Unsafe Conditions on Many Highways

On March 19, the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security organized a scientific seminar on “Ensuring order and traffic safety on expressways – current situation and solutions”.

Shortcomings in planning and management

The seminar focused on solutions to improve the effectiveness of patrolling, controlling, handling violations, ensuring order and traffic safety on highways, preventing traffic congestion and accidents; the current situation and surveying and proposing solutions for infrastructure and traffic organization on expressways.

At the seminar, Colonel Nguyen Quang Nhat – Head of the Propaganda, Investigation and Handling of Traffic Accidents Department (Traffic Police Department) – said that up to now, the country has exploited and used 9 expressways with a total length of 1,708 km. During the process of exploitation and usage, shortcomings and inadequacies in planning, construction, management, and maintenance have been revealed, which have affected traffic safety on the expressways, resulting in many accidents.

Among those, some particularly serious cases are the two accidents on the Cam Lo – La Son and Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressways at the beginning of 2024. In addition, accidents continuously occur on new expressways brought into operation such as Hanoi – Lao Cai, Cao Bo – Mai Son – National Highway 45, Trung Luong – My Thuan, Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet, Nha Trang – Cam Lam… due to the lack of compliance with safety standards from the construction phase.

Specifically, there are no rest stops for drivers, no rigid barriers, no emergency stopping lanes or ones that do exist but fail to meet the standard width, lack of lighting system at night, limited visibility… Besides, some sections have not been equipped with working offices, temporary vehicle impoundment areas, places to handle violations… causing difficulties for the activities of the traffic law enforcement forces to ensure order and traffic safety.

Presenting a report at the seminar, Major Le Quang Hoa – Head of Traffic Management and Control and the delegation (Traffic Police Department) – said through a survey of 11 expressways and 1 component investment project of the Cam Lo – La Son section, 132 irregularities and existing problems were found, such as the lack of a barrier in between, insufficient emergency stopping lanes, deteriorated road surface…

For some newly launched and currently operating expressways that do not meet the high-speed standards, latent risks exist, leading to accidents, congestion and difficulties for drivers. Other expressways such as Hanoi – Lao Cai, Hanoi – Thai Nguyen have deteriorated and subsided during usage, resulting in uneven traffic flow, potential risks to traffic safety, but the repairs and improvements have been slow.

Downgrade operation

According to Major Le Quang Hoa, if these expressways do not meet the safety conditions, the unit will still firmly propose downgrading the operation. “If downgrading is not possible, then vehicle entry must be restricted, speed must be limited, ensuring safety for all participants in traffic” – Major Le Quang Hoa emphasized.

Regarding the current situation, Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Roads, said that allocated funds only meet about 66% of the investment needs for expressways in the period of 2021 – 2025. “As the management unit, we always want to operate 6-lane roads that fully meet the standards like the Hanoi – Hai Phong expressway. However, due to limited resources, we have to invest in stages for some low-traffic volume sections that pass through difficult terrain” – Mr. Thang said.

According to Mr. Thang, investing in 2-lane expressways without rigid barriers poses a high risk of accidents, and expressways without continuous emergency stopping lanes will cause prolonged congestion when incidents happen. In Q1/2024, the Ministry of Transport will issue standards for expressways. When these standards are in place, there will certainly be no more 2-lane expressways, and the minimum investment requirement will be 4 lanes. The relevant agencies will allocate resources to ensure the completion of expressway construction.

Meanwhile, Mr. Khuat Viet Hung, Deputy Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, believes that accidents occur due to both the standards of the roads and the lack of knowledge, skills, and consciousness of the traffic participants. “In the two recent accidents on the Cam Lo – La Son expressway, the drivers were reckless in overtaking and didn’t put up warning signs when stopping. With such awareness, accidents still occur even on a 6-lane expressway” – Mr. Hung said.

Regarding the lighting system on expressways, Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang believes that when participating in traffic on expressways, drivers follow signs, road markings… Expressways do not have level crossings, nor do they allow non-motorized vehicles, so installing lighting throughout the route is a waste of resources. “The regulations and standards clearly state that lighting must be installed in toll station areas, rest stops, intersections, overpasses, tunnels…, regarding straight sections, with road markings and signs, safety is ensured” – Mr. Thang analyzed and spoke from the experience of some countries in the world, installing excessive lighting leads to light pollution.