Deputy Chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Nguyen Hoang Hiep has highlighted the tightened management of transportation services and vehicles’ capacity as urgent measures to help ease traffic accidents.

He said over 90 percent of serious traffic accidents are related to drivers’ reckless regard for observing law and regulations on traffic safety, considering the loose management over transportation businesses the cause root of the problem.

Therefore, “tightening the management of transportation services and vehicles’ capacity” will become the theme of the 2014 national traffic safety year, Hiep added.

Accordingly, the committee will focus on amending and supplementing legal documents to strictly put the operations of transportation businesses in compliance with regulations.

It will also devise new solutions and increase inspection, he said, adding that an itinerary supervision centre will be put into service in early 2014, aiming to make transportation firms take on responsibilities for traffic accidents, not drivers themselves.

Hiep also laid stress on the need to enhance the role and responsibility of State agencies in communications campaigns to promote the safe participation of road users.

In 2013, the number of traffic accidents in Vietnam dropped by 5.3 percent, fatalities, down by 0.58 percent and injuries, down by 9.36 percent.

This is the second consecutive year the number of traffic fatalities stands below 10,000 since 2001. However, the rate has still fallen short of the National Assembly’s target of 5 percent-10 percent.-VNA