The National Assembly Standing Committee deputies discuss on the draft law on road traffic safety and order on Wednesday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The majority of National Assembly deputies agreed on the need to build a draft law on road traffic safety and order separate from the draft law on road traffic to reduce traffic accidents and tighten compliance with traffic laws.

At the 48th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday, many NA deputies said the number of traffic accidents and traffic fatalities has remained high despite the efforts of authorities.

NA Secretary General Nguyễn Hạnh Phúc said in recent years, road traffic accidents accounted for 95 per cent of the total number of accidents across the country.

Though the Law on Road Traffic was issued in 2008, the number of accidents has only slightly decreased, so it was necessary and urgent to improve the legal framework to ensure traffic order and safety.

Figures from the Ministry of Transport show that at least 334,000 traffic accidents have been recorded in Việt Nam since 2009, killing 101,000 and leaving 336,000 injured.

On average, 10,000 people die of traffic accidents every year.

The main cause of traffic accidents is road law violations by drivers, accounting for more than 90 per cent of cases.

Many drivers have poor driving skills and low awareness of traffic safety laws, while police control over drunk and drug driving remains loose.

The draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order includes many prohibited acts that might pose risks of traffic accidents, traffic congestion or impacts on traffic security and order.

Chairman of the NA's National Defence and Security Committee Võ Trọng Việt said the committee analysed and evaluated carefully to avoid any overlaps between the two bills. 

The separation of the laws would clarify the responsibility of ministries in terms of ensuring traffic safety and order.

The draft law was carefully prepared to be submitted to the National Assembly in the next session, he said.

Regarding training, testing and issuance of driver licences, NA Secretary General Phúc said privatising the procedure was appropriate, but it needed to ensure quality. Driving training centres have been invested in for a modern training system and using advanced technology.

However, Phúc said, cases where one vehicle used many different license plates were unacceptable.

In addition, there were still many self-modified vehicles which failed to ensure safety. This should be clearly defined in the draft law and submitted to the National Assembly.

Chairman of the NA Judicial Committee Lê Thị Nga said the most important factor was people’s compliance with traffic laws as well as the working spirit of officials when handling traffic violations.

Chairman of the NA's Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children agreed, saying investment was very necessary to raise people’s awareness of driving laws.

Bình said it was necessary to conduct surveys on the traffic situation, increase fines and use that money to invest in traffic infrastructure.

At the conclusion, the NA Vice Chairman Đỗ Bá Tỵ affirmed the Government was in charge of road traffic safety. The examination and issuance of driving licenses, which was assigned to the Ministry of Public Security instead of the Ministry of Transport as currently, should have a thorough review of the operation of apparatus and costs.

The Government needed to clarify this content and the NA would decide on how it would work, he said. — VNS