the countless tubes and needles stuck in my head, arms and legs. I don't remember biting, hitting and spitting at the people I love who stood and slept by my side those first terrible weeks The problem is, I also don't remember everything that I want to.
I am a realist. I have been given a second chance in life. I did not loose my job and only a few short months after the accident, I am back at work. But there are many changes in me. Some are permanent. I will have life-long headaches, a substantially increased risk of epileptic seizures, and a need to insure there is no further damage to my brain from the use of alcohol, drugs or additional trauma.
Driving a motor bike and bicycle are important to our way of life. It can also be fun. But we all must learn and practice safe driving skills, to include having the protection of a safety helmet. We are all at risk unless and until we make safe driving skills our new driving habit. Perhaps you will consider what I have to say about all those reasons I did NOT want to wear a safety helmet. Only if you and your loved ones learn safe driving techniques, and wear a safety helmet, do you have a chance to avoid the harm I suffered.
I wish you well in life, and ask that you give greater consideration to wearing a safety helmet than I did.
Phuoc Anh Responds to the Reasons Not to Wear a Safety Helmet
PUBLIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN
TARGET AUDIENCE:
PHUOC ANH IS WORKING WITH US.
This appeal is being directed to all industries and individuals, both domestic and foreign. We need to generate funds in excess of US$550,000 to support a nation-wide, year-long public service campaign. Members of Anh’s Law Public Service Committee are taking no fee for their services.
SPONSORSHIP LEVELS
SPONSORSHIP IS NO LONGER BEING SOUGHT. The material presented here is only FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE.
SUPPORT ANH’s LAW
PRIMARY SPONSOR: US$ 10,000 +
SPONSOR: US$ 5,000 - US$ 9,999
SUPPORTER: US$ 2,500 - US$ 4,999
CONTRIBUTOR: US$ 1,000 - US$2,499
FRIEND: US$ 250 - US$ 999
Letter from the Chair, Anh's Law Driving Safety Campaign Committee
February 1998 /revised March 1999
Re: PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN - DRIVING SAFETY
Dear Decision Maker:
Phuoc Anh, a bright, talented young man, nearly had his lights permanently turned-off, only because he was not wearing a safety helmet. He is like so many others who work for you. First, we are grateful a life has been spared. Then we worry what kind of life he will have.
Brain injury from motor vehicle accidents is a leading cause of death and serious permanent injury the world over. Perhaps you know families who have suffered; it is never just the accident victim.
Medical science currently in Vietnam does not provide the best attention possible. There is no monitoring of inter-cranial pressure (ICP), nor is there any ability to drain spinal fluid that causes an elevation in ICP. It is this post-accident increase in pressure from swelling in the first to second week of hospitalization that actually does the most damage in severe head injury cases.
With the support of foreign and domestic companies in Vietnam, we are developing a year-long, nation-wide public service campaign. The emotional linchpin will be provided by Phuoc Anh. His experience, image and message will attract positive attention and rivet the target audience to our goal:
It is smart and it will soon be the fashion to drive safely and wear safety helmets. Insist that your workers and loved ones do. Wear a helmet yourself.
Please carefully consider our campaign. It will be my pleasure to address with you the opportunities that exist for your company's involvement with the Anh's Law Campaign.
Please carefully consider the enclosed documents describing the proposed campaign. I or someone else from the Committee will telephone you in the next few weeks in order to discuss what level of commitment your company can make
Sincerely,
Peter N. Sheridan
Chair, Anh's Law Driving Safety Campaign Committee
Open Letter to the People Of Vietnam:
February 20, 1998.
This is an open letter to the more than 4,000 Vietnamese people who have given me their name cards or who have received mine in the past five years. I hope it is also read by all the good people of Vietnam I have not yet met.
If you drive or ride on a motor bike, please do NOT come to visit me unless you are wearing a safety helmet. If you intend to come to my home/office on a motor bike without one, I will want to tell you not to visit with me until you have and are wearing a safety helmet.
[When I wrote the first issue of this letter (February 20, 1998) Phuoc Anh was in Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. I went there every day to visit him. Sometimes twice a day. I was the last person among Phuoc Anh's family, friends and business associates to see him before his accident. These daily trips continued for the month of his hospitalization, and for the next 11 months of his recovery at home.]
Thirty minutes after leaving my office, Phuoc Anh was in an unspectacular motor bike accident.
Phuoc Anh received good medical attention. It may be the best medical attention for severe head injury in all of Vietnam. The first operation took place within three hours of his arrival at Cho Ray Hospital. That was to remove congealed blood from his injured brain. The second day, CT scans showed further damage and swelling, necessitating a second operation. He stayed in intensive care for nearly one week. Tubes give him oxygen and nourishment, tubes drained puss from his operations, and a plastic bag attached to him held his waste.
Vietnam does not have the ability to monitor inter-cranial pressure (ICP) or to drain excess spinal fluid that collects in the skull. It almost always follows severe brain injury. It is this swelling that is called the "second accident" because the knowledge and skills to prevent it are not found in many hospitals. The secondary swelling usually causes more deaths and greater injury than does the initial trauma to the skull from the first accident.
