ĐÀ NẴNG – Traffic safety was improved in 2016 with decreases in all types of accidents and the number of deaths and injuries, it was reported at a national conference of traffic police in Đà Nẵng City yesterday. 
There were 21,568 traffic accidents nationwide this year, killing 8,680 and injuring 19,280 others. Those figures respectively declined by 1,259, 47 and 1,789 from 2015, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyễn Văn Sơn said. 
However, the falling trend was unsustainable and traffic accident losses were still big. Congestion in crowded urban areas and key national roads remained a big problem threatening traffic order and safety, especially in big cities. 
He blamed the congestion on the rapid increase in the number of vehicles that surpass the capacity of transport infrastructure. The growing population density in some cities like Hà Nội and HCM City as a result of unbalanced urban development and irrational demographic policies, was another important factor he cited. 
Poor observance of traffic rules among commuters and the prolonged construction of transport facilities were also to blame for the congestion, the official said, noting that 41 traffic jams that lasted for more than one hour were reported nationwide in 2016, most of them in Hà Nội and HCM City. 
The Deputy Minister asked the traffic police force to launch more campaigns promoting traffic safety and social order, intensify patrols and strictly deal with traffic rule violations in 2017. He also reminded the force of the importance of ensuring absolute safety for important political events, especially the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum events next year. — VNS