Urgently have a plan to ensure safety for vehicles traveling on Cam Lo highway.

After a period of operation, the Cam Lo - La Son expressway has revealed shortcomings and potential traffic safety risks. A clear proof of this is that recently serious traffic accidents have occurred on the route.

Urgently have a plan to ensure safety for vehicles traveling on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway.

Scene of the traffic accident that occurred in early November 2023 at km 4+600 on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, injuring 2 people and severely damaging vehicles - Photo: LT

Potential hazards

Present on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway in late February 2024, Quang Tri Newspaper reporters noticed that the traffic volume was quite heavy. Every 5-8 km, there is a section of road with 4 lanes for vehicles in the same direction to overtake. However, the allowed overtaking distance is only 1.5 - 2 km long and then merges into a section of road with only 2 lanes separated by solid lines prohibiting overtaking, creating a "bottleneck" at the junctions, posing a great risk of unsafety for vehicles when traveling. In reality, there are many sections starting at the "bottleneck" with no overtaking signs but no warning signs at the junction, causing many drivers to be passive in handling situations when an incident occurs.

Mr. Cao Van Dong, a service car driver in Cam Lo district, said that since the Cam Lo - La Son expressway was built, the distance and travel time from Quang Tri province to Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang city have been shortened, creating convenience for service car drivers in Cam Lo. However, after a period of frequently traveling on this expressway, Mr. Dong feels insecure. “Currently, most of the road has only 2 lanes with a soft median strip with solid lines, only a few 4-lane sections have a hard median strip for vehicles to pass each other, but it is very short. Therefore, when traveling, if you are not familiar with the road, it is very easy to encounter danger when vehicles in the opposite direction pass each other. In addition, many sections on the expressway do not have phone signals or the signals are unstable, there are no rest stops and especially the prohibited overtaking section is too long, while the permitted overtaking section is too short,” Mr. Dong analyzed the causes of traffic accidents.

The Cam Lo - La Son Expressway is one of the component projects of the Eastern Expressway Project with a total length of 98.3 km passing through the two provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue with a total investment of VND 7,669 billion. The project starts at the intersection with National Highway 9, in Cam Hieu commune, Cam Lo district and ends at the La Son - Tuy Loan Expressway in Loc Son commune, Phu Loc district (Thua Thien Hue province). In particular, the section passing through Quang Tri province is 37.3 km long with a total investment of about VND 1,600 billion, put into use from the beginning of 2023 with a scale of 2 lanes, a 12 m roadbed, attracting a large number of vehicles.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen The Manh, from Thai Binh, said that the Cam Lo - La Son expressway has many areas where vehicles are allowed to overtake, but they are located on steep slopes with limited visibility, posing great danger in the event of oncoming vehicles. In addition, some drivers do not comply with regulations, overtaking in prohibited sections of the road, regardless of the lurking danger.

In fact, after a short time traveling on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, Quang Tri Newspaper reporters discovered many cases of vehicles ignoring the no-overtaking signs on the 2-lane sections, still speeding, recklessly overtaking or encroaching on lanes, causing many risks of traffic accidents. For example, at km 13 + 28.5 in Trieu Phong district, a passenger bus with license plate 74F-005.xx running on the Lao Bao - Da Nang route traveling in the direction of Quang Tri - Da Nang deliberately overtook on the no-overtaking section. Previously, at km 12 + 600 in the direction of Da Nang - Quang Tri, a Thai Thao passenger bus with license plate 51B-275.17 running on the Ho Chi Minh City - Ha Tinh route ignored the no-overtaking signs on the 2-lane section and still accelerated to overtake a container truck close in front. Immediately afterwards, the Thai Thao passenger car was stopped by the Traffic Police Team No. 4, Traffic Police Department and the driver was fined.

It is noted that on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, the basic infrastructure has been fully invested, attracting a large number of vehicles. However, many drivers complain that the lighting system at intersections and large bridges has not been installed; the number of locations for emergency parking is very small, most of which are made use of vacant land on both sides of the route in some sections... This also causes many concerns for drivers and can cause traffic accidents at any time.

Need to have a plan to ensure safety soon

From the above shortcomings and problems, in reality, since it was put into operation in early 2023, the Cam Lo - La Son expressway has had many traffic accidents. According to information from the Ho Chi Minh Road Management Board, in 2023 alone, on the section passing through Quang Tri province, there were 3 accidents, killing 1 person and injuring 2 others. More seriously, recently, on February 18, 2024, at km 48+200 of the Cam Lo - La Son expressway, passing through Dong Thai village, Phong My commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien Hue province, a series of accidents occurred, killing 3 mothers and children from Thanh Hoa province in a car, and damaging many other vehicles.

Faced with the shortcomings of traffic infrastructure on the Cam Lo - La Son expressway as well as the awareness of vehicle drivers, the authorities have conducted inspections, surveys and increased patrols and handling. In particular, the forces of Traffic Police Team No. 4, Traffic Police Department, Ministry of Public Security have increased the setting up of checkpoints and mobile patrols on the route to detect and strictly handle violations.

Deputy Captain of Traffic Police Team No. 4, Traffic Police Department, Major Duong Xuan Dat said that to ensure traffic safety and order and promptly handle violations on the Cam Lo - La Son Expressway, the unit has arranged officers and soldiers to regularly follow the route, set up fixed checkpoints and patrol to check and strictly handle violations of alcohol and drug concentrations, stopping and parking, and overtaking in violation of regulations.

Regarding the traffic infrastructure on the route, Major Dat said that in order for vehicles to move smoothly and safely, functional agencies and units need to soon supplement and complete the remaining items. At the same time, survey and consider overcoming the existing shortcomings and inadequacies on the route to minimize the risk of traffic safety loss.

Recently, after the survey, the unit has proposed to adjust some lane connection locations on the route for synchronization. However, the investor, the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board, gave the reason that the connection points from 2 to 4 lanes and vice versa have been completed according to the approved design, so it cannot be implemented. In addition, it is necessary to add soft markers at the transition lines from 2 to 4 lanes on the route; many intersections on and off the expressway do not have lighting systems, so there is a high risk of traffic safety loss.

“The Cam Lo - La Son expressway has only been in use for more than a year, so initially, traffic on the route was organized according to a temporary plan. Up to now, the relevant ministries and branches have not announced a specific plan. Therefore, to ensure traffic safety on the route, it is necessary to soon have a standard traffic organization plan so that we can coordinate with the local authorities to propagate for people to understand and properly implement the regulations,” Major Dat suggested.

Le Truong

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