As many as 17 people have been killed and 37 other injured in 34 road traffic accidents which occurred nationwide on the second day of the Tet holiday according to a report from the Ministry of Public Security.

The police dealt with over 4,433 violations and collected over VND3.3bn in fines. Nearly 426 cars and motorbikes were seized, the report said.

The ministry has recently announced that 1,526 traffic accidents occurred in January, leaving 728 people dead and 1,137 injured.

As many as 110 people were killed in 147 traffic accidents in the four-day New Year holiday alone.

Most of the main routes in Hanoi and HCM City have been overcrowded and jammed in the lead-up to Tet.

Road use has massively increased as people are shopping for the festive period while people from other provinces are travelling into the cities to deliver goods. Meanwhile, both Hanoi and HCM City still have many on-going constructions that have badly affected the traffic flow.

Lax urban management has also seen pavements used by temporary businesses. Road rage and disregard of traffic laws have become increasingly common.

Vu Van Vien, head of Hanoi Department of Transport said they had ordered to stop any construction work affects roads and pavements from January 25. Ring Road 3 and Lang expansion projects are being sped up.

The authorities in Hanoi and HCM City have asked related agencies to monitor the main routes to deal with congestion and accidents more quickly.

Dtinews