Thanks to changes made to the structure of the contest over the last few years, the number of contestants has increased dramatically. After five years since its inception, from just over 1,000 entries, in the last three years the contest has received over 100,000 entries each time.
In total, over five years, the competition received over 343,000 entries with quality models and posters equipped with the most useful knowledge about the provisions and the sense of obeying the traffic law to building traffic culture.
The 2016 contest attracted 362 organisations and units, along with thousands of individuals submitting their entries with a total of nearly 111,500 articles, presentations and models on solutions to improve traffic in Hanoi toward a safe and civilised capital city.
Entries submitted came in various forms, including articles, interviews, comments, notes and examples of ensuring traffic safety, as well as photo reports, posters, and paintings, in the form of stories and poems with rhymes and melodies that are easy to read and remember. This was also a new feature in the communication work on raising public awareness of traffic safety and road traffic law, contributing significantly to the improvement of traffic culture and adherence to the law.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen The Hung emphasised that with a deep awareness of the negative impact of traffic accidents and congestion on the socio-economic development of the capital city, in the past years, Hanoi has implemented many synchronous and practical activities to respond to the “Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020” programme by the United Nations.
In particular, during the implementation of the "Year of Urban Order and Civilisation 2016" programme, over the past year, traffic accidents in Hanoi have reduced after many "black spots" causing accidents and traffic jams were removed, helping to improve the adherence to traffic laws of local people and turning Hanoi into one of the safest destinations for domestic and foreign tourists.
Hung said that the impressive results came from the determination of the entire political system, the efforts of local authorities and people and the message of the "For Traffic Safety in the Capital City" competition, affirming that the event played a major role in influencing the perception of all social classes, especially the younger generations, to raise awareness when participating in traffic for people and building traffic culture in the capital city.
At the ceremony, the organisers awarded a special, two first, three second, six third and 13 consolation prizes for winners of the 2016 contest. The overall winner was Dinh Quoc Thai from the Project Management Unit of Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture with his article "Finding Solutions for Traffic Congestion in Hanoi", analysing and providing solutions to remove bottlenecks in urban transport.
In addition, the city authorities presented certificates of merit to units and individuals who made outstanding contributions to organising the competition.
Also at the event, the organising board launched the fifth "For Traffic Safety in the Capital City 2017". This year, the National Traffic Safety Committee has developed an action plan titled "Building Traffic Culture among Children and the Youth", aiming to reduce the number of deaths and the number of people injured in traffic accidents by 5-10% in comparison with 2016.
