Make way!

(Baonghean) -According to statistics from the National Traffic Safety Committee, in 2013, there were 29,385 traffic accidents nationwide, killing 9,369 people and injuring 29,500. This is the second year that the number of deaths due to traffic accidents is below… 10,000 people! Obviously, traffic accidents “decreased”, but are still in the red alert zone.

Traffic jam in front of Le Mao Primary School - Vinh City (photo taken at 4:42 p.m. on December 5, 2013). Photo: Phan Nguyen

For a long time now, whenever a traffic accident is raised in a parliament, it immediately becomes a hot topic, and it is also being "dissected" on many social networking sites. Efforts such as improving the infrastructure system; increasing public transport; strict punishment; mobilizing social forces to participate in the campaign to implement "traffic culture" ... have brought about certain results. Unfortunately, the effect of those efforts has only been to slow down the increase rather than improve the situation.

So what is causing the bad traffic situation in our country? Infrastructure or awareness? Of course neither is “innocent”, but suppose we have better infrastructure but with poor awareness of traffic participants, then accidents will definitely still be… accidents! On the contrary, if we have poor infrastructure but have awareness of traffic participants, accidents will decrease.

The movement to implement “traffic culture” seems to have faded away, and no longer receives positive and voluntary responses from road users. The question of why will probably be summarized and answered. But in the opinion of this writer, it may be because it (the movement to implement “traffic culture”) is still general. What in traffic culture causes disaster? Is it possible that the “unyielding” behavior in life has been and is present in traffic? Indeed, road robbery is always happening, it seems like everyone is ready to “go to war”. Just imagine on the street, people “who don’t know who is who” are trying to find every way to squeeze in, to jostle… to get ahead, even if it’s just a tenth of a second… determined to win. The crowd syndrome and the competitive nature are activated, giving way becomes extremely rare in the consciousness of traffic participants.

Most foreign tourists, after visiting, are "fed up" with the traffic situation in our country. They complain about the "unusual" way of driving. Why is that? Can we change the awareness of traffic participants? Not to mention two countries close to us, Laos and Thailand, when we go there, it seems like we don't have to hear car horns. Why is that? Because their traffic culture is to proactively give way. If that were applied in our country, all traffic participants would change from stealing the road to giving way, then "one in front of the other" and accidents would certainly decrease significantly.

I think, instead of complaining about infrastructure, tolls, this fee and that fee... let's try to act! Don't think too big, just change the awareness of traffic participants. Give way! That not only shows that you are a cultured person, but it is also saving our lives, at least contributing to preventing the waste of tens of thousands of billions of dong of the treasury every year. If we really consider traffic accidents as enemies, then why not raise the awareness of traffic participants, I repeat: give way! From an ethical perspective, being irresponsible towards your own life and the lives of others is also murder!

Khac An