VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi Police have started to clamp down on drivers breaking traffic laws in an attempt to improve post-Tet traffic. A total of 288 people were killed and 359 injured in traffic accidents during the lunar new year festival.

Head of the municipal Police's Counselling Department Tran Ngoc Anh said 12 teams of traffic police, together with police from 29 districts, would monitor illegal parking, overcrowded coaches, buses taking undefined routes, drink-drivers and motorbike riders without helmets.

Anh said drivers would face fines or have their vehicles seized, depending on the violation.

Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, a traffic officer from Ha Noi Police Division No 3, said the campaign would re-organise city traffic and eliminate drivers without helmets.

The municipal police's statistics show that more than 1,080 people were prosecuted for breaking traffic rules during the festival. They included 810 punished for not wearing helmets.

The Road Traffic Police Department estimated that 373 accidents nationwide during the six days of the festival killed 288 and injured another 359.

This was 24 less accidents compared to the same period last year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News