Traffic jams disperse in first nine months: Ministry of Transport

By Bui Hong Nhung   October 24, 2016 | 01:39 am PT
Traffic jams disperse in first nine months: Ministry of Transport
Traffic congestion in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress.
Congestion has eased off despite the rising number of vehicles.

The number of serious traffic jams in Vietnam fell by 65 percent on-year in the first nine months of 2016, according to a report sent by the Ministry of Transport to the National Assembly.

There were just 34 cases of severe traffic congestion across the country, down by 63 from the same period last year. A traffic jam is called "severe" if it lasts longer than 30 minutes and all vehicles can hardly move, as explained by Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Transport.

In detail, 44 percent of traffic congestion was attributed to road accidents, 26 percent to roadworks, weather and the rest to increased traffic density at rush hour.

The report also revealed that as of September this year, Vietnam had about 50 million vehicles, of which motorcycles accounted for 92 percent.

This means the number of vehicles has grown by 8.7 percent on-year.

Despite this growth, traffic accidents have fallen by 8 percent on-year, with the death toll decreasing by 133.

The Transport Ministry also detected 2,000 military vehicles being used outside military bases without authorization, and punished 80 army officers for violating traffic rules.

The ministry collected total fines of over VND386 billion ($17 million) for traffic violations in the first nine months of the year, and revoked 300,000 driving licenses.

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