Directive No. 718/TTg on Strengthening Guidance for Implementation of Government Decrees to Ensure Traffic Safety and Order

DIRECTIVE

On Strengthening Guidance for Implementation of Government Decrees to Ensure Traffic Order and Safety

After two years of implementing Decree No. 36/CP of the Government on ensuring traffic order and safety on roads and in urban areas, and after one year of implementing Decrees No. 39/CP on ensuring traffic order and safety on railways and No. 40/CP on ensuring traffic order and safety on inland waterways, generally, the situation regarding traffic order and safety throughout the country has shown positive changes, reducing serious traffic accidents. This is the result of close cooperation between various sectors, mass organizations, and local authorities at all levels, especially the great efforts of district and commune-level authorities and the people across the country.

Alongside these achievements, some ministries, sectors, and localities still have shortcomings and have not been persistent, regular, and continuous in coordinating guidance for the implementation of this task. Therefore, recently, there has been a trend of re-intrusion into sidewalks and road surfaces for market meetings, trading, illegal crossings over railway tracks, and congestion in major cities, with an increase in the number of traffic accidents.

To maintain and further develop the achieved results, address existing issues, the Prime Minister requests the Ministers of relevant Ministries, Heads of related sectors, Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees under the Central Government to focus on directing the following tasks:

1. Evaluate and draw lessons from two years of implementing Decree No. 36/CP and one year of implementing Decrees No. 39/CP and No. 40/CP, promptly build plans, and unify measures for organizing implementation that are feasible and long-term.

2. Further intensify work on propaganda and dissemination among all social strata of regulations concerning traffic order and safety.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training should quickly complete curricula and textbooks for teaching students at all levels knowledge of laws on traffic order and safety, which can be considered a compulsory subject in the curriculum.

4. The Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Justice, should propose improvements to procedures and formalities for handling violations, forms of fines, to reduce undue burdens on those being penalized.

5. Law enforcement forces in the field of maintaining traffic order must strengthen the handling of violations of traffic order and safety regulations, without distinction between drivers of automobiles, motorcyclists, cyclists, or pedestrians.

6. Violent and corrupt actions of law enforcement officers must be resolutely and strictly dealt with or prosecuted before the law. Those who report such corrupt actions accurately must be timely encouraged and rewarded.

To launch a nationwide movement to participate in traffic safety work, the Prime Minister stipulates that September each year shall be designated as "Traffic Safety Month." The Central Steering Committee for Traffic Safety and localities must have specific action plans and organize propaganda to remind the public, sectors, and levels to pay special attention to ensuring traffic order and safety with the aim of reducing traffic accidents in September each year and maintaining the results achieved during "Traffic Safety Month" in subsequent months.

The Prime Minister requests the Ministers, Heads of related agencies, and Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees under the Central Government to organize the implementation of this Directive to ensure traffic safety in general and reduce losses caused by traffic accidents.

Vo Van Kiet

(Signed)