Traffic police on duty check vehicles on Highway 1A in Chi Lăng District, the northern mountainous province of Lạng Sơn. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuấn

A total of 257 traffic accidents occurred nationwide during the four-day National Day holiday, killing 124 people and injuring 193 others, the Department of Traffic Police (DoTP) under the Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday.

However, the numbers are down from last year.

According to the DoTP, the number of traffic accidents decreased by 28 cases, and there were 36 fewer fatalities compared with the same period last year.

During the four-day holiday, traffic police across the country tackled more than 60,300 vehicle incidents, including more than 16,400 cases of alcohol concentration violations, more than 14,400 speeding offences, 474 cases of overloaded vehicles, and 64 cases of drug violations.

Giving more detail from the patrol results along the National Highway 1A via the VNeCSGT application, the DoTP declared that from last Saturday to Tuesday, as many as 20 accidents happened on the roads, killing seven people and injuring 18 others.

The traffic police arranged 734 working shifts, checked 48,679 vehicles including 5,243 coaches, 7,514 trucks, 12,074 cars, 1,105 containers, 23,000 motorbikes and 103 other vehicles.

The police punished more than 7,500 violations and revoked more than 1,500 driving licences, detaining 1,496 vehicles.

The total administrative fines were more than VNĐ14.6 billion (US$583,900).

"During the four-day National Day holiday, traffic conditions were basically guaranteed. On the first day of the holiday, despite the high number of people traveling back to their hometowns, the DoTP and local traffic police worked together to guide the drivers thus traffic conditions were stable," according to the DoTP’s report.

Regarding the traffic situation on highways, managed by the DoTP, during the holiday there was only one crash which did not cause any injuries to people, however, five cars were damaged.

The Highway Traffic Police Teams was arranged over 184 shifts, inspected more than 3,800 vehicles and punished 474 cases with total fines amounting to more than VNĐ1.9 billion ($75,900).

In addition, through technical monitoring, traffic police on the highways sent warning notices to 268 vehicle owners. — VNS