Traffic authorities mobilise to tackle Tet problems Police across Vietnam are mobilising plans to curb traffic accidents and drunk driving before and during the Tet holidays, with heightened visibility as more officers are assigned to patrol duties.     Two passenger buses collided in Binh Thuan Province The chief of the Secretariat of the National Traffic Safety Committee, Nguyen Trong Thai, said carelessness by car and scooter drivers was the major cause of the greater number of accidents that occur during the holiday. Colonel Nguyen Huu Luyen, deputy head of the police department on traffic safety laws and regulations, said weak infrastructure and the greater number of vehicles on the roads were also a major cause. He said the Traffic Police General Department had urged police in all localities to increase patrols since December 1, and a heightened police presence on the roads would remain in effect until February 28, in conjunction with a national awareness campaign about drinking and driving. The general department, which falls under the Ministry of Public Security, has stockpiled breath testing equipment in various localities and there would be a general crackdown on drunk drivers. Luyen urged Vietnam Television and other media to raise public awareness about traffic safety. News reports are already headlining the fact that there were 69 road-related deaths in just three days from February 7-9 from 113 accidents. On January 24, a truck and a passenger bus collided in Thanh Hoa Province, killing 10 people, seven of whom came from the same family. On January 30, three people on a motorbike, including a one-year-old boy, were killed in a collision involving a truck in mountainous Cao Bang Province, and on February 9, a crash between two passenger buses killed at least 10 people and left another 11 injured in Binh Thuan Province. The National Traffic Safety Committee said that, in January, Vietnam had 2,171 traffic accidents that killed 781 people and injured 2,047. Compared with the same period last year, the number of accidents was down by 208, with 119 fewer deaths and 155 fewer injuries.       Laodong