A two-month comprehensive check on road transport vehicles, particularly coaches, to ensure traffic safety and order for the upcoming Tet holiday was launched on January 1.
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| Most of the vehicles that caused accidents were privately-owned coaches. Drivers just chased profits and ignored the passenger safety, leading to severe consequences. |
The Road and Railway Traffic Police Department has instructed police to mobilise task forces and means to implement methods to prevent accidents and alleviate traffic jams, particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
One of the main objectives for the traffic police will be to keep a close eye on coaches and other motorised vehicles.
As travel demands will increase dramatically over the holidays, coaches may be stuffed to the gills with passenger, and drivers may have the tendency to drive faster than normal.
The department has requested strict punishments on such violations.
During the recent three-day New Year holiday alone, there were 125 traffic accidents claiming the lives of 120 people and injuring 79 others, according to a report by the department.
Also during the period, heavy traffic jams occurred, the most notable lasted for five hours at the southern gate of the capital due to excessive vehicle density and road work.
As part of the comprehensive check, traffic police will intensify inspections and strictly punish driving under the influence of alcohol.
In addition, they will also fight road-related crimes, including highway robberies and illegally transported goods.
Besides these comprehensive checks, the National Traffic Safety Committee has proposed stricter solutions to minimise the number of traffic accidents in 2010.
According to the department, 2009 was a deadly year, with over 10,000 people dead in nearly 11,000 traffic accidents.
About 7,000 others were injured with total losses of VND16.6 billion (US$899 million).
Head of the committee’s office Than Trong Thanh said: "Most of the vehicles that caused accidents were privately-owned coaches. Drivers just chased profits and ignored the passenger safety, leading to severe consequences."
The other reason was the proliferation of newly registered coaches. In 2009 alone, there were 186,000 automobiles registered, and 30,000-40,000 of them were coaches. This had led to speeding to scramble for passengers, Thanh said.
The committee was compiling a proposal to organise and manage coaches nationwide. According to this proposal, small-scale transport enterprises with limited capacity coaches would only be allowed to run within the provinces.
Larger-scale enterprises should integrate black-boxes and a unit dedicated to traffic safety management.