~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam to require motorbike helmets on all roads

HANOI - Vietnam will make motorcycle helmets compulsory on all roads by the end of the year in an attempt to cut down on traffic deaths in a country where 90 per cent of vehicles are motorbikes, a government official said Tuesday. The government is expected to issue a resolution requiring helmets in July, according to Than Van Thanh, an official in the Transport Ministry, which approved the measure on June 6.

"The new regulation is expected to help reduce the number of people killed in traffic accidents," Thanh said Tuesday. Vietnam, with a population of 85 million people, has more than 21 million motorbikes but only 3 per cent of the country's motorbike drivers wear helmets, according to Asia Injury Prevention Foundation. Vietnamese newspapers carried stories Tuesday warning motorbike drivers of the new law.

In 2001, Vietnam's government backed down on unpopular plans to require helmets - sometimes known derisively as "rice cookers" - on all roads after the law was deemed unenforceable. Instead, the law made helmets compulsory on highways, though many still ignore the law. "This time, it will be different because the authorities and traffic police are very determined," Thanh said. "Failing to wear a helmet when riding a motorbike will be subject to a cash fine of 50,000 dong [about 3 dollars]." Traffic accidents killed 4,700 people in Vietnam in the first four months of this year, up 7.8 per cent year on year, according to government statistics.

More than 75 per cent of brain trauma cases are caused by traffic accidents, and up to 98.6 per cent of the traffic accident victims hospitalized do not wear helmets, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.

Deutsche Presse Agentur - June 26, 2007.