Trucks from 3.5 tons and up must have reflective strips to reduce traffic accidents.

Reduce traffic accidents, no cost

Deputy Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee Tran Huu Minh said that traffic accidents between vehicles in motion and vehicles that are stopped or parked are currently complicated and tend to increase. In 2016, there were 36 cases, killing 12 people. In 2017, there were 42 cases, killing 14 people. Notably, among the traffic accidents,The number of incidents between moving vehicles and trucks parked on the side of the road accounts for a large proportion.

“Based on the above situation, the National Traffic Safety Committee proposes to add a regulation requiring trucks of 3.5 tons or more to have reflective strips. This is considered an effective solution that has been successfully applied in developed countries around the world. Along with human solutions, adding reflective strips to cars will bring positive results,” said Mr. Minh.

Reflective stickers for cars have been piloted in Hai Phong since 2016 to help reduce traffic accidents involving trucks (In photo: Reflective stickers at the headquarters of the Hai Phong Road Freight Transport Association).

Giving specific evidence of the effectiveness of reflective striping on trucks that is being applied in many countries around the world, Mr. Minh said that in the US, increasing the visibility of large trucks with reflective strips can help reduce 41 - 44% of traffic accidents involving large trucks. In the period of 1960 - 2012 alone, up to 2,660 lives were saved across the US thanks to the solution of reflective strips on large trucks. In Russia, reflective strips help reduce up to 45% of traffic accidents, 50% of deaths and 65% of injuries compared to no reflective strips.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said that up to now, new proposals often cause concerns about implementation costs. However, this proposal has received almost no reaction. Because the cost of applying reflective stickers is not high, only about 200,000 VND per vehicle.

“The addition of regulations requiring trucks of 3.5 tons or more to have reflective strips to limit traffic accidents is necessary and highly feasible. This is a job with simple operations, low cost and very potential effectiveness,” Mr. Thanh commented.

There will be a specific implementation roadmap.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan, Director of Hoan Cau Transport Company Limited, said that applying reflective stickers to trucks is necessary to ensure traffic safety. However, in the process of implementing this regulation, there needs to be a suitable roadmap to create conditions for both businesses and people to have the best preparation.

“There should be clear and flexible regulations on standards for the type of reflective equipment that can be used. Consumers should have the right to choose the appropriate sticker model, and should not be forced to buy products from only one supplier,” Mr. Hoan analyzed.

Reflective strips help reduce traffic accidents involving trucks.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh said that reflective strips should be applied to all types of cars, but first trucks will be applied, and later the subjects of vehicles that must have reflective strips will be expanded. Regarding the results of the pilot of 115 vehicles in Hai Phong in 2016, Mr. Thanh said that although the number of vehicles participating in the pilot was not large and the results were only for reference, the most noteworthy thing was that the feedback from drivers about reflective stickers was very positive.

“Drivers all appreciate the effectiveness of reflective strips and strongly support this. According to drivers, reflective strips not only help drivers easily identify other vehicles on the road but also help them visualize the shape of other vehicles to be proactive in situations,” said Mr. Thanh.

According to Mr. Tran Huu Minh, the proposal to include a mandatory regulation on reflective strips for cars of 3.5 tons or more in Draft 86/2014 comes from the actual situation of traffic accidents in Vietnam as well as international experience. However, this is just a proposal, and when this regulation is issued, the Ministry of Transport will have a specific circular guiding the size of the stickers, how long and wide. This needs to have a suitable roadmap and not force businesses and people to implement it immediately. It is possible that reflective devices will be applied to trucks in 2020.