Road traffic safety campaign rolled out in Ho Chi Minh City

The Civilized Trip was kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City

The campaign is held by the National Committee for Traffic Safety (NCTS) in collaboration with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. The campaign will run for six months with a wide ranges of activities to improve compliance with traffic safety regulations among public transport service providers.

The campaign also encourages people to share stories of meaningful actions and behaviours they witness while traveling on the streets, as a way of spreading positive messages.

According to Khuat Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the NCTS, to ensure traffic order and safety, each diver should be friendly and willing to help passengers both young and old when they join traffic. Drivers should remind passengers to wear helmets and not drive on the pavements. Meanwhile, traffic participants must comply with the law. Hung highlighted that one must not drive after consuming alcohol.

He also expressed belief that the humanitarian campaign will contribute to improving driving behaviour on the road, and that it will receive a warm response from local residents. The campaign is expected to raise traffic safety awareness and reduce traffic accidents.

The lack of a traffic culture is one of the main causes of the large number of traffic accidents in Vietnam. According to the NCTS, last year more than 18,00 accidents caused over 8,000 deaths and about 14,000 injuries in the country. In the first quarter of 2019, up to 4,030 accidents occurred across the country, leaving 1,905 people dead and 3,141 others injured.

Actor Quyen Linh, the ambassador of the campaign, pointed out some examples of bad driving behaviour like running the red light and drunk driving, callling people’s attention to the fact that these are still issues, although traffic awareness has been improved.

Therefore, he recommended, “Instead of limiting their alcohol intake, drivers should never drink alcohol before driving. If you feel too sleepy to travel to work in the early morning, you should not drive to avoid accidents. Everyone must put their safety as a top priority.”