People who do not wear a seat belt are 30 times more likely to be thrown out of a vehicle during a crash.

Parents practice wearing seat belt at the “Protect Your Precious” campaign in Hà Nội. — VNS Photo Vu Hoa

More than 75% of people who are ejected during a fatal crash die from their injuries.

The information was released at the launching of “Protect Your Precious” campaign in Ha Noi on Sunday. Co-organised by General Motors Viet Nam (GM Viet Nam), Viet Nam National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), Ministry of Education and Training and Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, it aimed to promote the use of safety seats for children and raise awareness of the importance of children wearing seat belts.

The campaign includes a series of communication activities and three knowledge-sharing workshops for car-owning parents in Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City.

Nguyen Trong Thai, NTSC’s chief officer, said there were more than 20 fatalities and 60 injuries (in Viet Nam) every day due to road accidents. Annually, accidents cost 2.5-2.9 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, or 250-300 billion VND (11 million US$ - 13 million$) per day.

According to AIP Foundation, children are particularly vulnerable and road accident is the second-leading cause of death of Vietnamese children in the five to 14 age group. Every four minutes around the world, a child dies in a road crash. In Viet Nam, 2,000 children die in road accidents every year.

“As Viet Nam’s economy continues to grow, so too will the number of families who own cars and use them as their main mode of transportation. To protect our children and promote a culture of road safety, we must encourage safe habits among all road users, whether it’s wearing a helmet or buckling a seat belt,” said Greig Craft, President of AIP Foundation.

“GM Viet Nam is conducting this campaign to join the Government’s efforts in ensuring the safety of young passengers through the 2018 National Traffic Safety Year, which is themed on ‘Traffic Safety for Children’”, said Ian Nicholls, president of GM Southeast Asia.

The 2018 National Traffic Safety Year aims to reduce the number of children deaths caused by accidents by 10% from last year.

Government’s Decree 46/2016 made it mandatory since the beginning of this year for passengers in the back seats of a car to put on their seat belts on the road. Violators will be imposed a fine of 100,000-200,000 VND. The old regulation only required the driver and passenger sitting next to the driver to wear seat belts.

(Source: VNS)