Localities praised for traffic efforts
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised authorities of 22 provinces and cities for reducing road deaths by more than 20% in the first quarter of this year.
In the northern province of Bac Giang, 83 traffic accidents happened between January and March, killing 25 and injuring 65 others, according to the province's Traffic Safety Board. This represented a 33% decline from last year.
Fatalities went down by 40.4% and the injury rate was reduced by 48.4%.
In the central province of Ninh Thuan, local authorities saw decreases in the number of accidents (66 cases), fatalities (19 people) and injuries (95).
The two localities carried out a number of drastic measures this year, including intensifying patrols on key roads, tightening management of transportation services and vehicle capacity, as well as strictly punishing traffic violators. Activities to publicise traffic safety laws have been organised regularly in order to raise awareness.
More than 6,500 traffic accidents have occurred across Vietnam so far this year, resulting in 2,427 deaths and leaving 6,427 injured, the National Committee for Traffic Safety reported.
Traffic police have handled nearly 998,000 violations, collecting total administrative fines of VND577 billion (US$27.1 million) and detaining 6,300 cars and nearly 115,000 motorbikes.