Vietnam’s southern hub Ho Chi Minh City now has 9 accident-prone hot spots that need to be eliminated as soon as possible, local transport department director Tran Quang Lam has warned.

>> Japanese executive dies in traffic accident in central Vietnam Lam made the warning at a meeting held on Tuesday with the HCMC People’s Committee to review the traffic safety situation in the city. With their great efforts, competent agencies eliminated 27 of the 28 identified traffic-accident hot spots in 2013 and 2014, but during the same time, eight new ones have emerged, Lam said. As a result, the city now has nine such hot spots to be eliminated, the official said. They include the An Suong roundabout in District 12, Truong Chinh Street in Tan Binh District, Phan Dang Luu Street in Phu Nhuan District, Vo Van Kiet Avenue in District 1, provincial road 10 in District 6, My Thuy roundabout in District 2, the Thu Duc intersection in Thu Duc District, Hong Bang Street near Cay Go flyover in District 6, and National Highway 1 in Binh Tan District. In addition, many other locations are potentially becoming new hot spots in the near future if no practical measures are taken, according to local traffic police. In order to improve traffic safety in the above locations, the transport department has proposed the city authorities take some remedies. For example, the department suggested the building of An Suong tunnel in District 12, and the installation of more cameras on some routes to strengthen the detecting and punishment of traffic violators. Over the four holidays starting on January 1, 2015, 209 traffic accidents occurred across the country killing 104 people and injuring 135 others, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety.  Compared to the same period of 2014, the death toll decreased by 2, while the number of accidents increased by 17 and the number of injured people also rose by 17. From December 16, 2013 to December 15, 2014, 25,322 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, killing 8,996 people and injuring 24,417 others, the committee reported. Compared to the preceding 12 months, the numbers of traffic accidents and the resulting deaths and injuries are down by 13.8 percent, 4 percent, and 17.2 percent respectively.

On average, road accidents kill around 9,000 people in Vietnam every year – almost 25 deaths per day – and leave hundreds of thousands of others with life-time injuries, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said at a requiem held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 10, 2014 for the dead victims of road accidents.

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