Vehicles on the Yên Bái-Lào Cai Highway. — VNA/VNS Photo Việt Hùng

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has asked concerned organisations to strengthen solutions to ensure road traffic order and safety during the holiday season after the Lunar New Year festival.

In an official dispatch sent to the Department for Roads of Việt Nam (DRVN), provincial and municipal departments of transport, Deputy Minister Nguyễn Duy Lâm stated that after Tết holiday, people's demand for travel and joining festivals has increased, raising the potential risk of traffic accidents and traffic jams.

Recently, there have been a number of road traffic accidents causing serious consequences.

To ensure traffic order and safety and minimise the risk of road traffic accidents, the MoT requires agencies to strengthen education and guidance on proper implementation of legal regulations for businesses and drivers.

Inspectors must pay special attention to check driving time, speed, distance between vehicles on the highway, and technical safety conditions of vehicles and drivers.

The DRVN directs road management centres to strengthen inspection and review of traffic infrastructure systems, traffic regulation on key highways and national highways, especially high-speed routes.

Special care must also be given on highways with two lanes or no emergency stopping lane, at intersections, roads with steep gradient, narrow curve radius, limited visibility and potentially endangering traffic safety.

The centres should promptly supplement rescue facilities at steep passes (if necessary) on highways and national highways throughout the country.

The DRVN asks provincial and municipal departments of transport to improve capacity and quality of passenger transport services.

They are responsible for regularly checking, preventing and handling drivers who violate alcohol levels, drive overcrowded vehicles or increase ticket prices illegally.

Localities must manage the operation of transport businesses' vehicles in terms of speed, itinerary and drivers’ daily working time through the trip monitoring devices.

Violations must be punished strictly according to regulations.

​Local departments of transport will strengthen inspection and review of road signs systems, and reflective warning devices at intersections and steep roads to be supplemented and adjusted.

The departments’ duty is timely repairing damaged or eroded road sections, especially when accidents occur on key traffic routes, routes leading to major festival areas and tourist sites that attract many people.

Another important work is inspecting and directing terminals to strictly implement regulations for vehicles entering and exiting, and resolutely not allowing vehicles that do not meet the prescribed conditions to start their journey.

​For passenger transport along fixed routes on highways or on roads with high slopes, transport businesses need to remind drivers before each trip to increase their awareness of driving time, speed and distance between vehicles. — VNS