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Helmet law one year anniversary: thousands of lives saved


At Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi, Hung thrashed in pain. His chest was covered in a blood soaked bandage, as his mother massaged his limp arms and legs.


“Luckily, he was wearing a helmet. Otherwise he’d have been dead,” said Hung’s 45-year-old mother, Nguyen Thi Hanh. He had the accident when he was driving home from a wedding. A motorbike cut him off and he swerved into a concrete barrier.

Many deaths have been avoided since the mandatory helmet law came into effect one year ago on December 15, 2007.

By the end of October, there were more than 1,400 fewer road traffic fatalities, and more than 2,200 fewer serious injuries compared to the same time last year, according to a report of the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC).

“Thanks to the introduction of mandatory helmet laws there are more people alive today to enjoy time with their family and look forward to Tet [Lunar New Year] celebrations,” Dr. Jean-Marc Olivé, Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam said in a recent statement.

The results from an analysis of hospital motorcycle trauma showed a 16-percent reduction in road traffic head injuries in the first three months of the mandatory helmet law, compared to the three months prior to the law.

The law has changed the habits of many local people when riding motorbikes, and helmets are no longer derisively called “rice cookers.”

“I started wearing a helmet when the government insisted on it,” said banking staff Nguyen Thanh Ha, 24.

“At first, it was uncomfortable, but now I am used to it,” Ha said. Her helmet, a green Piaggio model, matches her green Piaggio motorbike.

At night, Hanoi is a sea of brightly decorated motorbike helmets.

Meanwhile, the sidewalks of the capital are crowded with helmet shops serving customers who comply with the law.

Helmets have become much lighter and more fashionable with designs such as hibiscus flowers and panda faces for female riders, since the new law was announced in September 2007.

The habit of wearing helmets is of great significance in Vietnam, where more than 95 percent of the 26 million vehicles cramming its busy streets are motorcycles, and the number of motorbikes is increasing by more than 9,000 new registrations each day.

Associated with this high exposure, an estimated 59 percent of all road traffic fatalities in Vietnam are motorcyclists, according to WHO.

In other moves to strengthen motorcycle safety, the government has given concrete requirements on national helmet standards, and correct ways of fastening helmets.

A survey by the Vietnam Consumer Safety Association in early 2008 found that 80 percent of helmets on the market did not meet national standards.

If a helmet is not fastened, police will consider this “non-wearing” and the rider or passenger can be fined up to VND200,000 (US$12.20).

However, local people generally don’t put helmets on children, as there is no law which requires children under 16 to wear one.

There is also a false rumor that even the smallest helmets are too heavy for a child’s small neck to support.

“I had already bought a helmet for my three-year-old son. But I gave up my intention of having him wear it when I heard the information,” Le Thu Trang, 32, an administrative clerk in a Thai company in Hanoi.

Despite the belief of many parents, there is no evidence that wearing a helmet causes injuries to the neck, said WHO.

“Rather than causing harm as the myths and rumors suggest, many needless road traffic injuries and deaths in children could have been prevented through the correct and consistent use of properly-fitting, good quality helmets,” Dr Olivé said.

The fact that children under the legal age, or the adults that are responsible for them, cannot be financially penalized for not wearing a helmet is the major factor that prevents their wearing them.

“Attention must now be turned to the vast numbers of Vietnamese children who do not wear helmets when they are passengers on a motorcycle,” said Olivé.

WHO is working with the government to develop a law that penalizes adults who allow children on motorcycles without proper helmet protection.

“This would have an immediate effect to boost the number of children wearing helmets and protect the lives of many Vietnamese children,” Olivé said.

WHO looks forward to continuing its strong cooperation with the government and other partners in this important area, to achieve a common goal of saving lives on Vietnam's roads, it said in the statement.

“If wearing helmets really causes no great harm effects to children, we should put them on our children. It is safer,” nurse Nguyen Thuy Ngoc, 30, said. “I will find a light high quality helmet for my child,” she said.

Reported by Bao Anh