HCMC – The number of traffic fatalities this year was below 7,000 for the first time over the past decade. However, traffic safety in Vietnam remains to be tackled and more effective measures should be taken to reduce accidents, said Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh at a traffic safety conference on December 9.
The number of traffic-related deaths and injuries remained high and that of waterway traffic accidents rose sharply, with many urban areas facing traffic congestion, the chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee noted.
Deputy PM Binh demanded that more investments be made in equipment to handle traffic violators.
For five years from October 15, 2015, to October 14, 2020, more than 94,000 traffic accidents occurred in the country, leaving nearly 40,000 people dead and over 77,400 others injured, Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, told the conference.
In comparison with the 2010-2015 figure, the number of traffic accidents declined by some 70,000 cases, while traffic deaths and injuries fell by 9,370 and 90,6000, respectively. Meanwhile, the volume of cars over the past five years rose some 58% and that of motorbikes jumped up 50% versus the previous five-year period, posing big challenges for the country in ensuring traffic safety and security.
In the year to November, nearly 13,000 traffic accidents killed over 6,000 people and injured over 9,600 others, down some 18%, 13%, and 20% year-on-year, respectively.
According to Nguyen Van Trung, chief of the Traffic Police Department, the traffic police had handled over 20.9 million cases violating traffic safety rules in the 2016-2020 period, imposing fines worth over VND14 trillion.
However, he added that the number of undiscovered, untackled traffic violations remained really high and could be equal to that of solved cases, with common offences such as not wearing helmets and breaking traffic light rules.
Trung said that the Ministry of Public Security is equipping its forces with additional equipment and technology to deal with violations more effectively.
