In 2017, there were around 20,000 traffic accidents and 8,279 traffic deaths, according to statistics compiled by the National Traffic Safety Committee.
According to a report on traffic safety in Vietnam by Vietnam Plus, which analyses 144 severe traffic accidents across the country from 2013 to 2017, 98.61% of severe accidents were caused by male drivers. The majority of traffic victims are also male as they make up for 68.99% of all victims while female drivers only account for 31.01% of all victims. A severe traffic accident is defined as one with a death toll greater than three.
The report also found that the age group most responsible for severe accidents are people from 30 to 34 years old, amounting to 20.29% of the accidents. This number is followed by the 35-39 age group with 16.67% of accidents, and the 20-24 age group that is accountable for 15.22% of the accidents. Motorcycle drivers are responsible for the majority of the accidents.
Most of the severe traffic accidents are caused by speeding — 83 out of 144 accidents in five years are caused by losing control on speed. The second most popular cause of severe accidents is driving in the wrong lane. The deadliest hour when most of these severe traffic accidents happen is 9pm, followed by 3pm and 4am.
The findings also reveal that Hanoi tops the list of the areas where most of these severe traffic accidents took place, followed by Thanh Hoa and Gia Lai.
"We're living in peacetime but the number of deaths and injuries from traffic accidents is on par with war times," said the Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The during a speech in a writing competition on traffic safety earlier this year.
[Photo via VTC]
