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A roundabout on Highway 5 which links Ha Noi with Hai Phong, two biggest cities in the north. Risks of traffic accidents are high on this road. — VNS Photo Truong Vi |
In the first half of this year, 47 people were killed and 27 injured in 59 traffic accidents on the highway. In the same period last year, there were 48 accidents, 45 deaths and 20 injuries, according to the Nga Ba Hang Traffic Control Station under Hai Duong Police.
Lieutenant colonel Pham Van Luu, head of the Nga Ba Hang Traffic Control Station, said every year, hundreds of people died or were injured on the road. About 80 per cent involved lorries and motorbike drivers who were speeding or driving in the wrong lane.
He said there were four major hot spots where most of the accidents happened.
"Vehicles are allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 80km per hour, but the road quality is not good enough for them to drive that fast. If lorries travel at that speed they can easily have an accident," Luu said.
Furthermore, he said lorries often dropped gravel and building materials on the road, making driving even more hazardous.
He also said vendors had encroached on the sides of the road, making it too narrow for heavy traffic.
"Half of the highway's length has been encroached on by smallholders, especially in the territories of Hung Yen and Hai Duong Provinces and Hai Phong City," Luu said.
He also said residents had extended their homes onto the edges of the highway.
"At first the highway width was 15 metres, which met the standards of the Viet Nam Road Administration. But now it is just seven metres for much of its length," he said.
Local residents have also made gaps in the central reservation barrier so that they can cross the road – another major cause of accidents, he said.
He added that because of the poor condition of the road it was downgraded 12 years after opening to a minor highway.
Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, deputy director of Road Management and Repair Company No 240, said in 2008 the company invested hundreds of billion dong erecting iron barriers along the central reservation, but that local residents were continuing to cross the road where they shouldn't.
He said 30 of the firms' workers were on round-the-clock standby to repair the barrier when pedestrians break through.
Cuong said local authorities should explain to residents why they should only cross the road at designated areas.
He also said local authorities should impose stricter fines on those that damaged the central barrier.
Meanwhile, Quach Dac Giao, head of Traffic Police Team No 1 at Hung Yen Police, said officers had stepped up patrols along the road and had begun to photograph those breaking road rules or who were caught destroying the central reservation.
"The photographs will be sent to schools or offices where they study or work," he said.
Students and employees in the province have signed a pledge not to damage the central barrier, he added.
On June 28, four people were killed and two injured in a lorry crash on the highway. The lorry driver was speeding.— VNS
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