National Route 1A in Hà Nội records increasing traffic on Sunday as people return to the city after the Tết holiday. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has signed off on an official dispatch ordering the enhancement of measures for ensuring traffic order and safety during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday and the spring festive season.

In Dispatch No 16/CĐ-TTg, the Government leader commended the Ministry of Public Security, with traffic police being the core, the Ministry of Construction, and the People’s Committees of provinces and cities nationwide for their effective efforts in ensuring traffic order and safety to serve Tết travel.

However, he noted, the traffic situation remained complex, with several particularly serious accidents occurring on both roads and waterways, drunk driving persisting, alongside some cases of resistance against on-duty officers.

To strengthen traffic order and safety to serve travel on the last day of the Tết holiday (February 22) and the spring festive season, he requested the Ministry of Public Security to increase personnel and patrol vehicles to monitor traffic safety on expressways, local roads, and for passenger transport, particularly double-decker sleeper buses.

Police were asked to strictly handle violations, with a focus on the root causes of accidents, including alcohol concentration offences, speeding, overloading, driving in the wrong lane, and illegal parking or U-turns. Stringent measures must also be taken against acts of disrupting public order or resisting law enforcement officers in the transport sector.

The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Construction, local authorities, and relevant agencies should work out appropriate traffic control plans to reduce congestion risks, especially in the vicinity of toll booths, on expressways, and in gateways of metropolises like Hà Nội and HCM City.

They also need to step up communications to boost public awareness of and adherence to traffic rules, according to the dispatch.

The Ministry of Construction was ordered to reinforce management of transport activities, increase inspection, and strictly deal with violations related to transport services, including road and waterway transport.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health needs to instruct health establishments to prepare personnel, equipment, and capacity for delivering emergency aid, especially on arterial routes and areas with heavy traffic to minimise human losses in accidents.

The chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees were tasked with directly taking charge of local traffic order and safety. Measures must be immediately devised in response to any incident, especially on the last day of the Tết holiday and during the spring festive season; particularly serious accidents must be prevented.

The PM also asked local authorities to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Construction, and relevant units to carry out appropriate traffic control plans and prevent prolonged congestion.

The chairpersons must be held fully accountable to the Government and the PM if traffic safety is not guaranteed in their localities, the dispatch noted. — VNA/VNS