Ha Noi, day 01 month 09 year 1997

DIRECTIVE No.718-TTg OF SEPTEMBER 1st, 1997 ON INTENSIFYING THE DIRECTION TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S DECREES ON ENSURING TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY

After two years' implementation of Decree No.36-CP of the Government on ensuring land road and urban traffic order and safety, and one year's implementation of Decree No.39-CP of the Government on ensuring railway traffic order and safety, as well as Decree No.40-CP of the Government on ensuring inland waterway traffic order and safety, great progress has been made in the field of traffic order and safety nationwide, thus reducing the number of serious traffic accidents. This is attributed to the close coordination among branches, mass organizations and local administration at various levels, especially to the great efforts made by ward and commune authorities, as well as the people from all walks of life throughout the country.

Besides such achievements, some ministries, branches and localities have shown shortcomings, failing to ensure regular and constant coordination in directing the performance of this task. Therefore, violations have recently been recommitted, with sidewalks being reoccupied for market places and trading activities, paths being illegally built across railroads, fish traps being illegally set in rivers and traffic jams in big cities, etc., which have been on the rise together with the number of traffic accidents.

In order to maintain and further promote the obtained results and overcome the existing problems, the Prime Minister requests the ministers, the heads of the concerned branches and presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government to focus their direction on the following:

1. Reviewing the implementation of Decree No.36-CP during the past two years and Decree No.39-CP and Decree No.40-CP during the past one year, drawing experiences therefrom and speedily devising plans and measures for feasible and long-term implementation thereof.

2. Continuing to further step up the dissemination and popularization of regulations on traffic order and safety among the population.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall promptly finalize the programs and documents for teaching students of all level legal knowledge about traffic order and safety, and shall consider it a compulsory subject in their curriculum.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall assume the main responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Communication and Transport and the Ministry of Justice in proposing measures to improve the order and procedures for handling violations and forms of collecting fines so as to make them convenient for the fine payers.

5. The traffic order and safety enforcement forces shall have to more strictly deal with violations of traffic order and safety regulations, irrespective of whether the violators are car drivers, motorbike or bicycle riders or pedestrians.

6. Resolutely handling or prosecuting the enforcement officials who commit negative acts. The persons who make correct denunciations about the negative acts committed by any enforcement official shall be promptly rewarded.

To launch the campaign for traffic safety to be participated by the entire population, the Prime Minister decides that September every year shall be taken as "traffic safety month". The steering boards for traffic safety at the central and local levels shall have to work out their specific action plans and organize the propaganda so as to remind the people of traffic safety rules; branches and levels shall have to pay special attention to ensuring the traffic order and safety to reduce the number of traffic accidents in September every year and maintain the results obtained in "traffic safety month" for the subsequent months.

The Prime Minister requests the ministers, the heads of the concerned agencies, the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government to organize and direct the implementation of this Directive in order to ensure the traffic safety in general and diminish the damage caused by traffic accidents in particular.