Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety cited a report from the Ministry of Public Security as saying that over the past five years, 94,024 traffic accidents have occurred in Vietnam, causing 39,917 deaths and 77,477 injuries.
A traffic accident in Hanoi.
The figures represented a decline of 42.71%; 19.01% and 53.91%, respectively against the 2011-2015 period.
Hung added that between December 15 last year and November 14 this year, a total of 12,985 traffic accidents happened in Vietnam, killing 6,048 people and injuring 9,652 others, showing significant annual declines of 18.2%, 13.2% and 20.5% respectively.
The Vietnamese government believes technology has been one of the most important factors in order to reduce traffic accidents by 5-10% annually, Hung noted.
Under Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh's íntructions, Hanoi and HCM City need to pioneer more technology in traffic management.
Last year, HCM City launched a smart traffic monitoring and operation centre, the first of its kind in Vietnam.
The system has 762 cameras for traffic monitoring, 136 cameras for counting vehicles, and 216 traffic-light control boxes on 78 main streets, including roads to Tan Son Nhat International Airport and seaports in districts 2 and 9.
