Improvements in traffic safety recorded nationwide in 2021

On a road in Da Lat city of Lam Dong province (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Traffic safety was improved considerably nationwide in 2021 with sharp declines recorded in the number of accidents, deaths and injuries, reported the National Committee for Traffic Safety (NCTS).

NCTS Vice Chairman Khuat Viet Hung said, as of December 14, 2021, 11,495 traffic accidents had occurred across the country, killing 5,799  people and injuring 8,018 others, down  23.32 percent, 15.55 percent, and 28.16 percent year-on-year, respectively.

According to the NCTS, the top causes of the accidents were speeding, driving in the wrong lane, changing lanes or direction without signaling, and drink driving.

As many as 55 provinces and centrally-run cities recorded a strong decrease in the number of fatalities due to traffic accidents compared to 2020. Notably, An Giang and Son La provinces reported a decrease of over 40 percent.

However, four provinces still reported an increase in the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents, including Kon Tum, Quang Tri, Kien Giang, and Thai Binh.

Hung attributed the positive results in traffic safety to the decrease of traffic activities due to regulations on social distancing nationwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the number of vehicles participating in traffic is much lower than the time before the pandemic broke out.

Police forces effectively patrolled, controlled and handled violations related to traffic order and safety. Attention has been also paid to educating and raising public awareness of the law on traffic order and safety, he added.

As of December 14, traffic police had handled 2.88 million violation cases, giving out fines of over 2.8 trillion VND (123 million USD), revoking 248,6000 driving licences and sequestering 460,000 vehicles./.