Motorbike accidents are becoming a common occurrence in Vietnam, said the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department.

According to recent report, two-thirds of the victims in Vietnam suffered from severe concussion; most of them died or became disabled for the rest of their lives.

In Europe, trauma to the head accounts for about 75 percent of the fatal cases, while its corresponding figure in poorer countries like Vietnam amounts to 88 percent.

Many Vietnamese understand the importance of wearing helmets but they still refuse to wear them for various reasons. In reality, only 50 percent of Vietnamese motorcyclists put on helmets where they are required to do on certain road sections.

Wearing helmets greatly helps to prevent motorcyclists from suffering injuries or fatal deaths, said Tran Son Ha, Vice Director of the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department. Accident victims with helmets on have an 80 percent chance of avoiding cranial trauma or death. The helmet is designed to prevent direct impact to the cranium and to mitigate the motorcyclist’s exposure to road dust and ultraviolet rays, Mr Ha analysed.

However, some argue that it is unnecessary and inconvenient to put on helmets inside cities, where motorcycles often run at a low speed. Tran Son Ha refuted the idea, saying that many tragic accidents have occurred on the big roads inside cities, even at off-peak hours or in the evening.

Solutions to the problem
Senior Lieutenant-colonel Tran Son Ha suggested strong sanctions against law-breakers to effectively reduce the number of violations. "Relevant agencies have submitted a draft decree to the Prime Minister, which imposes much heavier fines on motorcyclists wearing no helmets," he said.

Law-enforcement agencies should be much stricter with offenders so that the decree will be successfully observed as the government’s previous ban on firecrackers.

Nevertheless, the most important thing is to make citizens fully understand the importance of wearing helmets that is mainly for their own safety. To reach this aim, persistent education must go along with tougher enforcement of the existing traffic law.