Implementing Decree 168: Reducing accidents, increasing discipline, contributing to building traffic culture - Lesson 4: Inadequate transport infrastructure and human limitations
Despite positive changes, the implementation of Decree 168 in Nghe An still faces certain challenges. In reality, limitations in traffic infrastructure, human resources, awareness... are barriers affecting the development of traffic culture.
Khanh Ly - Dang Cuong - Tien Dong / Technique: Hong Toai • August 7, 2025
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In recent years, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has directed departments and branches to synchronously implement traffic infrastructure planning associated with socio-economic development planning of sectors, fields and localities.
At the same time, improve the quality, speed up the progress, and build transport infrastructure works and key transport infrastructure investment projects to ensure consistency between provincial planning and regional planning, national planning, urban planning, rural planning, etc. in accordance with the goals of socio-economic development, national defense, security, meeting the travel needs of the people and serving the socio-economic development of the locality.
However, in some areas, especially in mountainous and remote areas, the transport infrastructure is still weak and unsynchronized. Many roads have not been completely asphalted or concreted, causing great obstacles to travel and transport of goods.
Serious degradation is occurring in many mountainous areas with peeling, cracked, and collapsed roads, especially prone to serious damage during the rainy season. On the other hand, many places have difficult terrain with many steep and winding passes, combined with harsh weather conditions such as dense fog and limited visibility, further increasing the risk of traffic insecurity.
One of the "hot spots" for traffic safety in Nghe An is National Highway 7, which passes through many localities, with a rather narrow road surface, many sharp turns, steep slopes and limited visibility. Every day, many trucks carrying ore travel on this route.
According to schedule, tractor trucks transport ore from Laos through Nam Can International Border Gate, then go through National Highway 7 to Cua Lo port or continue transporting to other provinces.
These vehicles are large, long, often carrying heavy loads, but move at high speeds, taking up the entire road when traveling. That makes it difficult for small vehicles such as motorbikes and cars to avoid them, causing a feeling of insecurity for road users.
This is also a clear manifestation of the serious imbalance between technical infrastructure and the increasing transportation pressure on this important traffic route.
In particular, also on National Highway 7, the section passing through Van Tu and Hop Minh communes (old Yen Thanh district), right in the area where the Renovation and Upgrade Project is being implemented.National Highway 7Section Km0-Km36 and handling landslides caused by storms and floods in the Khe Thoi - Nam Can section, provinceNghe An.
In these communes, there are still many points where the roads are still unfinished due to land clearance problems; the new roadbed has a different height than the old roadbed. The old road surface is rough, peeling, has many potholes, muddy when it rains, and dusty when it is sunny, causing traffic insecurity and serious environmental pollution.
At the section passing through Hop Minh commune, due to the narrow and muddy road, traffic accidents have occurred continuously. In particular, on May 17, 2025, a serious traffic accident in this area caused the death of a student.
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On the DH20 route running through Thien Nhan commune (Nghe An) to Duc Minh commune (Ha Tinh), more than 4 km long, of which the last section, from Trung Phuc Cuong intersection (old) to Chau Cuong bridge, nearly 2 km long, is seriously degraded. It is worth mentioning that although this route is very small and narrow, the traffic density is very high. There are many heavy trucks passing through this route to avoid Ben Thuy toll station to Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh), so in many sections, it is not difficult to see potholes scattered on the road. Due to having to carry heavy loads every day, the road surface structure is cracked, broken, many locations have subsided for tens of meters, there are damaged spots from 20-30 cm deep covering almost the entire width of the road surface. According to local people, there have been many collisions and traffic accidents here, causing casualties.
In the old Vinh urban area, the 35m road is more than 8 km long, connecting from National Highway 46 to the Lam River road. Although phase 1 was just completed in 2018 with a total investment of 62.7 billion VND, for more than a year now, this road has become a hot spot for traffic safety issues.
The road surface has appeared with depressions deeper than 10 cm, forming "potato beds", especially at the intersections with Nguyen Phi Y Lan Street and Provincial Road 535 (both in Vinh Loc Ward).
According to local residents, the deterioration of the 35m road is due to the sudden increase in traffic volume over the past few years.
In particular, trucks carrying materials, tractors, and even inter-provincial passenger buses are constantly "plowing". The road surface, which was designed for phase 1, cannot withstand the heavy load, leading to increasingly serious damage. Many accidents have occurred, including at "black spots" where traffic accidents often occur, such as the intersection of 35m road with Le Quy Don street or the intersection with Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard...
