Education influence in traffic safety: A case study in Vietnam
Khuat Viet Hung ⁎, Le Thu Huyen
University of Transport and Communication, Hanoi, Vietnam
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 2 December 2010
Received in revised form 17 December 2010
Keywords:
Traffic safety
Risk analysis
Driver behavior
Human factor
Cause-and-effect chain
It is well known that traffic accidents are of high importance to the public health spectrum around the world.
Moreover, in developing countries such as Vietnam, the mortality rate from road traffic accidents is rather
high in comparison with other Southeast Asian countries. Not only do the majority of the people killed and
seriously injured significantly affect the quality of life of the citizens, but traffic accidents also negatively
impact a nation's economic and social development. Statistics show that far more people are injured or die in
traffic accidents than are afflicted by any of the most serious diseases. The very high occurrence of traffic
accidents in Vietnam has become one of the country's major social issues. The importance of human factors in
transport policy discussion is growing. There is a realization that policy options that appear beneficial in
principle have to be checked for their feasibility of implementation. Understanding and describing driver
behavior become a challenge when one tries to identify driver errors in determining accident/conflict causal
factors and countermeasures.
In recent years, having understood the serious effects of traffic accidents on society at large, scientific
researchers, traffic engineers and policy makers in Vietnam have developed many projects and conducted
research in the field of traffic safety. The human factor is also considered to be the central element in the
whole system. The final goal is to organize a traffic environment that is convenient and safe for road users.
This article explains the application of the risk analysis approach in evaluating influences of education and
enforcement in traffic safety.
© 2011 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. General overview on traffic safety in Vietnam
There is a distinguishing characteristic between traffic flow in
Vietnam (and in many other Asian countries) and those in developed
countries: two-wheeled vehicles (so-called motorcycles) comprise a
high percentage of the road traffic system.
Motorcycle-dominated (MD) traffic flow is very much different
from car traffic flow due to the motorcycles' distinguishing char-
acteristics (which can be summarized as flexibility and maneuver-
ability). Therefore, there appears the need to evaluate and verify such
findings and measures concluded from car traffic flow before applying
them to MD traffic flow.
Statistical data proves that most road traffic accidents in MD traffic
flow countries are caused by motorcycles. Motorcyclists are also
classified as vulnerable users (along with pedestrians and bicyclists)
because safety equipment for motorcyclists is not as adequate as
equipment for car drivers.
The situation of road traffic accidents in Vietnam is nowadays in an
emergency situation. Since 1992, road traffic accidents have rapidly
increased until 2002, the peak year of traffic accidents. The number
of accidents, fatalities and injuries has reached 27,134, 12,800 and
30,999, respectively. During this ten-year period, the number of
fatalities in particular has increased 2.1-fold. From 2003, the number
of accidents and injuries has dramatically decreased, but the number
of fatalities is still critically high, numbering more than 11,000
persons per year. In comparison with other countries in the area,
Vietnam has almost the worst record of traffic accidents (JBIC, Project
SAPFOR for Traffic Safety Improvement in Vietnam, 2008). It is of
particular note that the number of fatalities may not be completely
reported. There is also no regulation in Vietnam for labeling the cause
of death as death by traffic accident when patients die several days
after an accident.
Fig. 1 shows the annual number of road traffic accidents, fatalities
andinjuries from1992 to 2006. In 2006, there were 14,727 roadtraffic
accidents which resulted to 12,757 fatalities and 11,288 injuries. Road
traffic accidents increased rapidly from 1990 to 2002, the peak year
of traffic accidents, with an annual increase rate of 13.5%. During this
12-year period, the number of fatalities has particularly increased
5.8 times. The number of accidents, fatalities and injuries totals to
27,993, 13,186 and 30,999, respectively. However, the number of
traffic accidents and injuries dramatically fell after 2003, although the
number of fatalities remained high and relatively constant, around
12,000 per year.
There may be a systematic bias in the reporting of data on road
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kviethung@yahoo.com (K. Viet Hung).
traffic accidents since Vietnam's 0.87 fatalities per accident (2006) is
extremely high compared with its neighboring countries, with only
0386-1112/$ – see front matter © 2011 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.iatssr.2011.01.004
88 K. Viet Hung, L.T. Huyen / IATSS Research 34 (2011) 87–93
Accidents Fatality Injury
Fig. 1. Road Traffic Accidents in Vietnam (1990–2006).
