Despite a decline in road deaths in 2010, an average of 32 people died every day in Vietnam through traffic accidents, the National Traffic Safety Committee's office chief Than Van Thanh said at a conference in Hanoi on Dec. 28.
A total of 11,500 people were recorded to have died in traffic accidents this year, equivalent to 100 Boeing 737 plane crashes.
Despite the high toll, Transport Minister Ho Nghia Dung said, it was not far off the global average of 12,000 people killed in road traffic accidents per year per country.
The toll was even lower than the world's average if the size of population and number of vehicles were taken into account, said Dung.
The year has seen 47 fewer deaths in traffic accidents compared to last year. Deputy Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem said the decline was small, but indicated great efforts spent by the country as the number of vehicles was rapidly increasing.
"The number of cars has increased by 12.1 percent and motorbikes by 10.3 percent this year against 2009 while roads and traffic infrastructure remained limited," said Tiem.
A target of a three percent decrease in road traffic deaths in 2011 was set, said Transport Minister Dung.
Despite the lower death toll and a decrease in serious accidents, the number of traffic accidents in 2010 increased by 14 percent and the number of injured people was also 31 percent up against last year.
Director of Transport Ministry's Traffic Safety Department Nguyen Van Thuan said reducing traffic accidents was not an easy job considering the fact that few roads in Vietnam had multiple lanes and hard shoulders to separate different types of vehicles and prevent head-on collisions.
Public Security Deputy Minister Tiem said it was not something that could be solved overnight but was a long-term fight.
"If major problems are not sorted out, it's hard to improve the situation in the future," he said.
Free movement to urban areas, increasing number of vehicles, bad quality of roads, speeding and lack of basic road awareness was at fault, he said.
Transport Minister Dung also called on the Ministry of Education and Training to pay more attention to the teaching of traffic laws and safety at school as millions of young people qualify for driving licenses every year./.
A total of 11,500 people were recorded to have died in traffic accidents this year, equivalent to 100 Boeing 737 plane crashes.
Despite the high toll, Transport Minister Ho Nghia Dung said, it was not far off the global average of 12,000 people killed in road traffic accidents per year per country.
The toll was even lower than the world's average if the size of population and number of vehicles were taken into account, said Dung.
The year has seen 47 fewer deaths in traffic accidents compared to last year. Deputy Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem said the decline was small, but indicated great efforts spent by the country as the number of vehicles was rapidly increasing.
"The number of cars has increased by 12.1 percent and motorbikes by 10.3 percent this year against 2009 while roads and traffic infrastructure remained limited," said Tiem.
A target of a three percent decrease in road traffic deaths in 2011 was set, said Transport Minister Dung.
Despite the lower death toll and a decrease in serious accidents, the number of traffic accidents in 2010 increased by 14 percent and the number of injured people was also 31 percent up against last year.
Director of Transport Ministry's Traffic Safety Department Nguyen Van Thuan said reducing traffic accidents was not an easy job considering the fact that few roads in Vietnam had multiple lanes and hard shoulders to separate different types of vehicles and prevent head-on collisions.
Public Security Deputy Minister Tiem said it was not something that could be solved overnight but was a long-term fight.
"If major problems are not sorted out, it's hard to improve the situation in the future," he said.
Free movement to urban areas, increasing number of vehicles, bad quality of roads, speeding and lack of basic road awareness was at fault, he said.
Transport Minister Dung also called on the Ministry of Education and Training to pay more attention to the teaching of traffic laws and safety at school as millions of young people qualify for driving licenses every year./.
