HÒA BÌNH — The National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), in co-ordination with the Honda Việt Nam Company, has launched a programme aimed at delivering 20,000 helmets to motorists across the country.

The launch marked the fourth consecutive year that the NTSC and Honda Việt Nam have collaborated in running the programme, which was established to help improve driver awareness and reduce the risks and consequences associated with traffic accidents.

Traffic accidents cause losses of VNĐ300 billion (US$13.1 million) per day, Khuất Việt Hùng, standing deputy chairman of the NTSC, said at the programme launch held in the northern province of Hòa Bình Wednesday afternoon.

 “About 80 per cent of children who die in traffic accidents are high school students, and 76 per cent of the victims drive electric bicycles to school by themselves without driving licenses,” Hùng said.

Statistics compiled by the committee show that after 10 years of implementing a rule that requires motorbike drivers to wear helmets,, more than 90 per cent of adults complied with the regulation.

“The wearing of standard helmets has played an important role in reducing traffic accident fatalities to less than 9,000 people per year,” said Hùng.

It has also helped reduce cases of brain injuries by more than 500,000.

However, the compliance rate for children remained low at only 35-40 per cent, Hùng said.

The World Health Organisation in Việt Nam also said that while the rate of people wearing helmets in the country was high, only about 70 per cent wore standard helmets.

“One of main reasons why accidents involving children have increased in the country recently is quite a lot people, especially children,  are not aware of the importance of the helmets,” Hùng said.

Under the programme, 20,000 helmets will be delivered to people through education programmes and competitions related to traffic safety and driving skills.

Nearly 100,000 helmets have been delivered to people in the programme’s first four years. — VNS