The first half of the year saw fewer road accidents, with just around 12,800 cases compared to over 14,800 cases in the same period last year.

Traffic police test the blood alcohol reading of a truck driver in Hanoi. The number of road accidents and fatalities have reduced in the first six months of this year.

The number of fatalities in these accidents have also come down to 224 with 2,700 injured, which was less than the figures for the same period in 2013, revealed the latest National Traffic Safety Committee's latest report.

The statistics were reported at an online conference organised yesterday to review the country's traffic safety work during the first half of the year and discuss the remaining work for the last months, including land clearance for National Highway 1 and a part of the Ho Chi Minh Road running through Central Highlands and truck weighing control.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, expressed his appreciation at the good performance of 10 provinces in reducing over 20 per cent of the number of accident-related fatalities during the first six months.

The provinces receiving praise were mostly in the north. These included Bac Giang, Phu Tho and Lang Son, along with Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh and Dien Bien. The exceptions were Ha Tinh in the central region and Hau Giang, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan in the south. Bac Giang was the province with the best performance, as it had managed to reduce its fatalities by more than 50 per cent.

Phuc also strictly reprimanded nine other localities where accident-related deaths increased by more than 25 per cent, including the southern provinces of Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh and Dong Nai. Ben Tre, Kien Giang, Vinh Long and Ca Mau were also reprimanded along with the northern provinces of Yen Bai and Lai Chau.

He was also unhappy with six provinces that failed to finish land clearance work for the construction of National Highway 1 and a part of the Ho Chi Minh Road running through the Central Highlands.

He urged these localities to complete land clearance by July 15 and warned that if they failed to complete the work by the deadline, units and individuals involved would be penalised.

Phuc also used the occasion to remind relevant agencies and localities of the priorities of the 2014 road safety year – which is to tighten management over transport-related business activities, control of vehicle weights and targeted reduction of 5-10 per cent in the figures of traffic accidents and accident-related casualties.

He urged the Ministry of Transport to speed up its work on reviewing, revising and finalising legal documents on the conditions for businesses running double-decker passenger buses, which should include a timetable, routes, and age and licence of drivers to avoid recurrence serious accidents.