Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Tenyears after it came into effect, Vietnam’s mandatory helmet law still strugglesto address quality issues and raise motorbike riders’ awareness of the need forsafe helmets.

At present, the helmet law, calledresolution number 32, is estimated to have created a substantial uptick in thenumber of riders who wear helmets in urban areas, from 30 percent in 2007 to 90percent today.

The Asian Injury Prevention Foundation(AIP) estimates that some 500,000 cases of head injury and 15,000 deaths wereprevented thanks to standardised helmets. Therefore, the country has saved 3.5billion USD in healthcare and injury treatment costs.

Hoang Thi Na Huong, AIP’s deputy CEO,told the Kinh te & Do Thi (Economic & Urban Affairs)newspaper that she believes the helmet plays a major role in limiting trafficinjuries and deaths.

“With the good practice of wearinghelmets, Vietnam is now recognised among developing countries for itspositive achievements in traffic safety,” she said.

But the resolution’s enforcement facesseveral challenges.

In countryside and suburban areas, only50 to 60 percent of motorbike riders wear helmets. Moreover, up to 40 percentcurrent helmets are low quality, offering no protection at all, according tothe National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC).

Luu Xuan Binh, deputy head of office ofHanoi Traffic Safety Committee, said the low proportion of children wearinghelmets needs to be addressed.

“I have witnessed many trafficaccidents involving students. If only they had worn helmets, those horrendouslong-term injuries would have been avoided,” he said.

After the law was introduced, the mediaraised the suggestion that wearing helmets may cause damage to children’snecks. Although many experts argue against the unreasonable hypothesis, manyparents still refuse to get helmets for their children.

The ineffectiveness ofawareness-raising campaigns was cited by Huong as the reason for thephenomenon. Loose enforcement, on the other hand, explains the low rate ofwearing helmets in rural areas, she said.

Stronger actions requested

“I don’t want to wear a helmet as itcan damage my makeup look and hair style,” said Nguyen Thu Huong of Ha Dong district.And Huong is not in the minority.

Nguyen Duc Kha, head of office for theHanoi Traffic Safety Committee, stressed that the poor awareness of motorbikeriders is the main cause for disobeying the law.

“Moreover, some people know about theimportance of helmets but they deliberately ignore it, citing inadequatereasons,” he said.

The circulation of poor quality helmetworsens the problem. The poor regulation of the sale of those products, pricedfrom 15,000 to 50,000 VND (0.6- 2.2 USD), renders Resolution No 32 lesseffective.

“The four ministries of Transport,Science and Technology, Public Security and Industry and Trade have not yetadopted any strong action to deal with poor quality helmets. If the situationcontinues, the effort to call for people wearing helmets in the past ten yearsmay not achieve expected results,” Huong said.

Traffic expert Nguyen Manh Thangsuggested related agencies should collaborate in tightening helmet management.

According to him, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade should develop monitoring tools for police to easily detectpoor quality helmets.

“We have to strictly handle theindustry of poor helmets as they are earning money on people’s lives,” hestressed.

Binh, on the other hand, called forparents’ cooperation in expecting their children to wear helmets.

"I think we should make itmandatory for children at all ages to wear helmets," he said. 

Moreover, teachers and families shouldpay attention to provide them with protection skills, including wearing helmetswhen riding motorbikes, he suggested. 

The data from the National TrafficSafety Committee shows that 80 percent of road traffic accident deaths arerelated to motorbikes. Wearing a helmet helps to reduce head injury risk by 60 percentand mortality risk by 40 percent.-VNA