Source: National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC).
0.17 in Thailand and 0.02 in Malaysia (2000). Fairly constant fatalities
from 2002 to 2006, in contrast to rapidly declining accidents and
injuries in the same period, also point to statistical inconsistency.
Significant under-reporting of accidents and injuries are suspected,
relative to the number of fatalities, which should be more reliable.
Table 1 shows the composition of traffic accidents by cause from
2002 to 2006. Most road traffic accidents in Vietnam are caused by
road users' errors, among which speeding is the primary cause,
accounting for 25%. Road infrastructure, especially national highways,
has improved significantly in the last decade, but drivers' mindsets
have not changed accordingly. As a result, road users tend to speed up
on highways with relatively little traffic. Unsafe overtaking by trucks,
buses and passenger cars expose low-speed vehicles, such as
motorcycles and bicycles, to great risk in a mixed traffic situation.
Under these circumstances, strict enforcement of traffic rules and
effective traffic education of road users are crucial in reducing traffic
accidents. In addition, physical measures such as improvement of
surface conditions, paving of shoulders, re-designing of roads, and
installation of traffic signs and signals are also necessary.
However, so far, research on unsafe behaviors in Vietnam just stops
at using statistical data from analyzing police accident reports, though
the original documents are normally very difficult to access due to
security and legislation issues. Moreover, analysis results from accident
reports depend very much on subjective and qualitative evaluations,
forcing traffic engineering experts to use only secondary data.
There may be several reasons leading to a traffic accident.
Inadequate infrastructure network is now considered to be one of
the biggest reasons for traffic accidents. However, the problem is to
find out whether it is worth investing in constructing and/or
upgrading road networks. Sometimes, newly-built roads allow drivers
to reach very high speeds, resulting in more serious traffic accidents.
Almost other related elements in the whole road traffic system (such
Table 1
Traffic accidents by cause (2002–2006).
Source: Road and Rail Transport Division, MOPS.
Causes Proportion (%)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
1. Speeding 24.4 24.1 26.0 25.8 24.8
2. Unsafe overtaking 18.9 16.8 15.8 12.7 13.7
3. Unsafe lane shifting 17.0 17.6 16.5 16.7 18.0
4. Turning without turn signal 4.1 3.4 2.4 1.6 1.7
5. Crossing intersection on red signal 1.1 0.1 1.7 0.6 0.2
6. Not keeping safe distance 6.9 0.9 2.4 1.8 0.4
7. Careless driving 15.9 12.1 8.1 10.0 8.2
8. Careless crossing of pedestrians 0.7 2.3 2.9 3.2 2.6
9. Others 11.0 22.7 24.2 27.6 30.4
as public transport, vehicle quality, traffic management and opera-
tion) are facing such inappropriate problems with the significant
increase in demand for mobility. The current unbalanced state of the
traffic system can be seen in the amount of traffic congestion and
serious accidents. At the moment, road users in Vietnam are also not
qualified enough to adapt to the current situation of modern and
advanced developments in the road traffic system.
Traditional methodologies mostly focus on single effects of causal
parameters of unsafe traffic situations. For example, in most of
statistical reports on traffic safety in Vietnam, it is written “Speeding
behavior has the highest percentage in all causes of traffic conflicts
and/or accidents.” However, in most cases traffic accidents are not the
result of just a single reason. If a driver drives at a very high speed, but
he concentrates very much on his task of driving, and if there is no
unexpected obstacle (a crossing vehicle, road sliding surface, etc.),
then the probability of a traffic conflict or accident is rather low (may
be equal to zero). Analyzing the impacts different parameters have on
traffic safety as well as their interacting effects can be clarified only by
the modular structural approach of risk-based methodologies.
2. Behaviors of violating traffic regulations
Causes of road traffic accidents include a high increase of
registered vehicles, irrelevant infrastructure (as the mobility demand
increases at a rapid pace), dangerous mixed traffic flow, traffic safety
education and training without expected results, and irregular
enforcement. It is reported that many serious accidents are caused
by mixed traffic flow (with part