[Photos] A Tour of Saigon's Biggest Motorbike 'Prisons'

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May 8, 2017

In Saigon, motorbikes can go to jail just like their human counterparts.

In a recent photo essay, Thanh Nien pays a visit to a storage facility in Binh Chanh District that was built by Saigon’s police department to house confiscated bikes. According to the feature, there are some 10,000 bikes kept at the city’s four storage compounds.

“Prisoners” at these facilities are usually bikes that city police have seized from traffic law offenders. If no one shows up to claim them, the bikes stay in storage for eight months to a year before being discarded. Thus, as shown in the photos, most of the vehicles are ill-maintained and beyond repair.

In most cases when traffic violators are caught without necessary documents, their vehicles might be confiscated until they have taken care of the fines. Within 60 days, should the offender fail to show up, their bikes will be taken to one of these bike “prisons”.

At times, some might decide to forgo their vehicle altogether to avoid having to deal with the police or being caught up in red tape.

Pay a visit to one of Saigon’s biggest “prisons” for motorcycles, below: