The site of a car crash on Phap Van Expressway (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – A workshop was held in Ho Chi MinhCity on April 19 to look into international cooperation in seeking ways toimprove traffic safety in Vietnam.
Chairman of the Vietnam Traffic SafetyAssociation Nguyen Hong Truong said nearly 9,000 people lose their lives totraffic accidents nationwide each year, causing economic losses equivalent to2.5 – 3 percent of the country’s GDP. To solve this challenge, cooperationamong the State, scientists, businesses and organisations in ensuring trafficsafety is very important.
He appreciated cooperation efforts by Belgianand Vietnamese scientists in finding out traffic accident causes and reviewingdomestic and international experience to propose feasible solutions to trafficsafety in Vietnam.
Tran Huu Minh, Deputy Chief of Office of theNational Traffic Safety Committee, pointed out challenges in terms of roadusers’ awareness, habits and behaviours.
Local authorities should step up communicationsto raise public awareness as right awareness will bring about changes inbehaviour, he noted, adding that strict penalties are also necessary to deterroad users from violations.
Prof. Geert Wets from Belgium’s TransportationResearch Institute shared studies on traffic safety policies in northernregions of his country. He noted that influential educational programmes couldbe used as effective tools to encourage young people to have safe behaviours.
Talking about Vietnam’s traffic safetystrategies until 2020, Tran Huu Minh said the country needs to perfect the lawsystem on traffic safety such as the Law on Road Traffic and the Law onRailway, improve manpower quality, and enhance institutional capacity. Local administrationsshould boost technology application and regularly deploy patrol forces toensure traffic safety.
Participants at the workshop also asked theMinistry of Education and Training to reform communication methods and sooninclude traffic safety education in school curriculum.
In the first quarter of 2018, Vietnam recorded4,674 traffic accidents that killed 2,149 people and injured 3,627 others.Compared to the same period last year, traffic accident numbers fell by 2.89percent but fatalities rose 1.66 percent, according to the National TrafficSafety Committee.-VNA
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