Traffic accidents caused 8,685 deaths and 19,280 injuries in Vietnam in 2016, according to Khuat Viet Hung, Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee. 

A serious traffic accident on Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Highway in November 2016

Hung gave the information at an online meeting on traffic safety in 2016 in Hanoi on January 4.

Hung said that a total of 21,589 traffic accidents occurred in Vietnam last year, killing 8,685 people and injuring 19,280 people, including 6,180 serious-injured cases.

Traffic accidents fell 5.52%, deaths 0.49% and injuries 8.5% against 2015.

Vietnam saw an average 59 traffic accidents daily in 2016 which claimed 24 lives and injured 53 people.

Hung added that up to 71.6% of traffic accidents in 2016 were due to bad driving awareness. Around 67% of traffic accidents in the year were related to cars and motorbikes.

Last year, traffic police issued VND2.6 trillion (USD118 million) in fines involving 4 million traffic violations; revoking more than 382,000 driving licences.

This year, Vietnam has set a target to cut traffic accidents, deaths and injuries by up to 10% compared to 2016. Hanoi and HCM City authorities have been asked to eliminate traffic jams which last more than 30 minutes