HÀ NỘI — Traffic safety remains a complicated issue that affects citizens’ wellbeing and the socio-economic development of the country, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình said yesterday.

On average, some 20 people in the country are killed and 60 are permanently injured every day by traffic accidents, he said during a conference on traffic safety in Hà Nội yesterday.

Traffic congestion still occurs in major cities of Hà Nội and HCM City, and dozens of airplanes have to remain flying while waiting for landing spots in Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, he said.

While acknowledging the country leaders’ effort in ensuring traffic safety over the last years, the Deputy PM said that the country’s transport infrastructure has to be developed in accordance with the increasing number of transport vehicles.  

He hopes that researchers will point out the underlying causes and provide solutions for traffic congestion in the country. In addition, he hopes amendments will be proposed to the Law on Road Traffic and related regulations, with a focus on completing traffic safety databases through a co-ordinated mechanism.

At the conference, Trần Ngọc Sơn, chief of the northern Lào Cai Province’s traffic safety committee, proposed that licence plates should be issued in only one colour instead of both white and blue.

According to Sơn, it distresses citizens when several Government vehicles with blue licence plates do not get fined when violating traffic regulations.

He proposed to issue only one type of licence plate, while classifying vehicles into different categories.

The proposal was supported by Major General Trần Sơn Hà, director general of the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

Solutions to increase traffic safety for vulnerable traffic participants like motorbike riders, cyclers and pedestrians as well as measures to control traffic congestion and incentives to change bad traffic behaviors were discussed at the conference.

Deputy PM Bình assigned the National Traffic Safety Committee to summarise the solutions and send them to localities. — VNS