A total of 9,500 traffic accidents were registered during the first 3 months of 2008. Of course there must have been many more because many accidents are resolved without the involvement of police. A total of 8,605 people were killed according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety at a conference held in Hanoi last week.

This means a reduction of 13% of fatal accidents compared to the same period of last year.

Technorati Tags: traffic,accident,saigon,vietnam,helmet,motorbike,safetry

Losing our best and brightest
Once in awhile, the nature of our work hits home in personal ways. It is no longer just a “statistic”. One of my ‘children’- a member of AIPF’s Helmets for Kids program – died in a motorcycle crash in HCMC during Tet. 8-year old Le Xuan Han was killed while riding with her parents and sister to visit her grandmother.

Mom and Dad wore their helmets, but Han and her 7-year old sister Le Minh Nhu did not. A drunk driver on another motorcycle smashed into them at 10am on a Sunday morning. The other driver was killed instantly. The family was rushed to Cho Ray hospital with severe injuries. Han’s father, Le Xuan Hung, suffered a broken hip and collapsed lung. He requires additional surgery. Mother Nguyen Thi Xuan Diem suffered severe lacerations of the face and body. Neither had head injuries. They wore helmets. Sister Nhu suffered a head concussion. No helmet. Han never regained consciousness and died from severe brain damage the next day. No helmet.

We met the grieving parents yesterday in HCMC. They are understandably still in shock. Diem’s first words to us were “I will never forgive myself! Never forgive myself!” She had “made an exception” of the children not wearing helmets that day because “we weren’t going very far”. Han’s sister Nhu still doesn’t understand that her sister won’t be coming home again to play. They had been inseparable. Han’s classmates and teachers are also mourning. Han was one of the top students in her class and had won a number of awards. A bright future lay ahead of her. I share their pain and loss. She was one of ‘mine’. Can you imagine if this happened to you?

The tragedy of this story is being repeated throughout Vietnam everyday. Every day, parents, most of who now wear helmets regularly, are failing to protect their children. Every day, more children are killed in traffic accidents while their parents survive. Every day, more parents must face the grief of a dead or brain dead child. Despite the incredible victory on December 15, when 99% of motorbike riders began wearing helmets, child helmet-wearing rates are rapidly declining. It is now estimated to be less than 5% in the cities, and lower in rural areas. Something is wrong. These children are our future.

I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that Han’s death is not in vain. The suffering caused from traffic accident head injuries is needless, and every death caused from not wearing a helmet is unacceptable.

I call upon the relevant authorities and the police to take steps to close the loopholes and ambiguity of the helmet wearing law. The existing helmet penalty regulation must be revised immediately, and any driver carrying an unhelmeted rider under the age of 14 must be fined. This will work. I call upon parents, teachers and all caregivers to take strict action to ensure that all children wear helmets at all times. No excuses. No exceptions.

The Vietnam Helmet Wearing Coalition, which I head, will re-focus its upcoming Phase III Helmet Wearing efforts on educating parents and teachers about the need for children to wear helmets at all times, on all roads. Parents must understand that there is no medicine for brain damage. Like a vaccination, a helmet is the only known prevention to save a child’s life. They must understand that there is no difference between an adult head and a child head. Both need protection.

All the love in the world cannot bring back a dead child. Don’t gamble with your child’s life. Don’t lose your child forever. Put a helmet on their head.

Sincerely,

Greig Craft
President/Founder
Asia Injury Prevention Foundation
Helmets for Kids

Email: greig.craft@aipf-vietnam.org

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS AND FAMILY. PERHAPS IT WILL SAVE A CHILD’S LIFE.