Traffic infrastructure problems also appear in central urban areas due to many old traffic light systems and equipment that has deteriorated after a long period of use without being replaced or maintained on time.
Lack of regular inspections causes problems to last longer, affecting traffic regulation and road safety, especially during rush hour or at night or in bad weather.
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Besides technical infrastructure and natural conditions, one of the key factors determining the effectiveness of the implementation of Decree 168 in Nghe An is people's awareness, especially in rural and mountainous areas; many people still maintain "outdated habits" in traffic participation, such as thinking that not wearing a helmet is "okay", driving in the village "does not require a driver's license", or using a vehicle without a license plate is "normal" because it does not affect anyone...
It is these false perceptions and long-term laxity that have contributed to creating a "legal vacuum" in community life, and traffic violations have not been recognized as dangerous behaviors.
That is the cause of many tragic accidents, causing serious consequences.
For example, a serious accident occurred at around 10 p.m. on February 21, 2025 on National Highway 7A, passing through Lan village, Chieu Luu commune, where two teenage boys driving a motorbike collided with a motorbike carrying three female secondary school students going in the opposite direction. The incident left five students seriously injured, two of whom later died due to severe injuries...
The reality is that the law enforcement force is still too thin, facing many difficulties in controlling, detecting and handling violations. In the inspection and supervision forces such as the Traffic Police and Traffic Inspectors on the routes in remote and isolated areas, there is a lack of both human resources and means.
There are border communes where the authorities can only patrol periodically and cannot maintain regular patrols. This makes it difficult to detect and handle violations, indirectly reducing the effectiveness of Decree 168 in practice.
Another limitation in remote areas is the ineffective coordination between functional forces and local authorities in enforcing administrative sanctions under Decree 168.
In many cases, violators are ethnic minorities who, after being fined, still deliberately avoid or do not comply with the penalty decision, while local authorities lack legal tools and human resources to urge and enforce.
In the plains and urban areas, some traffic violations such as alcohol concentration violations, speeding violations, road section and lane violations... still occur, posing complex risks to traffic safety and are the main causes of traffic accidents.
The most serious was the traffic accident on National Highway 46 through Van An commune at 4:30 p.m. on July 13, which killed 3 people, once again sounding the alarm about traffic awareness of many officials and people.
Specifically, at the above time and location, Tran Huu Ba (born in 1988, residing in Van An commune), drove a car with license plate 37A-348.95 traveling in the direction of Kim Lien commune - Van An commune. The car was carrying 2 people. When reaching Thien Duong bridge, passing through Ba Ha block, Van An commune, the car driven by Ba collided with a milestone on the side of the road, then hit a motorbike going in the opposite direction.
Next, the car collided with a motorbike driven by Mr. Dau Dinh Cong (born in 1993), residing in Hamlet 6, Dai Hue Commune (formerly Nam Linh Commune), carrying his wife, children and grandchildren. After that, the car continued to collide with the bridge railing and fell into the Dao River. The consequences of the accident caused Mr. Dau Dinh Cong to die at the hospital; his nephew Dau Dinh Quan (sitting on the motorbike) fell into the Dao River and died; and Mr. Tran Hong Son (sitting in the car) died.
It is worth mentioning that Tran Huu Ba is an officer working at the Ha Tinh Civil and Industrial Construction Investment Project Management Board, and before the accident, Ba and his friends had consumed alcohol and beer at the karaoke bar.
In particular, traffic violations still occur frequently among young people, teenagers, and students with common violations such as not wearing helmets, encroaching on lanes, weaving, swerving, speeding, and driving motorbikes, even large-displacement motorbikes, underage and without a driver's license.
Many cases when discovered also have acts of resistance against law enforcement officers. That is also one of the causes leading to a number of serious TNTG incidents.
Another notable limitation is that the work of propagating and disseminating the law, which is considered the "spearhead" to raise public awareness, has not been effectively implemented in remote communes where people do not have access to newspapers or television, and are not familiar with using social networks or digital devices to access information.
Meanwhile, propaganda documents have not been compiled to suit the local language and culture; the implementation is still formal and lacks depth.
Therefore, some people do not fully understand the content of Decree 168, and some even misunderstand, leading to failure to properly fulfill responsibilities and obligations when participating in traffic, as well as a lack of awareness of the level of danger when violating.
Besides, the budget allocated for these activities is still not commensurate with actual needs, causing many localities to operate at a moderate pace, lacking sustainability.
(To be continued)
