HCMC Jan-Feb traffic death toll rises by 35pct

851 traffic accidents have occurred in the city so far this year, killing 133 people and injuring 730 more, police said at a meeting of the city Traffic Safety Committee on Saturday.

Most of the deaths were caused by driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, and driving in the wrong lane, the committee said.

Meanwhile, compared to January-February 2012, both the numbers of accidents and injured people in the past two months fell by 240 and 428, respectively.

Hoc Mon, Binh Tan, Binh Chanh, Cu Chi Districts and Districts 2 and 9 had more accidents, injuries and deaths in the first two months of this year compared to 2012, said Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the Committee.

Over nine days of the Tet (lunar New Year) holiday, 71 traffic accidents occurred in the city, injuring 59 people and killing 13 – 3 deaths more than during last year’s holiday.

“The decreased number of traffic accidents is of no significance at all if the death toll increases,” Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city People’s Committee, said at the meeting.

“I have requested that concerned agencies look into the traffic accidents carefully to identify the causes so that proper remedies can be taken. The leader of each locality must first be held responsible for the number of accidents and the death toll in that locality,” the chairman said.

Colonel Pham Minh Tuan shared the opinion, saying that “by no means are we able to prevent deaths in traffic accidents if we fail to specify the causes of traffic accidents.”

Meanwhile, traffic in the city has become denser according to city police. The number of new vehicles registered in the past two months reached 51,000, including 48,000 motorbikes and 3,000 cars, police reported.

These new registrations have raised the total number of vehicles in the city to nearly 5,519,000 motorbikes and about 546,700 cars, police said.