A two-month crackdown on speeding coaches has been launched nationwide in an attempt to prevent deadly traffic accidents.
Drastic new measures have been imposed by a Prime Ministerial directive following a recent spate of traumatic road accidents that have been widely reported in the national media.
Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong addressed an online meeting on the Government Portal on July 2, stating that although the total number of accidents and victims was in decline, public concern was particularly high at the moment.
He blamed the majority of accidents on the carelessness of drivers and people travelling at dangerous speeds, adding that a lack of inspections and lax management of licensing procedures had also played their part.
Deputy Chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that under the two-month campaign to control drivers' speed, especially for coaches and trucks, a range of measures would be implemented.
He said the solutions included removing accident black spots, putting more speed warnings on roads and installing black boxes in all motorised vehicles, allowing their operation to be monitored.
He stated that calculations show that when speed rises 5 percent, the likelihood of traffic accidents rises 10 percent and the possibility of fatality rises 20 percent.
Speed was believed to be the leading cause of traffic accidents according to global research, he said, adding that "in the first six months of this year, we believe that speed was the biggest killer on Vietnamese roads."
In addition, to ensure traffic safety, health requirements for drivers of coaches and buses will soon be tightened following amendments to 2009's Government Decree 91.
According to Hiep, the PM's new directive would also order on-duty traffic police to seriously obey their tasks in minimising tragic traffic accidents.
As planned, the Ministry of Transport and the National Committee for Traffic Safety will cooperate to launch the directive on July 6, he said.
Specific missions will be assigned to every locality nationwide, he confirmed.
Truong revealed that a massive inspection of black boxes was conducted from July 1, checking that all large vehicles had installed the compulsory device.
According to Hiep, only 20,000 out of nearly 49,000 vehicles contained working black boxes by July 1.
More than 4,900 people died on the roads in the first six months of this year and about 15,500 traffic accidents in total were reported.
The country has 37 million motorbikes and two million cars in use.-VNA
Drastic new measures have been imposed by a Prime Ministerial directive following a recent spate of traumatic road accidents that have been widely reported in the national media.
Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong addressed an online meeting on the Government Portal on July 2, stating that although the total number of accidents and victims was in decline, public concern was particularly high at the moment.
He blamed the majority of accidents on the carelessness of drivers and people travelling at dangerous speeds, adding that a lack of inspections and lax management of licensing procedures had also played their part.
Deputy Chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that under the two-month campaign to control drivers' speed, especially for coaches and trucks, a range of measures would be implemented.
He said the solutions included removing accident black spots, putting more speed warnings on roads and installing black boxes in all motorised vehicles, allowing their operation to be monitored.
He stated that calculations show that when speed rises 5 percent, the likelihood of traffic accidents rises 10 percent and the possibility of fatality rises 20 percent.
Speed was believed to be the leading cause of traffic accidents according to global research, he said, adding that "in the first six months of this year, we believe that speed was the biggest killer on Vietnamese roads."
In addition, to ensure traffic safety, health requirements for drivers of coaches and buses will soon be tightened following amendments to 2009's Government Decree 91.
According to Hiep, the PM's new directive would also order on-duty traffic police to seriously obey their tasks in minimising tragic traffic accidents.
As planned, the Ministry of Transport and the National Committee for Traffic Safety will cooperate to launch the directive on July 6, he said.
Specific missions will be assigned to every locality nationwide, he confirmed.
Truong revealed that a massive inspection of black boxes was conducted from July 1, checking that all large vehicles had installed the compulsory device.
According to Hiep, only 20,000 out of nearly 49,000 vehicles contained working black boxes by July 1.
More than 4,900 people died on the roads in the first six months of this year and about 15,500 traffic accidents in total were reported.
The country has 37 million motorbikes and two million cars in use.-VNA
