Strict compliance with traffic laws by drivers will help reduce traffic accidents (Illustration photo)

Anyone who goes to driving school is taught by heart the saying “First is early, second is good…”. Depending on the situation and the provisions of the law, there are different ways to explain it. However, the most common understanding and also the “bloody” experience to avoid accidents is that when arriving at an intersection, the car that enters first will be given the right of way by the other cars. Returning to the above case, my car was not only “early” but was already in the intersection, the 16-seat car could not see the huge car in front of it, why did it have to overtake in such a reckless and dangerous way?! Traffic accidents are all caused by such ways of walking.

The car arrived at Tu Dam Pagoda, saw a large crowd, suddenly remembered that on that day at Tu Dam there was a Grand Mass for the victims of traffic accidents. I felt my heart sink. The mass is held every year, it is also emotional, it also sends a warning message to the whole society. But traffic accidents still persist, still haunt and become an obsession for every person, every family when stepping out on the street. In July 2024, there were 1,889 traffic accidents nationwide, killing 860 people, injuring 1,424 people. Including the first 7 months of the year, 14,242 traffic accidents occurred, killing 6,204 people, injuring 10,976 people - The numbers announced by the National Traffic Safety Committee at this year's mass are still a startling alarm bell, calling on everyone not to and cannot be indifferent.

The steady, soulful chanting coming from the century-old ancient temple in Hue suddenly reminded me of the long-distance bus trips I had to experience. Those were the fights for passengers that made the drivers "show off their skills" by speeding recklessly, regardless of speed, signs, and lanes; the situation of being overcrowded to the point that few people believed, that is, letting passengers sit in the same seat with the driver because the bus was full... Most recently, I bought a ticket to the Central Highlands, a high-quality sleeper bus, but before it started, it was already packed with layers of people. It was so stuffy, I had to text an acquaintance who was a leader of the Department of Transport. Fortunately and very commendably, he had it checked and fixed as soon as the bus started moving after about an hour. Also a high-quality sleeper bus, returning from the Central Highlands to the Ancient Capital, the bus company had a whole basement full of avocados. Not only that, in the passenger compartment, the bus company filled the 2 aisles with 2 rows of crates also containing avocados, on top of the 2 rows of crates were also placed additional mattresses to attract more passengers. Buying tickets early, choosing the lower floor to sleep to avoid bumps, I became like a person stuffed in a box. I was so bored that I couldn't describe it! A 40-seat bus, carrying a full truck of avocados like that, and also stuffing in people like that, was it overloaded, was it guaranteed to brake on a road that was mostly steep like that. Perhaps without much analysis, everyone could understand. A few times the bus encountered a traffic police checkpoint, I was secretly happy, thinking that the bus would definitely be whistled, forced to lower the load, transfer passengers... But then, I saw that the bus company worked with the traffic police very quickly, then sped on the route.

Traffic accidents are not a new story, the reasons leading to traffic accidents have been dissected, analyzed and are all accurate. The “disease” has been correctly diagnosed, but the “medicine” seems to be insufficient, not taken, so the pain and terrible, long-term consequences of traffic accidents still haunt society. Let’s “provide enough medicine”, let’s force the “patient to take medicine” seriously. That is certainly what everyone is looking forward to and hoping for.

Huy Khanh