Menu

Police step up road safety campaign

The traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security is taking to the streets to make driver aware of the greater risk of accident.

Police are distributing 3,000 road safety shirts and 6,600 road safety stickers to motorists around the capital and the provinces. In Vientiane, officers are handing out shirts and placing stickers on vehicles along roads in the four districts, while the same is being done in the provinces.

Police are also handing out information on the traffic regulations and the dangers of careless driving. The activities are helping road users to better understand the rules of the road and the high risk of accidents.

The project also involves enforcing the traffic regulations along national roads, setting up checkpoints to monitor motorists’ speeds and assessing their level of sobriety. In particular, the project underscores the concept of road safety, the meaning of traffic sighs, and warnings against drunken driving, with stickers and brochures being distributed in schools and on roadsides.

Laos has a high rate of road accidents compared to other countries in the region with motorbikes involved in 95 percent of all vehicular accidents and males making up 90 percent of the fatalities. Alcohol is recognized as being a major cause of accidents and incidents of drink driving are more frequent than ever.

About 90 percent of accidents involve drunken driving, speeding and other violations of the traffic rules. Many accidents occur on weekends and special occasions when people get together to drink alcohol.