Photo by Grand Prix Pix - Nat McBride Lockwood

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Road safety experts have urged authorities to step up on helmet laws for motorcyclists, especially with the young, after eight-year-old Le Xuan Han’s tragic death last month after a drunk driver crashed into her parents’ motorcycle. Her death, experts claim, could have been avoided if she had been wearing a motorcycle helmet.

The Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF), supported by the World Health Organisation, has been actively running programs in Vietnam and other developing Asian countries.

While we applaud the AIPF’s efforts to educate the public on the importance of proper protective equipment while riding, I feel this is just short of hitting the mark. Yes, it is important for motorcyclists not to be complacent about safety and to always put on the correct gear before moving off. But in my opinion, Le’s case highlights a more destructive problem: drunk driving.

Make no mistake about it, a helmet might have saved her life. Or it might not. But she would never have been injured in the first place if the darn drunk wasn’t driving!

If you drink, do us all a favour and keep off the roads.

Ride safe, my dear 2-wheeled friends!

The tragic death of an eight-year-old girl in Ho Chi Minh City during the Tet holiday prompted a road safety expert to Wednesday call for better policing of Vietnam’s compulsory helmet laws.

Le Xuan Han, a member of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation’s (AIPF) “Helmets for Kids” program, died from head injuries on January 20 after a drunk driver crashed into her parent’s motorbike.

Han was not wearing a helmet.

With permission from Han’s parents, AIPF President Greig Craft is using the terrible accident to publicize the risks of children riding motorbikes without helmets.

“She was top of her class, she won an award for being the best English speaker,” Craft told Thanh Nien Daily.

“She was clearly a bright, bright young person who was headed for the top.

“It’s a very, very sad situation, not only because of Han’s death but because of the wider implications of the new helmet laws not being enforced.”

The drunk driver involved in Han’s accident was killed instantly.

Han’s parents were injured in the crash, but they did not sustain head injuries because they were wearing helmets.

Han’s sister, seven-year-old Le Minh Nhu, was concussed.

Han’s mother Nguyen Thi Xuan Diem said she would “never forgive herself” for making an exception for her children not to wear helmets that day because they were only traveling a short distance.

Han had received a free helmet through her school’s involvement in AIPF’s “Helmets for Kids” program.

Since 2000, AIPF has distributed 350,000 helmets and provided ongoing education about the need for children to wear helmets.

These helmets have since saved the lives of 66 children who were involved in serious accidents.

The children’s safety project is just one of the campaigns run by Hanoi-based AIPF.

The organization’s mission is to reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents in developing Asian countries, including Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.

The organization’s website states 44 percent of the world’s 1.2 million road deaths occur in Asia.

On top of the horrific fatality rate, as many as 50 million more people are injured in traffic accidents.

AIPF has been using Han’s story in public service announcements printed in major English and Vietnamese language newspapers imploring parents to put helmets on their children’s heads.

“The existing helmet penalty regulation must be revised immediately and any driver carrying an un-helmeted rider under the age of 14 must be fined,” the advertisements say.

“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.”

Vietnam introduced compulsory helmet laws for all motorbike riders and passengers on December 15.

But the law is not clear about the penalties for children caught on motorbikes without helmets.

“A myth got started that children under 14 are not subject to fines. Another says they will only be fined 50 percent,” Craft said.

He said these rumors, along with word-of-mouth advice that helmets could damage young children’s spines, may be the reason parents were becoming noticeably more lax about their children wearing helmets.

Craft wants the government to clarify the law to state helmets are compulsory for all children aged six months and over.

Tragically, just about every child rushed to hospital with serious head injuries from traffic accidents has been vaccinated.

Craft said this showed Vietnamese parents wanted to protect their children from harm.

Yet many allowed their children to ride motorbikes without any protection for their heads.

To illustrate the vulnerability of children’s heads, Craft often uses a life-size baby doll.

He holds the doll 1.5 meters from the ground, the same height the child would be if seated on a motorbike, and asks parents whether they would allow him to drop the doll on its head, pointing out its head would be traveling at 19 kilometers/hour when it hit the ground.

“Parents must understand there is no medicine for brain damage,” the AIPF’s public service announcement says.

“Like a vaccination, a helmet is the only known prevention to save a child’s life.”

Source: Child’s death triggers call for better policing of helmet laws

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