HANOI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will impose a five-year driving ban on drivers who try to cheat in driving tests or buy fake driving licenses, starting from September this year, local media reported on Thursday.

The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam and the Ministry of Public Security are planning a crackdown on those selling counterfeit driving licenses or provide audiovisual telecommunication equipment to illegally help drivers pass the tests, daily newspaper Vietnam News reported.

This month, the directorate will complete the data connection with the Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security to track information of granting licenses and of drivers.

There are many offers of fake driving licenses and health examination certificates online. The illegal activities have been busier especially since the directorate decided to increase the number of test questions to 600 from 450, daily newspaper Lao Dong (Labor) reported.

In the first five months of this year, 6,779 traffic accidents occurred in Vietnam, killing 3,128 people, severely injuring 2,024 people and lightly hurting 3,230 others, said the Traffic Police Department.