A section of Nội Bài-Lào Cai expressway. — Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI (VNS) — Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has ordered strict punishment for violations affecting road safety along the Nội Bài-Lào Cai Expressway.

The order comes in the wake of recent violations of traffic rules by both drivers and pedestrians on the highway, threatening road safety.

The most common violations are of coaches illegally collecting and drop off passengers on the highway, the local people breaking barriers to cross the higahway or standing on the roadside to wait for buses, and people deliberately riding motorbikes on expressways meant only for cars.

These violations have led to a number of serious accidents on the expressway, such as the collision of two coaches, travelling in the same direction, which killed two passengers and injured 22 on a stretch in the northern Vĩnh Phúc Province late last December.

Phúc has asked the public security ministry to order the traffic police of Hà Nội, Vĩnh Phúc, Phú Thọ and Lào Cai, as well as Yên Bái, through which the highway passes, to increase inspections along the highway and to strictly punish those violating traffic rules.

The Việt Nam Expressway Corporation has been asked to work with local authorities to detect and repair highway sections that are damaged and run down, particularly barriers along the expressway. The corporation plans to install cameras along the expressway this year to ensure that people obey traffic rules.

The traffic safety committees in localities have been instructed to spread awareness to encourage the local people to comply with traffic regulations.

The 245km Nội Bài-Lào Cai Expressway, the longest of its kind in Việt Nam, opened to traffic in September 2014. Built with an investment of nearly US$1.5 billion, the expressway helps to shorten the time required to travel between Hà Nội and Lào Cai from the current seven hours to 3.5 hours, in addition to reducing the time it takes to drive from Hà Nội to Tuyên Quang and Hà Giang. — VNS