The National Committee for Traffic Safety and the Hà Nội People’s Committee held a parade in the capital on Sunday to call for actions against drunk driving. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

 

HÀ NỘI — The National Committee for Traffic Safety and the Hà Nội People’s Committee held a parade in the capital on Sunday to call for actions against drunk driving.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hoà Bình, who is also head of the committee, urged locals and visitors not to drive after drinking.

 

Bình said the Government would add stricter penalties to punish drivers whose alcohol concentration in their blood or breath exceeds permitted levels.   

He requested competent agencies increase patrols to detect violators and fine them, saying such a move aims to protect violating drivers and the community as a whole.

According to the Deputy PM, the death toll from traffic accidents in Việt Nam decreased from nearly 12,000 in 2012 to more than 8,000 last year. This means traffic accidents, on average, still claim the lives of 21 people and injure 40 others each day.

Recently, drunk drivers caused a series of accidents, particularly two taking place on April 22 and May 1 that took the lives of three people.

Nguyễn Quang Nhật, head of the traffic law dissemination division under the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Traffic Police, said more than 91,000 alcohol related driving law violations were handled by functional forces last year.

In the first four months of 2019, nearly 50,000 cases of alcohol related driving law violations were dealt with. — VNS

GLOSSARY

The National Committee for Traffic Safety and the Hà Nội People’s Committee held a parade in the capital on Sunday to call for actions against drunk driving.
 

A parade is a gathering of people walking together to make a stand or promote an idea.

Capital, in this case, means the capital city of a country where the government headquarters are situated.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hoà Bình, who is also head of the committee, urged locals and visitors not to drive after drinking.

Locals are the people who live and work in the area.

Bình said the Government would add stricter penalties to punish drivers whose alcohol concentration in their blood or breath exceeds permitted levels.   

Penalties are fines that are handed out by the police.

To punish means to take action to make the guilty people pay for their actions.

A high concentration means there is a lot of alcohol in the blood

Permitted means allowed.

He requested competent agencies increase patrols to detect violators and fine them, saying such a move aims to protect violating drivers and the community as a whole.

Patrols are outings and tours by the police to see what is going on.

Violators are the people who break laws. In this case it involves drinking too much and then illegally driving.

According to the Deputy PM, the death toll from traffic accidents in Việt Nam decreased from nearly 12,000 in 2012 to more than 8,000 last year. This means traffic accidents, on average, still claim the lives of 21 people and injure 40 others each day.

Death toll means the amount of people who have died in a certain time period.

Nguyễn Quang Nhật, head of the traffic law dissemination division under the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Traffic Police, said more than 91,000 alcohol related driving law violations were handled by functional forces last year.

Dissemination means the spread of the laws by officials

Alcohol related means to do with drinking alcohol.

WORKSHEET

State whether the following sentences are true or false:

1. People in Ha Noi say there is no problem with drunk drivers.
2. The protestors said they want stricter penalties imposed on the offenders.
3. In the first few months of 2019 more than 20 000 cases of drunk driving were recorded.
4. Two hundred people a day die on the roads of Vietnam.
5. Trương Hoà Bình is the Deputy Prime Minister,

Answers: 1. False; 2. True; 3, True; 4, False; 5. True.