Last year the number of traffic accidents and the resulting deaths and injuries decreased significantly from 2012, the National Traffic Safety Committee reported.

This information was released at an online conference held on December 31, 2013 to review the traffic safety situation in 2013 and set tasks for 2014.

The conference was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is the chairman of the committee, and was attended by Transport Minister Dinh La Thang, standing deputy chairman of the committee, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy chairman of the committee, and representatives of other ministries and agencies.

According to statistics released by the Committee at the conference, 29,385 road and railway traffic accidents occurred nationwide from December 16, 2012 to December 16, 2013, killing 9,369 people and injuring  29,500 others.

In addition, 82 waterway traffic accidents also occurred, leaving 45 people dead and 11 others injured.

The main causes of traffic accidents in 2013 were speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, and travelling in the wrong lane, the committee said.

Compared to 2012, the number of traffic accidents in 2013 decreased by 5.19 percent, the deaths declined by 0.58 percent, and the number of injured people dropped by 9.36 percent.

The five provinces in which the death toll from traffic accidents decreased by more than 20 percent are Vinh Phuc, Ca Mau, Dong Nai, Quang Nam, and Tay Ninh.

The three localities with traffic accident death tolls higher than 20 percent are Ninh Thuan, Ben Tre, and Lao Cai provinces.

Deaths under 10,000

Last year was the second consecutive year when reductions were recorded in all three criteria, and when deaths from traffic accidents were under 10,000, the committee said. Police handled more than 5.5 million traffic violations, issued penalties worth over VND3 trillion, revoked nearly 450,000 driver’s licenses, and seized hundreds of thousands of vehicles.

Such performance is the result of great efforts of concerned agencies at central to grassroots levels, Deputy PM Phuc said.

However, he said, traffic accidents remain a big problem in society, with many serious accidents recorded last year and the numbers of dead and injured people remaining high.   

Therefore, the deputy PM asked all concerned agencies and people nationwide to make more efforts to continue to strengthen traffic safety and reduce traffic accidents.

Like 2012 and 2013, the year 2014 will continue to be designated as “The Year of Traffic Safety,” the committee said.