First, the traffic accident situation has decreased sharply in all three criteria: number of cases, number of deaths and number of injuries compared to the same period of the Lunar New Year last year. Notably, the number of injuries caused by alcohol and the number of fights caused by drunkenness have also decreased significantly.
On the part of the authorities, during the 9-day Tet holiday, the national police discovered and handled 55,842 cases of traffic safety violations, fined more than 172 billion VND; revoked or deducted points from thousands of driving licenses.
Although this year's holiday lasted more than two days, the number of violations decreased compared to last year, showing better compliance with traffic laws by people.
One of the clearest examples of this positive change is at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, which is often overloaded with traffic accident patients during long holidays. In particular, many years ago, the hospital had to arrange for security forces to closely guard the emergency area due to hospitalizations due to fights, most of which were related to alcohol. Many doctors were threatened and faced difficulties while performing their duties.
However, this year during Tet, the hospital did not receive any emergency cases due to fighting.
Thanks to the resolute handling and effective propaganda of the regulation against driving under the influence of alcohol, many families no longer have to “lose Tet” because their loved ones have accidents due to alcohol. Traffic on the road is also somewhat less stressful when drivers are sober and responsible for themselves, their families and the community.
These changes are not only meaningful in terms of numbers but also show the process of forming a more civilized traffic culture.
The above positive results are associated with the strong impact of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of traffic safety.
In addition, the early and drastic direction from the Prime Minister and Government leaders, along with the continuous planning, inspection and supervision of ministries, branches and localities, have contributed to significantly reducing the violation rate.
Despite the positive results, the number of violations is still high (55,842 cases). There are still tens of thousands of cases of alcohol concentration and speed violations, hundreds of cars and tens of thousands of motorbikes are detained.
This shows that the awareness of a large number of traffic participants has not really changed positively as desired, requiring more long-term and radical solutions.
Increasing the level of penalties as in Decree 168 has clearly created a deterrent effect and brought about considerable results.
Increasing penalties with heavy sanctions in the current context is an effective solution to deter, raise awareness and contribute to changing behavior.
This is also the premise to gradually build and strengthen awareness and civilized traffic culture for people in the near future.