In the first few days, Phuoc Anh’s eyes sometimes opened. His pupils reacted to light but did not yet focus. Twenty days later, his arms and legs were still loosely tied to the bed to prevent their uncontrolled thrashing from causing him further injury. He groaned from fear-filled dreams and his pain. He even shouted out, and tried to strike back.
Phuoc Anh fight for his life. During the first week Phuoc Anh was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), visitors were allowed, only one at a time, to stay with him for only a few minutes each day.
Later he was surrounded day and night by those who love him. I held his hand, stroked his arm, told him who I am. I spoke of our friendship, its longevity, and of my continuing presence to help him.
His family did far more. They slept on the floor by his bed and woke at all hours to care for him. They talked of the better times before and the good times yet to come. They read and sang to him. They wore their and his favorite colognes. They showed him family magazines and photos, trying to get his still unconscious mind to react, and to bring him back to us.
The medical bills were enormous. There was some insurance money. His chance to live improved each day, but we all questioned what would be the quality of Phuoc Anh’s life? The first two days of medical treatment exceed 5 million dong. That is nearly twice the per capital annual income of all the people in Vietnam. The full cost of medical treatment and rehabilitation was many multiples of that.
Phuoc Anh lives, but he is not the same. When I place my hand over his hair and skin, all that now covers the gaping hole in his skull, I feel the pulsing of his heart and the movement of his brain. Phuoc Anh is still, one year later, too frightened to return to the hospital to have the hole closed with a plastic plate.
He is back on the job, riding a motorcycle, and occasionally goes out with his friends. There are fewer friends now than before. They do not come around nearly as often. Neither do I. Phuoc Anh's behavior has changed in ways that we all find off-putting. But I think of Phuoc Anh often. It will be impossible to ever loose the images of this handsome, bright, smiling boy I knew so well, lying in the hospital fighting for his life, or now walking the streets - mostly alone - not ever to be quite the same as he was before.
I will not go to visit anyone else who is in a motor bike accident and who has not worn a safety helmet. I just am not strong enough.
Don’t tell me how careful a driver you are. No one in this nation receives any meaningfully safe driving education. It is apparent Phuoc Anh was not speeding or driving crazy. No one who saw the accident said it was other than just an incidental one, but for the facts that people generally do not drive safely and Phuoc Anh’s unguarded head struck something very hard when he fell.
I have no interest to hear how a helmet will mess-up your hair, how unfashionable it is to wear a helmet, or how difficult it is to chat-up other boys or girls when wearing a helmet. Look at Phuoc Anh. Consider his fashionable hair cut two weeks after the accident, his fashionable hospital gown, and consider he cannot presently talk at all.
Don’t tell me how expensive a helmet is. Ask yourself and do your own math: How many 5,000 dong beers, sodas, coffees or packs of cigarettes, 40,000 dong disco or karaoke nights, and other incidentals that make your life more interesting, do you enjoy in a year? Do without some of those pleasures for a short time. The best quality helmet costs 350,000 dong. A good quality helmet can be bought for 250,000 dong. That’s less than US$ 20, or 2 months beer, coffee or cigarette money. It's less than the cost of a few evenings at the disco or karaoke.
There is no accounting for the cost of our feelings. So please don’t tell me you can’t afford a helmet.
I bought helmets for my staff and insist that each wear their helmets when they ride or drive. I hope all employers will do the same. I hope all parents, spouses, friends and loved ones will insist that their loved ones wear helmets. We don't need a formal law. It just makes good sense.
However, let's call this voluntary action "Anh’s Law." In the Vietnamese language, "Anh" is translated as "brother." In that way, perhaps some good for others can arise from Phuoc Anh’s distress.
Sincerely,
Peter N. Sheridan
General Director
Vietnam Venture Group Inc.
Letters to Phuoc Anh can be sent by e-mail
Inquiries for Sponsorship are no longer being
received. However, comments should be sent
to
VVG
or snail-mail to:
Vietnam Venture Group, Inc.
311 Soi 10 Moo 11
Nonghan, SanSai
Chiangmai, Thailand 50290
10 August 2004
Hi Bill,
Thanks for writing.
Helmets are readily available, cheap (under US$ 20) and I suspect not very effective in high impact collisions.
I recommend you follow a few very simple rules when driving or walking in Vietnam, where most driving appears to be free style and free from any rules:
1. Expect traffic from every direction at once, that is, in a 360 degree arc of confrontation.
2. Always, ALWAYS go behind a vehicle that approaches you.
3. Never, NEVER stop on the road (when diving or walking, look straight ahead as he who sees must yield to the other who will never acknowledge seeing)
4. The larger vehicle will demand the right of way and will be found wrong should an accident happen. Little comfort if you've not yielded to or worse taken on a bus or truck.
5. Crazy boys and girls will race like the driven snow; always yield to them the "right" of way
6. Enjoy and have fun. After crossing a busy street, driving a motor bike will be the most exciting part of your trip; speaking with the locals with be the most enjoyable part of your trip.
Kind regards,
Peter N. Sheridan For VVG
Top of Page
This public service campaign is offered to
encourage the intelligent, hardworking, and deserving handsome boys and
beautiful girls of Vietnam to start and to keep using safety helmets when ever
they ride on or drive a motorbike.
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