HCMC – The country recorded around 4,970 traffic accidents in the first half of 2023, with 2,865 people killed and 3,471 others injured, according to data from the National Traffic Safety Committee.
The number of traffic accidents decreased by over 13% against the same period last year. The death toll edged down by 14% and the number of injured people fell by 6% year-on-year, said Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the committee.
However, the nation saw 61 heavy traffic jams during the period, two more cases than the first six months of 2022. These jams were mainly caused by traffic accidents, high traffic volume, and torrential rain.
Over 1.4 million new vehicles were registered in the first six months of this year, bringing the total number of registered vehicles in the country to over 80 million, of them six million cars, 73 million motorcycles, and over 1.8 million electric motorcycles.
Between January and June, the police handled 1.6 million traffic violation cases, with fines totaling VND3.2 trillion. These figures represent an increase of 22% in volume and 99% in value over the same period last year.
The Ministry of Public Security has ordered vehicle inspections be strengthened and traffic regulations be enforced.
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang called for additional efforts from local authorities to ensure road safety, particularly in light of the high number of serious accidents and bad driver behaviors.
This year, the Ministry of Transport has set a target of reducing the number of traffic accidents, deaths, and injuries by at least 5% over 2022.
