Pagodas in Vietnam to promote road safety

The Vietnam Traffic Police and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha are working together to improve road safety by establishing “Safe Pagoda” models across the country.

The two groups signed an agreement in Hanoi to strengthen legal education regarding traffic order and safety and to encourage monks and followers to participate in maintaining order. This builds on a previous three-year plan that achieved notable results in promoting traffic safety through diverse communication methods, including religious teachings and social media.

From 2023 to 2026, police held over 6,500 sessions educating more than 1.17 million monks and followers on safe traffic practices at over 4,100 temples. Several localities and temples have already created 716 models for ensuring traffic order and safety, such as “Safe Pagoda” and “Civilized Traffic Pagoda”. Đồng Nai province has established the most models with 400, followed by Khánh Hòa province with 100.

Looking ahead to 2030, the groups aim for each province and city to have at least three “Safe Pagoda” models. They also plan to integrate traffic law education into the curriculum of Buddhist academies and schools and to create a shared digital database with a network of core communicators within the Buddhist community. The Buddhist Sangha will maintain cooperation with local traffic police and ensure all temples have access to traffic safety education materials.