Positive changes from Decree 168

According to the report of the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, during the 9-day Tet holiday, there were 445 traffic accidents nationwide, killing 209 people and injuring 373 people.

Compared to the 9-day Tet holiday of 2024, traffic accidents decreased significantly in all three criteria, including a decrease of 258 cases (36.69%), a decrease of 126 deaths (37.61%), and a decrease of 232 injuries (38.34%).

Previously, after half a month of implementing Decree 168 (January 1-14), there were 681 traffic accidents nationwide, killing 365 people and injuring 453 people, a decrease of 355 cases (-34.27%), 47 deaths (-11.41%) and 426 injuries (-34.24%) compared to the same period in 2024.

Practical experience on routes located at some gateways to the capital Hanoi such as Trinh Van Bo - Tran Huu Duc or Cau Dien - Mai Dich intersections..., places where red light running often occurred in the past, also shows that traffic participants basically voluntarily obey traffic signals even when there are no functional forces. Obviously, compared to before, the awareness and consciousness of citizens when participating in traffic have changed, contributing to the formation of traffic culture.

These are positive changes showing that the goal of ensuring traffic safety and order set by the 13th National Party Congress is to "strive to reduce traffic accidents on all three criteria" (number of violations, number of deaths and number of injuries) and the Government's commitment to building a safe, civilized and sustainable traffic environment is being realized.

This fact also shows the correctness and effectiveness of Decree 168 in reducing accidents and raising citizens' awareness of law compliance when participating in traffic.

These positive changes in traffic also dispel the distorted arguments of reactionary forces or false comments on social networks about Decree 168. They take advantage of the fact that drivers are not familiar with it, leading to the situation of "stopping for safety when the green light is 5 seconds left" causing traffic obstruction to distort that Decree 168 causes traffic congestion and chaos in Vietnam.

They take advantage of malfunctioning traffic lights to accuse the authorities of “intentionally setting traps” to collect heavy fines under Decree 168. They deliberately create scenarios to justify the situation of “ignorance of the law” and lack of awareness when participating in traffic, saying that people only accidentally run red lights in emergency situations and are still fined…

However, along with the implementation of Decree 168, the Traffic Police Department has publicly affirmed that violations due to traffic light errors will not be penalized and when making a record of the penalty, the force in charge of traffic lights will coordinate with the traffic police at the checkpoint, extract cameras, images of the violation of the vehicle driver, and show live the progress of the violation and the traffic light signal at that time.

Thus, there is no such thing as people being fined for faulty traffic lights or that the authorities intentionally "set traps for broken lights" to punish them as the bad forces have argued.

Whether people run red lights in emergency situations such as giving way to priority vehicles or not is also clearly determined. Furthermore, if something negative happens, people can completely report it to the authorities.

In short, a civilized, orderly, disciplined society cannot accept chaos, where everyone goes their own way on the streets. Meanwhile, traffic practice since January 1st has initially shown that Decree 168 has helped reduce accidents and raise awareness of traffic law compliance.

Although the sharp increase in fines under Decree 168 may cause concern among some people, it must be seen that human life is the most precious and above all, while the measures in Decree 168 are necessary to ensure traffic safety and protect the lives, lives, and health of each person.

Therefore, we need to be alert to the distorted arguments of reactionary forces as well as false information and comments of opposing elements, not allowing them to impact and affect the building of traffic culture as well as the sustainable development of a disciplined and orderly society.