Education influence in traffic safety: A case study in Vietnam

It is well known that traffic accidents are of high importance to the public health spectrum around the world. Moreover, in developing countries such as Vietnam, the mortality rate from road traffic accidents is rather high in comparison with other Southeast Asian countries. Not only do the majority of the people killed and seriously injured significantly affect the quality of life of the citizens, but traffic accidents also negatively impact a nation's economic and social development. Statistics show that far more people are injured or die in traffic accidents than are afflicted by any of the most serious diseases. The very high occurrence of traffic accidents in Vietnam has become one of the country's major social issues. The importance of human factors in transport policy discussion is growing. There is a realization that policy options that appear beneficial in principle have to be checked for their feasibility of implementation. Understanding and describing driver behavior become a challenge when one tries to identify driver errors in determining accident/conflict causal factors and countermeasures. In recent years, having understood the serious effects of traffic accidents on society at large, scientific researchers, traffic engineers and policy makers in Vietnam have developed many projects and conducted research in the field of traffic safety. The human factor is also considered to be the central element in the whole system. The final goal is to organize a traffic environment that is convenient and safe for road users. This article explains the application of the risk analysis approach in evaluating influences of education and enforcement in traffic safety. (C) 2011 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.