A total of 147 accidents occurred within the 4-day New Year’s holiday (29 December -1 January), claiming 111 lives and wounding 61 people, traffic police said.

A passenger coach hit a truck travelling on National Road No 1 (the section passing through the south-central province of Binh Thuan) on 29 December, killing two and injuring seven people. — VNA/VNS Photo 61.html#WoOlBvli2SYIAU2M.99

On average, there were nearly 28 deaths a day, higher than last year’s figure of 22.

The most serious accident was a collision between a passenger coach and a truck on National Road No 1 in the south central province of Binh Thuan, leaving 2 dead and 7 wounded.

The top causes of accidents were speeding, driving in the wrong lane, changing lanes or direction without signalling, or driving under the influence, while violations like not wearing helmets were very common, police noted.

Road traffic made up the majority of the accidents with 145 cases out of 147 and the remaining two were blamed on rail transport, with one death and one injury.

Traffic police officers handled a total of 15,200 violations, giving out fines of 15.17 billion VND, revoking licences of 3,300 drivers and impounding more than 2,800 vehicles.

According to reports, on the first day of the four-day holiday, heavy traffic and frequent congestion were witnessed in the two largest cities in the country, Ha Noi, and HCM City.

On the contrary, even during afternoon rush hour on the last day, when masses of people were expected to return to Hà Nội, important traffic junctions including Phap Van, Giai Phong, Thanh Tri Bridge, Minh Khai, Tam Trinh and Chuong Duong Bridge did not suffer serious jams, only slight difficulties in moving were reported due to higher traffic than usual.

During the holiday, the National Committee for Traffic Safety said they received more than 80 calls reporting coaches loading more passengers onto vehicles than allowed, collecting fees higher than the printed amount, and other types of road annoyances on the expressways.

(Source: VNS)