A significant traffic disruption occurred on national highway 51 on the morning of 9/12, resulting in a nearly 10 km jam after two container trucks collided. The accident, which happened around 5:00 AM, involved a container truck from TP HCM heading towards Vung Tau colliding with another container truck traveling in the same direction.
The impact caused one truck to overturn, blocking the entire road, while the other veered onto the sidewalk. Both front ends of the container trucks were damaged, and the two drivers sustained minor injuries.
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A container truck overturned on national highway 51. Photo: Thai Ha |
The incident led to a prolonged traffic backlog for vehicles traveling from Dong Nai to TP HCM. "I was traveling from Bien Hoa to Vung Tau and got stuck here, waiting for three hours without moving", said Ms. Han, a driver.
Traffic police from Dong Nai quickly arrived at the scene to direct traffic and investigate the cause of the accident. By 9:00 AM, authorities were still managing the scene, and the national highway remained congested.
National highway 51, approximately 64 km long with eight lanes, connects TP HCM, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau. The highway is severely overloaded, frequently experiencing congestion and accidents. To alleviate traffic conflicts, Dong Nai and TP HCM agreed on 7/12 to ban heavy trucks from circulating in lane 3 (adjacent to the motorbike lane). However, for left-turn lanes, Dong Nai maintained lane 1 (next to the median strip) as before, instead of adjusting to lane 3 as in TP HCM.
Phuoc Tuan
