The National Traffic Safety Committee has reported that the number of traffic accidents, deaths and injuries in the first six months have decreased compared to the same period last year.

An accident in HCM City

The first six months see nearly 13,000 traffic accidents which caused 4,689 deaths and 12,263 injuries. 10 provinces include Phu Tho, Ninh Thuan and Hau Giang reported that the number of traffic death in their area reduced by at least 20%. Especially, in Bac Giang Province, the traffic death decreased by over 50%.

However, the National Traffic Safety Committee said that the deaths from traffic accidents still increase, mostly in the Mekong Delta and southern provinces. The police has fined a total of VND1.5 trillion (USD71.4 million).

As of now, more than 3.4 million cars and 44.4 million motorbikes have been registered nationwide, putting more pressure on the urban infrastructure. However, congestion in both Hanoi and HCM City are decreased due to some adjusted policies.

One of the most urgent problem is the blatant operation of overload trucks. After the mobile weighbridge stations were deployed to all localities, traffic police carried out inspection and fined VND77 billion but the problem has not been fully curbed.

In order to ensure traffic safety, the Ministry of Transport also directed the department of transport at all localities to give health checks to drivers at transport firms in their areas. It is shown that over 1,700 cases are disqualified, of which 381 are positive with addictive drugs.

On the other hand, the Vietnam Register carried out irregular inspections at its member agencies and suspended two registration centres and one inspection line as well as 51 employees for wrongdoings.