Khuất Việt Hùng,

Khuất Việt Hùng, vice chairman of the National Committee on Traffic Safety, talks to Sài gòn Giải phóng (Saigon Liberation newspaper) about Government Decree 100 on how to prevent drink-driving during the Lunar New Year festival

There has been a sharp reduction in the number of traffic accidents caused by drink-driving ahead of the Lunar New Year. What do you attribute that to?

Drink-driving is one of the main causes of traffic accidents. It is good news that the number of traffic accidents in our country has dropped considerably ahead of the Lunar New Year. This initial success is attributed to a number of reasons, particularly the release of Government Decree 100. The number of traffic accidents has fallen dramatically since the law came into effect. 

Do you believe the new law will be as effective as the one issued in 2007 that makes wearing helmets mandatory for motorcycle drivers and passengers?

A lot of people objected to the helmet law to start with, but thanks to strong determination from the Government an estimated 15,000 lives have been saved, along with a reduction of 500,000 traumatic brain injuries. As a result, they have saved for the national economy US$3.5 billion. That’s why we think Decree 100 has been issued at the right time and will help the public change their behaviour – if they drink they should not drive. In order to achieve this goal, we should increase our communication campaign on the Law on Alcohol Harm Prevention.

As Lunar New Year approaches, Transport Police will increase their patrols and sanction driver who drink and drive.

What should we do to make sure Decree 100 will strictly be implemented?

The National Committee on Traffic Safety and Government agencies nationwide have vowed to strictly implement Decree 100 in order to reduce the number of traffic accidents, particularly during the Lunar New Year Festival._VNS

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