Hanoi (VNA) – Lossescaused by traffic accidents in Vietnam amount to 50 trillion VND (over 2.12billion USD) each year, equivalent to 30 percent of budget spending oneducation, or 1. 5 million people going without income for the whole year.

The information was released ata ceremony on September 27 for the signing of a cooperation agreement betweenthe National Traffic Safety Committee and the Vietnam Association of MotorcycleManufacturers (VAMM).

Vice Chairman of the NationalTraffic Safety Committee Khuat Viet Hung said despite the decrease in thenumber of accidents, deaths and injured victims every year, the reduction isnot sustainable, and the numbers of dead and injured victims remain high.

Hung said a majority of trafficaccidents involve motorcycles.

In the first nine months of2018, motorcycle riders caused nearly 70 percent of the more than 13,240 trafficaccidents nationwide, and accounted for almost 90 percent of dead and injured victimsin accidents on the nation’s roads, he said.

Motorcycle remains a main meansof transport in Vietnam due to underdeveloped infrastructure, low income andpoor public transport services.

2018 is the fourth year that theNational Traffic Safety Committee and the VAMM have joined hands to address issuesrelated to traffic safety in the country through communication campaigns andresearch.

In particular, the results andrecommendations of the five research projects funded by VAMM research fund haveprovided useful reference for the National Traffic Safety Committee and relatedagencies in designing policies and measures to improve traffic safety.

This year, the two sideslaunched a film contest on traffic safety entitled “I know, I change”.-VNA