HANOI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has launched the Traffic Safety Year 2023, aiming to reduce the annual number of accidents, deaths and injuries by 5 percent to 10 percent, local media reported on Friday.
The risks of traffic accidents would be high if there were no drastic solutions to the issue, local newspaper Vietnam News reported, citing Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang.
He noted that the number of vehicles is expected to increase this year, posing more challenges for ensuring traffic order and safety.
Khuat Viet Hung, Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said the work of ensuring traffic safety in 2022 had shortcomings and had not met targets.
Low awareness of traffic participants, a shortage of human resources and inadequate public infrastructure also contributed to the issue, he said.
Thang asked relevant authorities to speed up progress and ensure the quality of projects to upgrade and repair traffic infrastructure, strengthen inspections on means of transport, and tighten the management of traffic safety conditions for transportation businesses, the newspaper reported.
According to the country's Traffic Police Department, in 2022, 11,448 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, causing 6,364 deaths and 7,828 injuries. ■