Not wearing a helmet is a disregard for one's own life.

(Baonghean) - Currently, the national campaign "Children Must Wear Helmets," a collaboration between the World Health Organization and the Asia Pacific Foundation for Injury Prevention and other organizations, ministries, and sectors, is being implemented in three major cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. Decree 34/2010/ND-CP (effective from May 20, 2010) clearly stipulates penalties for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike or electric bicycle in traffic. This decree also mandates the wearing of helmets for children aged 6 and above when being transported by others on motorbikes.

Despite numerous campaigns and competitions promoting traffic safety, the practice of motorcyclists not wearing helmets remains quite prevalent in our province. According to statistics from the Provincial Traffic Police Department, from January 1st to March 3rd, 2013, traffic police fined 25,674 motorcyclists for traffic safety violations, of which 16,168 were for not wearing helmets.

Lieutenant Colonel Bach Hung Dung – Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Police Department, stated: "We are very strict in enforcing penalties for not wearing helmets while riding motorcycles, especially for adults. While we have implemented penalties for children over 6 years old not wearing helmets according to Decrees 34 and 71, it's not easy to visually identify children over 6. Therefore, we only issue fines in cases where the violator is definitely over 6 years old and the parents acknowledge it. For other cases, we simply issue warnings. We can't require parents to provide birth certificates or household registration books every time a violation occurs to verify the child's age. In my opinion, the important thing is that people understand that wearing a helmet is to protect their own lives, not just to avoid being fined by authorities." It's not just children over 6 years old who need to wear helmets; anyone, regardless of age, should wear a helmet when riding a motorbike in traffic to avoid unfortunate injuries and fatalities in the event of an accident.

Speaking with us, Mr. Vo Minh Duc, Chief of the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee Office, said: From 2010 to the present, the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee has coordinated with the Department of Education and Training to organize campaigns promoting helmet use and distributing helmets to students at several locations in Vinh City, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, and Cua Lo. The promotion of helmet use for children and adults has been publicized by the media and codified into law. The current behavior of many people not wearing helmets while riding motorcycles is intentional, not due to ignorance. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Bach Hung Dung stated that the current "hot" issue is the failure of many young people, including students, to wear helmets while riding motorcycles in traffic.

Many parents do not put helmets on their children when they go to school.
(Photo taken at the gate of Hung Dung 1 Primary School - Vinh City)

According to our observations, at the gates of junior high schools in Vinh City, nearly half of the parents transporting their children to school by motorbike do not have their children wear helmets. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa from Hung Binh (Vinh City) said: “I always remember to wear a helmet when I go out because I'm afraid of being fined, and I also buy helmets for my children to wear for safety, but I don't always remember. Partly because I'm in a hurry for work, and partly because I think the police don't fine children, so I haven't paid attention to making them wear helmets.” When we asked her if she knew about the regulations regarding penalties for children over 6 years old not wearing helmets, she said she had heard about it on TV but wasn't very clear on the details! Ms. Hoa is not alone; when we asked many other parents if they knew that children over 6 years old riding motorbikes without helmets are also subject to penalties, many said they didn't know, while those who did said they lived near the school or "forgot" to put helmets on their children.

Therefore, to ensure that people strictly comply with helmet wearing regulations, especially for children when riding motorcycles, in addition to people's self-protection awareness, public awareness campaigns need to be intensified. Relevant authorities should collaborate with the Department of Education and Training to expand awareness campaigns, particularly with parent associations, to raise awareness among parents themselves when taking their children to school or when participating in traffic, in order to prevent potential risks for their children and themselves.

Duc Dung