VietNamNet Bridge - The majority of serious traffic accidents in Vietnam are caused by speeding, overtaking dangerously, crossing the red light, changing lanes and driving recklessly through the intersection. Controlling traffic by cameras will help deal with this situation, said Ms. Mavis Jonhnson, Director of the Road Safety Campaign of the World Bank at the International Conference on Traffic Safety in Vietnam on November 23.



Nearly 600 scientists, including 100 people from 15 countries attended the conference to give suggestions to help Vietnam reduce traffic accidents.

Professor Silianov, Vice Rector of the Moscow University of Traffic and Roads, said that Vietnam needs to improve infrastructure so that the number of 33 people dying of traffic accidents annually will no long exist.

Communication Specialist of the World Bank, Michel Ledru, cited figures, in the 1970s, the number of people who died of traffic accidents in the U.S. is 60,000/year; Britain, Germany 20,000/year; and Japan and France 16,000/ year. This was the darkest period is considered in Europe when the clouds of traffic accidents covered everywhere. But by 2010, the aforementioned countries reduced the numbers to less than 5,000 victims per year.

From the above analysis, Vietnam’s current status is compared with that in many European countries in the 1970s.

Mr. Luong Ngoc Khue, from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, was interested in first aid to the victims of traffic accidents. Khue said many traffic accident victims died because of lacking first aid.

He suggested that traffic policemen should be trained with first aid techniques and first aid stations should be set up along highways.

An expert from the World Health Organization, Mr. Jonathon Passmore, said with 90 percent of the victims of traffic accidents who died because of lacking first aid, improving care for victims at the scene is a needed task, which can help reduce the risk of death to the victims by 25 percent.

According to Professor Hoang Chuong, from the Research Center for Conservation and Promoting Culture and Ethnicity of Vietnam, traffic chaos and disorder in big cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has a direct cause from the culture in urban planning and development.

Minister of Transport and Deputy Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Dinh La Thang said ensuring traffic safety requires great effort of the state and society, including the contributions of scientists and experts.

Thang said in 2013, the National Traffic Safety Committee will advise the Government on directing specific issues, based the suggestions of international experts at this conference.

Vu Diep