More traffic control, public transport needed to cut accidents in Vietnam's rural areas

February 26, 2015 | 09:44

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As most of the traffic accidents over the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday occurred in rural areas in Vietnam, a senior traffic official has suggested that traffic control be tightened and public transport be provided to these areas to improve road safety.

Khuat Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, offered the suggestion in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre(Youth) newspaper about what should be done to strengthen traffic safety and reduce the number of accidents and the resulting deaths and injuries.

According to the committee’s statistics, 536 traffic accidents occurred nationwide over the nine-day Tet holiday, from February 15 to 23, causing 317 deaths and 509 injuries.

Notably, most of these accidents occurred in rural areas and on national highways outside urban areas, the committee said.

The causes of these accidents are varied, including driving under the influence of alcohol, encroaching on the wrong lane or driving the wrong way, and speeding, the committee said.

Some rural residents do not wear helmets while driving motorbikes, leaving themselves vulnerable to brain injuries when a collision occurs, the agency added.

Meanwhile, the traffic patrol and control forces in rural areas are below strength to fulfill their duty of detecting and handling violators of traffic rules.

Rural traffic infrastructure has been improved in a number of localities, but many rural roads still lack necessary signs or do not meet standards on radius of curves or vision, making them unsafe for travel, especially on crowded routes.

Solutions

Regarding how to reduce traffic accidents, Hung suggested two solutions.

Firstly, it is necessary to strengthen the traffic patrol and control forces in rural areas nationwide, especially those which draw large numbers of people for social and cultural events such as traditional festivals or Tet.

Secondly, public transport must be strengthened in rural areas to improve traffic safety. Currently, in the absence of taxis or buses, most non-urban residents use motorbikes as their main means of transport on rural roads and national highways.

This often causes high traffic density on many routes, especially over Tet, helping to increase the possibility of crashes, Hung said.