Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 16 to commemorate victims of fatal road accidents and call for people’s higher road sense.

The event was organised in response to the World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents, which falls on the third Sunday of November. This is the third year such a ceremony has been held so far in Vietnam.

Through arts performances based on true stories and television reports, the ceremony sent out a strong message to all people on the road, asking them to observe traffic rules to ensure safety for others and for themselves.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also the NTSC Chairman, said almost 25 people died of traffic accidents in Vietnam every day, leaving their relatives utmost sorrow.

At the ceremony, participants observed a one-minute silence in honour of those who had died of traffic accidents.

NTSC statistics show that in Vietnam, 9,000 people die in road accidents every year. During the first 10 months of 2014, road accidents killed 7,000 people and injured many more.

Meanwhile, road accidents kill 1.3 million people every year worldwide, a figure which is expected to reach 1.8-1.9 million in the near future.-VNA