Saigon Police are Removing All Ghost Bikes From the Streets

Saigon's army of xe cà tàng, also known as ghost bikes, will soon disappear from the city streets if local police have anything to say about it.

The bare-bones, ancient pieces of machinery, most popular among deliverymen around Cho Lon, were probably in their prime sometime during the 1980s, Thanh Nien reports, but have since deteriorated into skeletal vehicles, some held together with no more than a few pieces of electrical tape. 

But while the not-so-gracefully aging exteriors are part of their charm, Saigon's police are ready to do away with the city's xe cà tàng.

According to Zing, local authorities take issue with the bikes for a few reasons. For starters, xe cà tàng often lack proper paperwork and sometimes license plates. When a ghost bike – also known as a 'zombie bike' or a 'blind bike' – does have a license plate, there's still no guarantee that the number isn't fake or incorrect.

Beyond improper registration, these rundown vehicles pose an obvious safety risk for drivers, as all it takes is one bit of loose electrical tape for an accident to happen. Ghost bikes typically don't have functioning lights or horns, either, both of which are dangerous to go without in Saigon traffic.

The last straw is the drivers. Most ghost bikes belong to deliverymen, who tend to drive kamikaze-style across the city, police argue, prompting authorities to pull them over on a regular basis. Common violations include speeding, running red lights, driving in the wrong direction and overloading motorbikes. However, on many occasions, ghost bikes that are pulled over by police opt instead to turn around and drive in the opposite direction.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Huynh Trung Phong, all two-wheeled vehicles which do not have proper paperwork and license plates, or which lack headlights or a horn may now be confiscated by police.

Still, despite local authorities' disdain for xe cà tàng, their owners are happy to drive the rusted motorbikes: they get decent gas mileage and drivers can leave the age-old vehicles unattended without worry because no one will steal a piece of junk.

[Photos via Thanh Nien]