Immediately after the information about the serious traffic accident on the Cam Lo – La Son expressway was received, journalist Pham Trung Tuyen – Deputy Director of VOV National Traffic Channel, Voice of Vietnam (VOV) had a comment about: Two expressways in Vietnam are extremely dangerous due to traffic organization. The first is the La Son – Tuy Loan expressway and the second is the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway, Yen Bai – Lao Cai section.
It is called an expressway but the La Son – Tuy Loan route only has 2 lanes, no solid separator and it is very dangerous for drivers when they continuously face oncoming cars with high beams.
According to journalist Pham Trung Tuyen, both sections of these expressways have only 1 lane in each direction and all continuous lines, you have to drive 5-7 km to have a short overtaking section.
“On these 2 sections of the road, if you obey the law, all vehicles will have to travel at the minimum speed because of heavy trucks, vehicles driven by inexperienced people. The overtaking sections are short, and the speed is limited, so if you drive at the correct speed, only one or two vehicles can overtake at each overtaking section.
Driving like that, the drivers will usually feel frustrated, stressed, affect their mood and concentration, handling situations…”said journalist Pham Trung Tuyen.
From there, journalist Pham Trung Tuyen believes that for roads with only 1 lane in each direction, traffic should be organized like regular national highways, with only continuous lines, no overtaking in the turning, blind spot areas, and have broken lines (vehicles can overtake when meeting safety conditions).
The Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway, Yen Bai – Lao Cai section only has 2 lanes.
“At least, drivers on the highway can drive fast and safely equivalent to low-speed roads. The tragic accident on the La Son – Tuy Loan road today, although the fault lies with the victims, but the traffic organizers should think about their work”, Mr. Tuyen commented and raised the issue.
On the Facebook social network, members of the Autofun group (OFFB Group) had many experiences sharing, expressing their views on current Vietnam expressways. Especially the Cam Lo – La Son expressway that just had an accident.
Member Nguyen Van Hung said that this road (Cam Lo – La Son expressway) has only 1 lane in each direction, has continuous lines and prohibition signs, about 5km there will be a point for overtaking with broken lines or expanding the lane with a 1km long solid separator to overtake, but still put a 80km/h speed limit sign.
Because the road is small and has many long slopes, large vehicles always travel very slowly, about 50km/h, so small vehicles have to follow in a row, which is very frustrating, and when it comes to overtaking areas even though there are 2 lanes with a solid separator, an emergency lane, but still have an 80 restriction and the length allowed for overtaking is only 1km, so when reaching this section if you don’t accelerate to take the opportunity to overtake, you will have to follow and wait for the next overtaking spot.
A view of the accident from above
Scene of the accident on the Cam Lo – La Son expressway on February 18th, involving 4 cars, causing 3 deaths.
“As seen in the dashcam video, the container truck still stays in the left lane and travels at a speed of 56, making it difficult for vehicles behind to overtake, and if you don’t take advantage of this section to overtake, you will have to follow the container truck until the next overtaking opportunity”, driver Nguyen Van Hung analyzed.
Similarly, driver Nguyen Danh Tuyen said he recently drove in the afternoon and last night (February 17th) on the Tu Loan – La Son and La Son – Cam Lo expressways and had some personal experiences about these expressways.
The road is narrow, with only 1 running lane and 1 emergency lane (the emergency lane is also narrow enough for only 1 car, if you park in the emergency lane and turn on warning lights, it is also very dangerous, most drivers stop and rest in sections with large and bulged emergency lanes for safety).
The Cam Lo – La Son expressway has very few oving points available to drivers because it is only designed with 2 lanes, no solid separator in the middle.
The entire route is mostly continuous lines, with segments of broken lines and segments with 2 separate lanes for the purpose of overtaking each other, connected vehicles running if there is an accident or incident in 1 of the 2 lanes, it will definitely cause traffic jams.
Mr. Tuyen believes that driving should have a cool head. On the expressway, there are many slow-moving trucks, leading to the following vehicles unable to drive fast (because there are overtaking prohibited sections). This leads to when reaching the overtaking section, the vehicles behind are impatient, trying to accelerate quickly to overtake, Some even “take revenge” by cutting in front of other vehicles. Because doing so again puts people on board at risk, not to mention themselves
When overtaking other vehicles, it is advisable not to overtake while connecting to other vehicles, because the front vehicle obscures the view ahead, and you cannot clearly see obstacles ahead. Wait for the front vehicle to completely overtake the car next to it, and observe the road, signs in front before overtaking.
When overtaking long, large vehicles (such as containers, buses), it is advisable to use turn signals and horn (should not honk continuously which can cause annoyance) to make the driver of the other vehicle pay attention.
Always drive at the allowed speed, do not drive too close to the front car (if the speed is 80km, keep a distance of at least 70m). When the front car stops suddenly, you still have enough time and distance to handle the situation.
Driving requires a calm mind. On the expressway, there are many trucks that travel slowly, leading to following cars unable to pass (because there are prohibited sections for overtaking). This leads to when reaching the overtaking position, the cars behind are in a hurry to accelerate as fast as possible to overtake, and some even “take revenge” by cutting in front of the other’s car. Because doing so again puts people on board at risk, not to mention themselves…
In Vietnam, there is another expressway that is extremely dangerous, which is the Hanoi – Bac Giang expressway when allowing motorcycles to travel with cars. The volume of cars on this section is very large (because it is the National Highway 1), there are many trucks, containers, and buses, sometimes cars are traveling at 80-90km/h but encounter motorcycles invading their lane. Many accidents have occurred, but the organization of traffic, not allowing motorcycles to enter the expressway has not been implemented.
