A Pedestrian Safety Tour will be carried out in primary schools in HoChi Minh City to educate students during the current academic year aboutsafe walking.
The tour is part of Walk This WayVietnam Programme, a road-safety advocacy programme that aims to educatechildren about safe walking behaviours and increase awareness aboutpedestrian welfare.
This year's programme kickedoff with the launch of the International Walk to School Day in Vietnamtwo weeks ago, following a photo contest for secondary school studentsnationwide who will capture pictures about their surrounding trafficenvironment.
The contest will run from November2013 to April 2014 and will end with an exhibition in mid-May in Hanoifeaturing the winning photos.
The programme isexpected to raise community awareness about safe walking and a safeenvironment for pedestrians, said Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of theHo Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee.
He said that pedestrian violations included jaywalking, crossing outside of zebra crossings, and ignoring signals.
Tuong asked police to impose strict fines on violators and told localPeople's Committees to take action to end illegal occupation ofpavements for trading activities
In Vietnam, thenumber of pedestrians who die as a result of traffic accidents accountsfor 14 percent of the total number of fatalities. This figure is 4-6percent higher than that in other developing countries.
According to Mirjam Sidik, chief executive officer of the Asia InjuryPrevention Foundation, road-safety programmes should give priority toschoolchildren, particularly in locations with a high volume ofpedestrian and vehicle traffic.
A survey conductedbetween 2010 and 2012 showed that 6,952 primary school students wereinjured while walking to their schools in southern Dong Nai province.
In the first six months of 2011, 2,528 children in Dong Nai were brought to hospitals because of traffic accidents.
The number of pedestrians injured from traffic accidents accounted forone-fourth of the total injuries at Dong Nai province's PaediatricsHospital. Dong Nai General Hospital reported that most people whosustained injuries from traffic accidents related to pedestrians wereunder 16 years old.
In Dong Nai province's TrangBom district, Walk This Way has had a significant positive impact onstudents' behaviour, as the rate of children walking on sidewalksinstead of streets has risen by 75 percent over the course of theprogramme, Sidik said.
The programme in Vietnam is organised by Safe Kids Worldwide in co-operation with FedEx Express.-VNA
The tour is part of Walk This WayVietnam Programme, a road-safety advocacy programme that aims to educatechildren about safe walking behaviours and increase awareness aboutpedestrian welfare.
This year's programme kickedoff with the launch of the International Walk to School Day in Vietnamtwo weeks ago, following a photo contest for secondary school studentsnationwide who will capture pictures about their surrounding trafficenvironment.
The contest will run from November2013 to April 2014 and will end with an exhibition in mid-May in Hanoifeaturing the winning photos.
The programme isexpected to raise community awareness about safe walking and a safeenvironment for pedestrians, said Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of theHo Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee.
He said that pedestrian violations included jaywalking, crossing outside of zebra crossings, and ignoring signals.
Tuong asked police to impose strict fines on violators and told localPeople's Committees to take action to end illegal occupation ofpavements for trading activities
In Vietnam, thenumber of pedestrians who die as a result of traffic accidents accountsfor 14 percent of the total number of fatalities. This figure is 4-6percent higher than that in other developing countries.
According to Mirjam Sidik, chief executive officer of the Asia InjuryPrevention Foundation, road-safety programmes should give priority toschoolchildren, particularly in locations with a high volume ofpedestrian and vehicle traffic.
A survey conductedbetween 2010 and 2012 showed that 6,952 primary school students wereinjured while walking to their schools in southern Dong Nai province.
In the first six months of 2011, 2,528 children in Dong Nai were brought to hospitals because of traffic accidents.
The number of pedestrians injured from traffic accidents accounted forone-fourth of the total injuries at Dong Nai province's PaediatricsHospital. Dong Nai General Hospital reported that most people whosustained injuries from traffic accidents related to pedestrians wereunder 16 years old.
In Dong Nai province's TrangBom district, Walk This Way has had a significant positive impact onstudents' behaviour, as the rate of children walking on sidewalksinstead of streets has risen by 75 percent over the course of theprogramme, Sidik said.
The programme in Vietnam is organised by Safe Kids Worldwide in co-operation with FedEx Express.-VNA
