The National Committee for Traffic Safety and the Hanoi People’s Committee held a ceremony on January 6 to kick off the Traffic Safety Year 2022.

The theme of 2022 is “Building a safe traffic culture associated with effectively controlling the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The campaign set four targets: raising people’s awareness on traffic safety; reducing the number of traffic accidents and victims by five to 10 per cent annually; reducing traffic jams on main roads and in big urban areas; and preventing the pandemic from spreading via transport activities.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the event. Photo: Le Phu

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh praised positive results of ensuring traffic safety in 2021.

“The traffic order and safety last year was improved considerably with sharp declines recorded in the number of accidents, deaths and injuries thanks to the effective implementation of solutions over the year,” Minh said.

He stressed the need for comprehensive solutions to ensure the work in the current situation, especially preventing Covid-19 infections in transportation activities as the pandemic is forecast to evolve in a complicated way in the coming years.

The deputy PM asked member organizations of the National Traffic Safety Committee, as well as provincial and municipal People’s Committees, to put plans in place for the "Year of Traffic Safety 2022".

Police officers on parade at the launching ceremony. Photo: Le Phu

“On this occasion, I called on all people to wear helmet and say no to alcohol when driving. Those who violate traffic regulations need to be strictly penalized as they are main causes of road accidents during public holidays,” Minh wrote on his personal twitter page.

As of December 14, 2021, statistics from the National Committee for Traffic Safety statistics showed 11,495 traffic accidents occurred across the country, resulting in 5,799 deaths and 8,018 injuries, falling by 23.3%, 15.5%, and 28.2% year-on-year, respectively.

Traffic police handled 2.88 million offenses, issuing fines of over VND2.8 trillion (US$123 million), revoking 248,6000 driving licenses and seizing 460,000 vehicles.

For his part, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh expressed determination in meeting the campaign’s goals.

The mayor asked organizations to focus on dealing with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, overloading vehicles, not wearing helmets and illegal racing.

“During the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), the municipal authorities will strengthen the  control of traffic safety until February 14, as mobility is expected to increase during the holiday,” Anh said.