Over six thousand traffic accidents recorded in first quarter

Binh made the remark at a meeting with the National Traffic Safety Committee on April 25, according to a statement on the government's website.

Vietnam has recorded 6,627 traffic accidents, 2,862 casualties and 5,848 injuries since the beginning of this year. Compared to 2015, this has fallen by 12.6 percent, 5.45 percent and 17.32 percent, respectively.

While recognized the results and efforts made by related ministries and departments to reduce traffic accidents, the deputy PM said the traffic situation in Vietnam is still “complicated” as some regulations on traffic safety are conflicting.

Binh said to continue reducing the accident rate by 10-15 percent, Vietnam must look at problems such as poor traffic infrastructure, limited IT application and loose cooperation between state management agencies and traffic patrol groups. All of these factors, he said, have negatively affected the efficiency of state's control over the traffic situation.

The solutions for these problems will require serious efforts and involve figuring out the exact reasons for traffic accidents, including traffic infrastructure and poor road safety awareness.

Binh has asked the Traffic Safety Committee to focus on accident "hot spots" to ensure traffic safety during the holidays and tourism seasons while mentioning that the committee's works on reducing congestion and pollution is still lacking.

From 2011-2015, Vietnam recorded 153,347 traffic accidents with 47,877 fatalities and 156,618 injuries. Compared to 2006-2010, these figures fell by 17.4 percent, 20.7 percent and 22.16 percent, respectively.