Police forces parade around Hoàn Kiếm Lake on motorbikes and in cars at the Traffic Safety Year 2023 ceremony on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

HÀ NỘI – The Ministry of Transport on Thursday launched the Traffic Safety Year 2023, which aims to decrease the annual number of accidents, deaths, and injuries by five to ten per cent.

The initiative, with the theme "Understanding the Law to Build a Safe Traffic Culture," was launched at a ceremony in the capital.

The campaign's objective is to promote a safer traffic culture by increasing public awareness of traffic laws and order, mitigating prolonged traffic congestion and reducing the number of accidents.

During the launch, Minister of Transport and Standing Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Nguyễn Văn Thắng reported that the previous year's efforts to improve traffic safety had already significantly reduced accidents, deaths, and injuries.

Thắng said that last year, many large-scale political, cultural and sports events were held after the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, leading to a strong increase in transport demand and the number of vehicles on roads and waterways.

The target could be reached with the resolute implementation of comprehensive measures on traffic accident prevention and control and with the participation of the whole political system and society, he said.

This year is expected to increase the number of vehicles, posing more challenges for ensuring traffic order and safety. He warned that the risks of traffic accidents would be high if there were no drastic solutions to the issue.

Thắng asked ministries, branches and localities to be very cautious and make greater efforts to curb traffic accidents, ensure traffic safety and strengthen inspection and handling violations of traffic regulations.

Addressing the conference held by the National Committee for Traffic Safety on reviewing traffic safety in 2022 and launching tasks for 2023 on Thursday, Thắng requested ministries and sectors propose specific tasks and solutions to achieve the goal of reducing traffic accidents by at least 10 per cent in each locality and gradually reducing traffic congestions in traffic hubs in big cities.

According to the report made by the National Committee for Traffic Safety, in 2022, 11,457 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, causing 6,397 deaths and 7,804 injuries.

The numbers represent a drop of 38 accidents (0.33 per cent), an increase of 598 in fatalities (10.31 per cent) and a reduction of 214 injuries compared with the previous year.

Of the accidents, 11,323 cases were on the roads, killing 6,265 people and leaving 7,777 people injured; 32 traffic accidents on waterways, killing 45 people and leaving six others injured; 95 cases of railway accidents, killing 74 people and injuring 21 others; and seven traffic accidents in the maritime sector, killing 13 people.

Analysis showed that 14.56 per cent of accidents were caused by driving in the wrong lane; 3.22 per cent by speeding; 2.02 per cent by drunk driving; 0.03 per cent by using addictive substances; and 0.45 per cent due to illegal parking.

Khuất Việt Hùng, vice chairman of the committee, said the work of ensuring traffic safety in 2022 had shortcomings and had not met targets.

For example, railway traffic safety corridor violations have not been handled promptly. He added that overloaded trucks, illegal motorbike racing and traffic jams in big cities have remained unsolved.

Low awareness of traffic participants, a shortage of human resources, and inadequate public infrastructure also contributed to the issue.

At the conference, Minister Thắng asked relevant authorities to speed up progress and ensure the quality of projects to upgrade and repair traffic infrastructures, strengthen inspections on means of transport, and tighten the management of traffic safety conditions for transportation businesses. VNS