Every hour, someone dies in a traffic accident in Vietnam.
This was the statistic released by Vietnam's National Traffic Safety Committee late last week, according to Thanh Nien. Over the past three months, the death toll has risen to 2,193 people nationwide.
But here's the kicker: that number is actually 6.5% less than last year.
Apart from traffic fatalities, an additional 4,522 others were injured in nearly 5,000 collisions between December 16, 2015 and March 15, 2016. Police recorded over one million violations during this time, primarily related to drunk driving, running red lights, driving in the wrong lane and driving without a helmet. Traffic authorities also collected VND600 billion (US$27 million) in fines for such infractions.
As the number of vehicles on Vietnamese roads increases – Saigon alone registers 900 new vehicles everyday – so, too, do the country's number of less-experienced drivers at the wheel. Though Vietnam's number of traffic fatalities seems to have decreased compared to the same period last year, we're keen to see that figure continue to shrink in future.
[Photo via VTC]
