Traffic accidents expected to reduce at least 5% in each locality: Minister

The numbers of traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries in the first seven months of 2023 declined from the same period last year, reported the National Traffic Safety Committee.

Chief of the committee’s office Tran Huu Minh said that 5,928 traffic accidents were recorded during the period (from December 15, 2022 to July 14, 2023), killing 3,428 and injuring 4,117 others.

The respective figures fell 659 (10%), 411 (10.71%), and 143 (3.36%) year on year.

Among the accidents, 5,858 happened on roads with 3,379 deaths and 4,104 injured people, down 9.88%, 9.87% and 3.25% from a year earlier, respectively.

There were 52 railway accidents with 38 deaths and 13 injured people (down 14.75%, 15.56%, and 13.33%), 13 inland waterway accidents with nine deaths and no injured people (down 38.1%, 72.73%, and 100%), and five maritime accidents with two deaths and none sustaining injuries (the numbers of accidents and injured people were unchanged while deaths decreased 83.33%).

Meanwhile, one aviation accident and 53 incidents threatening flight safety occurred during the seven months, dropping 13% year on year in total.

However, traffic accidents increased during the period from June 15 - July 14, when there were 958 accidents with 563 deaths and 646 injured people, respectively rising 12.05%, 14.9%, and 12.35%, statistics showed.

Speaking at an online conference on July 11 reviewing traffic safety in the first half of this year, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang lauded efforts by localities in ensuring traffic safety given increasing travel and transportation demand.

He asked agencies and localities to seek more feasible solutions in this regard, with a focus on transport infrastructure, vehicles and commuters, striving to achieve the yearly target of reducing traffic accidents in all the three criteria of cases, fatalities and injuries by at least 5% in each locally as compared with 2022.