Hanoi (VNA) -A number of highways have been opened for public use recently, benefiting thecountry’s socio-economic development. But ensuring traffic safety along theseroads is difficult due to drivers’ low level of awareness and slackinfrastructure management, transport experts say.

Vietnam has 13 highwayroutes with a total length of 745km. Traffic accidents on highways made upabout 13 per cent of total road accidents, but were much more serious than mostothers.

The latest seriousaccident occurred on the Hanoi – Hai Phong Highway last Saturday when a tankertransporting oil crashed into a semi-lorry, killing two people. The semi-lorryhad stopped on the shoulder to change a tyre, but it encroached a little intothe driving lane, according to the highway managers.

Tran Anh Tu, Director ofthe Hanoi-Hai Phong Highway Management Board, said that the board had bannedhighway stops except for unavoidable technical reasons, but many drivers stopon the side lane to rest instead of at the designated rest stations.

In addition, about 50per cent of car breakdowns were repaired on the highways by their owners,incurring serious risk of accidents, he said.

According to the highwaycode, drivers must call a repair service if their cars break down, said Tu. Ifthey cannot call one and they try to solve the problem by themselves, they mustuse warning signals.

As many as 80 percentof traffic accidents on highways were caused by drivers lack of concentrationand loss of control through speeding, according to the Transport andDevelopment Strategy Institute

Le Van Dat, an expertfrom the Transport and Development Strategy Institute, said traffic accidentsstem not only from drivers’ low awareness of safety issues, but also becauseservices along the highways do not meet real demand.

Only 10 stoppingstations were set up along 13 highway routes for drivers to relax, fuel up andfix breakdowns. The Hanoi-Hai Phong road does not have a single stop station.

Several investorsapplied intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in managing highways on fiveroutes, but the application only checks transport conditions and protects the investors’infrastructure, said Dat.

Other transport expertsare concerned about health problems.

In 2013, then PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a project on traffic accident emergencyassistance along highways by 2020, under the responsibility of the Ministry ofHealth. But the project has not been implemented. In addition, many medicalstations are too far from accident scenes, resulting in delayed aid.-VNA