Nhan Dan - In the first ten months of this year, over 11,000 traffic accidents in Vietnam killed nearly 10,000 people and injured more than 8,000 others, a decrease of 181 traffic accidents and 118 deaths compared to the same period last year.
These figures were released by the National Committee for Traffic Safety (NCTS) at its conference in Hanoi yesterday, focusing on the 2012 traffic safety programme under the theme 'Establishing traffic order and discipline across the country and fighting traffic congestion in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City'.
The conference was attended by Politburo member Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also Chairman of the NCTS; Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang; Vice Chairmen of the NCTS, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang and Deputy Minister of Public Security Pham Quy Ngo; and Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People's Committee Nguyen The Thao.
According to the NCTS report, although the number of traffic accidents and deaths decreased, the number of people injured increased by 214. The main cause of traffic accidents are human error and infrastructure problems, and serious traffic congestion still remains a major problem in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Addressing the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Phuc asked relevant ministries and agencies to help raise awareness of transport safety, adding that more efforts should be made to improve road management and inspections while stepping up law enforcement.
Traffic police should also increase patrols, monitor roads where accidents frequently occur and penalize vehicles that are too old and not permitted to operate under the current laws, he said.