Ensuring traffic safety for students: What is the solution?

Many campaigns to ensure traffic safety in schools have been widely implemented, but traffic violations by students still recur, and many unfortunate accidents still occur.

To end the vicious cycle of “launching - reducing - reoffending” requires the concerted determination of the government, schools, families and the whole society. Only then will the students’ path to school truly become a peaceful journey.

A session to disseminate traffic safety laws to students of Trung Gia Secondary School (Trung Gia commune). Photo: Thanh Tu

Many creative ways

Right in the first week of the 2025-2026 school year, Dong Kinh High School, Tuong Mai Ward Police and Traffic Police Team No. 14 (Traffic Police Department, Hanoi City Police) organized a flag-raising ceremony with the theme "Traffic Safety". At the program, more than 1,400 students, teachers and the Parents' Association signed a commitment to strictly comply with traffic safety laws.

Student Le Van Long, class 10A4, shared after the activity: “The real-life situations that the police officers gave us helped us understand the unpredictable consequences of being subjective when participating in traffic. I will seriously wear a helmet and follow the rules to ensure safety for myself and others.”

Not only high schools, many middle schools also proactively integrate traffic safety content. On September 23, Trung Gia Middle School (Trung Gia Commune) organized a visual communication session, showing videos about situations, and instructing on road behavior skills for more than 1,500 students. After that, all students and teachers signed a commitment to strictly implement the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024.

Some other schools also have creative and regular ways of doing things. Ha Thanh Secondary and High School (Nghia Do Ward) has included traffic safety education in life skills classes, 2 periods per week. Students not only learn the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024 but also participate in acting out skits and acting out violation scenarios to deepen their knowledge. At Bat Bat High School (Bat Bat Commune), the Board of Directors has coordinated with the commune police to mobilize households around the school not to accept students to keep motorbikes with a cylinder capacity greater than 50cc.

The above models show that when education is implemented synchronously, creatively and with close coordination between schools - police - parents. Thereby, students are not only equipped with knowledge but also formed traffic habits and culture right from school age.

Need long-term solutions

Despite many efforts, the reality shows that peak inspections still detect thousands of cases of student violations. In the first week of September alone, Hanoi City Police handled nearly 1,000 cases of traffic violations by students, temporarily detained nearly 500 vehicles, and sent violation notices to more than 300 educational institutions. The main mistakes that students made were not being qualified to drive, not wearing helmets, driving in the wrong lane, running red lights...

Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Luyen, Captain of Traffic Police Team No. 9 (Traffic Police Department, Hanoi City Police), said: “At a young age, many students lack experience and are not fully aware of the level of danger. If parents give their children large-displacement motorbikes, it means putting their children at high risk. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly handle students, parents and vehicle parking facilities that assist in violations.”

According to experts, organizing short-term propaganda campaigns often creates immediate effects but is difficult to sustain. It is important to carry out long-term monitoring to ensure school gates are always safe. This requires the ward police and the semi-professional forces on duty at the school gates during rush hours to actively work to record violations, coordinate with the school to verify and invite parents to work.

To limit traffic safety violations among students, education experts have proposed to include traffic safety criteria in the year-end competition evaluation system of students and schools. This not only increases the responsibility of each student but also forces schools to pay close attention, avoiding the situation of propaganda in form. Along with that, the city also needs to continue to encourage students to go to school by bus and standard electric bicycles. Parents must be determined, not "indulging their children" to buy large-displacement motorbikes when they are not old enough and do not have a driver's license.

School traffic safety cannot be solved by a few campaigns, nor can it be based on formal commitments. It is the shared responsibility of families, schools, authorities and the whole society. Families must not give large-displacement motorbikes to children who are not old enough. Schools must consider traffic education a key task, regularly integrated into teaching and collective activities. Police forces need to maintain inspection, supervision, and strict handling, while at the same time increasing communication and direct consultation for students. Only when these solutions are implemented synchronously, continuously and substantially, will the road to school truly become a safe and peaceful journey for the young generation. This is not only the wish of students and parents, but also an urgent requirement to build a civilized, disciplined and cultured society in traffic participation.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/bao-dam-an-toan-giao-thong-cho-hoc-sinh-dau-la-giai-phap-bai-cuoi-bao-gio-thoat-canh-bat-coc-bo-dia-717549.html