Educating students about traffic safety laws: Don't just give up halfway.

(Baonghean) - Educating students about traffic safety laws is very important in contributing to ensuring traffic safety. The issue is finding solutions to make this work as effective as possible...

Numerous violations

At nearly 11:30 AM on November 21st, at the gate of Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City), on Phan Boi Chau Street, less than 5 minutes after the school bell rang, students poured out like a swarm of bees. Most of them went home on bicycles and electric motorbikes, while a few got into cars picked up by their parents.

Some students from Nguyen Truong To Private High School ride motorbikes to school.

The road in front of the school gate became chaotic as many students stopped their bikes in the middle of the road to wait for each other, then they rode in groups of three or four. Many of them rode electric bikes without helmets, and some even had helmets but hung them on their bikes instead of wearing them.

At the gate of Nguyen Truong To Private High School, in addition to the aforementioned chaotic scene, there is also the widespread use of large-displacement motorcycles (motorcycles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50cc) by the school's students.

Just a few dozen meters from the school gate, there are two parking areas for students run by local residents. At these parking areas, bicycles and electric bikes are parked outside, while large-displacement motorbikes are "hidden" inside the houses.

Late in the afternoon of November 21st, at the intersection of Nguyen Sy Sach and Ha Huy Tap streets, during rush hour, traffic began to pour in. This was also the time when students from Ha Huy Tap High School (from the Phan Boi Chau - Nguyen Sy Sach side), Nguyen Truong To High School (from the Ha Huy Tap side), Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School, and Huynh Thuc Khang High School (from the Nguyen Van Cu side) finished school and returned home.

According to our observations, even with three traffic police officers (two male and one female) on duty at this intersection, most students "casually" proceeded straight ahead or turned left when the traffic light turned red, causing many cars and motorbikes to brake suddenly. By 5 PM, the intersection was partially congested, and two traffic police officers had to direct traffic. Drivers of cars and motorbikes generally obeyed the traffic police's instructions, but many students on bicycles and electric bikes ignored them, making the traffic police's job even more difficult.

Strict action is needed.

Over the years, the education and training sector has made considerable efforts in educating students about traffic safety.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Department of Education and Training, said: “Since the beginning of 2014, implementing Decision No. 482/QD-UBND-NC of the People's Committee of Nghe An province on approving the Project “Strengthening the dissemination and education of traffic safety laws in schools in Nghe An province from 2014 to 2018”, the Department of Education and Training has regularly coordinated with the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee and relevant agencies to organize propaganda and guidance for students to participate in safe traffic... At the same time, we have organized the distribution of books on traffic laws to all schools in the province; launched movements and competitions on traffic safety and traffic culture.”

In addition, schools at all levels are instructed to organize traffic safety education programs during peak months; and to regularly integrate the Road Traffic Law into subjects such as Art, Ethics, and Civic Education... with slogans like: "Traffic accidents - the pain remains," "Youth and traffic culture," "Traffic culture means no accidents"... To date, more than 1,500 schools at all levels throughout the province have implemented the dissemination of the Road Traffic Law and traffic culture to students.

In addition, the Department of Education and Training has also strengthened its guidance to schools to organize students and parents to sign commitments to strictly comply with the Traffic Law at the beginning of the school year; and intensified inspections of students' compliance with the Road Traffic Law.

In fact, some schools in the province have done quite well in raising awareness of traffic laws and promoting traffic culture among students. In Thanh Chuong district, Nguyen Sy Sach High School, located near a residential area and close to Provincial Road 558, faces many potential traffic accident risks; however, in recent years, the school has not had any students penalized for traffic violations or involved in traffic accidents.

Carrying 3, 4, or even 5 people on a motorbike is not uncommon during rush hour. Photo: Lam Tung

Mr. Nguyen Khac Diep, the school principal, said: “The school's management board has directed the Youth Union to maintain the activities of the volunteer task force, whose nhiệm vụ is to guide and direct traffic, remind students not to gather in large groups or wait for each other at the school gate. Students who violate the rules are recorded, their names are notified to their class for reminders, and repeated violations will result in a lower conduct grade. The school also manages the use of electric bicycles by students and strictly prohibits students from riding motorbikes to school. Every year, the school cooperates with the police to organize awareness campaigns, sign commitments, and especially resolutely handle students who violate traffic safety laws, such as notifying parents and lowering their conduct grades...”

Hoang Thi Hanh, an 11th-grade student at Nguyen Sy Sach High School, said: “Previously, after school, my friends and I would wait for each other and go home together, usually walking in a horizontal line. Now, thanks to the school's awareness campaign and education on traffic culture, we have realized that this behavior can lead to traffic accidents.”

A short skit performance at the Youth and Traffic Culture Contest organized by Vinh City Youth Union.

However, traffic safety education in secondary schools throughout the province still faces many shortcomings. Ms. Bui Thi Hang, a Civic Education teacher at Le Viet Thuat High School (Vinh City), stated: “Currently, there is no specific, unified curriculum for traffic safety education across all three levels of education. Knowledge of traffic laws is only introduced sporadically in the Civic Education subject. Currently, awareness campaigns in many schools focus only on traffic safety regulations and not on traffic culture.”

Meanwhile, traffic culture is not only about strictly obeying traffic laws but also about having a sense of community when participating in traffic (such as promptly helping people in need...) and behaving courteously while traveling on the road, such as driving slowly and calmly, giving priority to the elderly and children, knowing how to apologize and thank in case of collisions... Therefore, the effectiveness of the propaganda is lacking and its impact on students is limited.”

Driving in a horizontal formation causes traffic safety hazards. (Photo: Lam Tung)

In addition, coordination between schools and traffic police has been carried out, but it has only gone as far as raising awareness at the beginning of the school year and dealing with students riding motorbikes. Cases of students riding electric bikes, bicycles running red lights, or riding in groups of three or four are still not being dealt with, or are being dealt with leniently.

According to Mr. Tran Cao Cuong, Secretary of the Youth Union of Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City), traffic police need to strictly handle these violations, such as temporarily impounding the offending vehicles, reporting to the school to provide a basis for evaluating students' conduct, or notifying parents to come and pay the fine to retrieve their vehicles... Only then will it have a strong deterrent effect on students who violate the law, making them afraid, obedient to traffic safety laws, and cultured when participating in traffic.

Minh Quan