Thousands of people including government fficials, celebrities, students gathered at the pedestrian zone around Hoan Kiem lake on Sunday morning (May 12) to raise unanimous voice against drunk driving.The participants wore uniforms printed with the campaign’s logo and held the banners “Drunk- Don't Drive”, “Young generation says no to alcohol,” among others.
Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Truong Hoa Binh heads the walk to support "Don't drive after drinking" campaign. Photo by Le Son/VGP
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Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh stressed that the number of traffic accidents across the country has declined in both cases and casualties since 2012 thanks to the support of the government and the citizens, down from 12,000 deaths annually to 8,000 deaths by 2018, the government portal reported.
However, traffic accidents still claim 21 lives and left nearly 40 people permanently disabled each day.
“Please refuse to sit on cars or motorbikes of drunk drivers. Restaurant owners should ask and serve alcohol-free drinks for drivers,” Binh emphasized.
Binh also required all law enforcement forces to strengthen patrolling and strictly penalize the drivers with alcohol content exceeding the permitted level.
In addition, he unveiled that the authorities are urgently revising and will soon promulgate legal regulations to minimize the risks of innocent people getting involved in accidents caused by drunk drivers.
After the event, participants signed their commitments of “Don’t drive after drink” or “I Know, I do – and you?” took photos and uploaded them to Facebook to spread the message of driving safely without alcohol.
