A traffic accident on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway on February 18 left three people from the same family dead and two others injured. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — An increase in serious traffic accidents on highways, especially newly built stretches of road, has prompted the need to safeguard road users, experts have said.

They underscored the pivotal role of driver awareness, motoring skills, vehicle quality and traffic infrastructure in ensuring highway safety.

According to the National Traffic Safety Committee, 23 fatalities occurred due to highway accidents in the first two months of this year.

On the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway, a tragic accident occurred on February 18 in the area between Phong Mỹ and Phong Xuân communes in Phong Điền District in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế. A four-seated car overtaking on the right side of a container truck led to a chain collision involving four vehicles, causing one car to be thrown across the road. Three people from the same family were killed, and two others were injured.

Three weeks later, another traffic accident occurred on the same highway. On March 10, a passenger bus passing through Phong Điền District collided with the rear left side of a truck that was stopped on the side of the road in the same direction due to a flat tyre. The accident resulted in the death of two passengers and injuries to nine others.

On the La Sơn - Túy Loan Highway, on January 23, a 45-seat passenger bus suddenly plunged into a 30m deep ravine, causing two deaths and injuring 19 others when driving through Hoà Bắc Commune in Đà Nẵng City’s Hoà Vang District. Also, on this highway, on February 28, a container truck overturned, resulting in the death of the driver.

Many similar accidents have occurred on other highways. Four teenagers died while riding a motorcycle against traffic on the Nội Bài-Lào Cao Highway on February 14, and a collision between a passenger bus and a truck on the Nha Trang-Cam Lâm Highway resulted in two fatalities.

Drivers’ faults

Trần Hữu Minh, Head of the Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said the direct cause of these accidents is drivers’ violations of basic principles in traffic law, such as not observing when changing lanes, not staying within lanes, overtaking without observation, and stopping inappropriately. This behaviour directly affects safety, leading to a high risk of collisions.

Workers are installing additional reflective studs between the lanes on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Expressway. VNA/VNS Photo Đỗ Trưởng

Major Nguyễn Quang Nhật from the Traffic Police Department said that according to investigations and conclusions of investigating agencies, the majority of accidents stem from the awareness of road users on highways, such as lane violations, lane changes without signalling, lack of observation, driving in the opposite direction and even riding motorcycles against traffic on highways.

Highway traffic control patrols under the Traffic Police Department reported that traffic law violations remained common.

During the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday, 843 traffic violations on highways were detected, with fines totalling VNĐ1.11 billion (US$44,810). A total of 401 drivers' licenses were revoked and 99 vehicles were detained.

A further 1,014 violations were detected through surveillance camera systems.

From February 18-23, the Highway Traffic Control Patrol Team No4 detected 33 cases of violations on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway and imposed fines of VNĐ171 million ($6,900).

In just the first half of 2024, the Traffic Police Department of Đà Nẵng City handled nearly 70 cases of speeding violations on the La Sơn - Túy Loan Highway.

Substandard infrastructures

However, experts said that substandard highways contribute to traffic accidents. Many highways in Việt Nam, including sections of the North-South Expressway, are only invested in two lanes, failing to meet highway standards.

Highways constructed with only two lanes without emergency stopping lanes pose high risks of accidents. Since they were put into operation, many highways have deteriorated and jeopardised traffic safety.

Opinions suggest that the infrastructure on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway has numerous shortcomings, such as no gas stations, no rest stops, many curved and steep sections, bottleneck points, narrow passing lanes and a lack of barriers.

Construction is underway to add paint to the speed bump markings at the area where four lanes merge into two on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway. VNA/VNS Photo Đỗ Trưởng

Nhật said by the end of 2023, the Traffic Police Department inspected 12 highways and discovered that seven sections did not ensure safety, such as insufficiently wide emergency stopping lanes, lack of nighttime lighting, limited visibility in some sections, and lack of rigid median barriers between lanes.

He said that highways must have rigid median barriers in principle, as they would shorten travel time and ensure safety.

By the end of 2023, 20 expressway projects had been implemented, increasing the total length of expressways nationwide to nearly 1,900 kilometres. Currently, nearly 1,700 kilometres of expressways are under construction.

Việt Nam hopes to build approximately 3,000 kilometres of expressways by 2025 and 5,000 kilometres by 2030.

Solutions

Minh, Head of the Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, emphasised that road users must always adhere to traffic rules to minimise highway traffic accidents. Violation of traffic rules on highways increases the risk of accidents.

Studies have shown that seat belts can reduce serious injuries by up to 45 per cent and reduce the risk of death by up to 75 per cent. However, the seat belt usage rate in Việt Nam is still relatively low (below 20 per cent), Minh noted.

Recently, the Vietnam Road Administration has requested that local transport departments direct driver training facilities to focus on teaching driving skills on highways.

It has asked the departments to develop an appropriate driving technique curriculum, which includes content on "driving on highways" that demonstrates driving techniques on divided investment highways.

The use of virtual cabins will enable students to learn all the necessary skills and handle situations when driving on highways.

It said that highway driving training has almost not been conducted in practice as it is not included in the examination content.

To improve traffic safety on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway, the Việt Nam Road Administration has assigned the Management Board of the Hồ Chí Minh Road project to conduct vehicle counting, classification, and analysis of unfavourable factors to develop traffic flow separation plans on the highway.

The Traffic Police Department stated that they will strengthen control to handle cases of violations that pose safety risks on the Cam Lộ - La Sơn Highway. The police will patrol the area around the clock to monitor and impose penalties for the violated vehicles. — VNS