Vietnam: Mandatory Helmet Law Now In Effect

On December 15, 2007, nearly all Viet Nam’s motorbike riders left their homes wearing helmet. On that day a new law came into effect requiring that motorcycle riders wear helmets all the time. Within two days, some hospitals were reporting that the number of patients admitted for traumatic brain injuries was much lower than on previous weekends.  This impressive change follows 9 years of lobbying by many partners on the ground in Viet Nam and has included the following:

• The development of a "tropical" helmet by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, specially designed for the conditions in the country;
• The development of helmet standards, including the world's first helmet standard for children;
• Over 300,000 helmets have been provided in a Helmets for Kids program;
• Conferences and workshops – The Global Road Safety Partnership Helmet Conference was held in Hanoi in December, 2006, using the WHO, GRSP, FIA-Foundation and World Bank Helmet Manual - A road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners; recommendations from this conference were the basis for Vietnam’s new helmet law;
• Various public awareness campaigns.

This multi-faceted approach to road safety in the country has been supported by non-profit, profit, government, and nongovernmental organizations – including the Atlantic Philanthropies, Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, World Health Organization, FIA-Foundation, Global Road Safety Partnership/Global Road Safety Initiative, the UN Road Safety Collaboration; and more recently, the Royal Danish Embassy Hanoi, the US Embassy Hanoi, AusAid, Asia Development Bank, the World Bank, Intel Vietnam and Michelin SEA.

Vietnam’s traffic safety leaders say that even with the passage of the law and increased helmet wearing, the work is far from finished. They are moving to assure that helmet wearing compliance continues in the long-term. Attention will focus in the coming months on ensuring correct wearing of helmets, adherence to helmet standards and enforcing the new helmet law. Brain injuries are still occurring – but now mostly among riders who were not wearing helmets, wearing them incorrectly, or wearing poor quality helmets. In addition, besides helmets, road safety programmes will focus on other traffic safety efforts like reducing drink-driving and reducing speeding.

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