The Ministry of Transport held an urgent meeting on June 10 following a number of serious accidents.
A Passenger bus hit a mountainside in Khanh Hoa Province
At the meeting, the Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said efforts and safety measures were not effective. He has assigned his deputies Nguyen Hong Truong and Le Dinh Tho to co-operate with the police and localities to find better solutions. "Authorities need to clarify the responsibilities of transport companies, drivers and state managers." he said.
Thang also asked to find out the centres that granted licenses to drivers that caused serious accidents and carry out inspections of the driving centres. Centres that violated regulations might have their business permits revoked.
The Department of Legal Affairs has been asked to make suitable adjustments so that conditions to open passenger transportation by bus can be tightened while enterprises can still generate profits.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said transport companies still ignore some of their responsibilities toward their passenger buses such as the quality of the buses, especially on overnight routes. In addition, many companies also do not punish drivers that violate the speed limits.
All of the most recent accidents in provinces of Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam and Ba Ria-Vung Tau occurred because the drivers exceeded the speed limit or used lanes for oncoming traffic. In response, Truong said the ministry would improve road infrastructure and force companies to install black boxes in their vehicles.
There are also opinions said that drivers of passenger bus that cause serious accident should be banned forever, however, Hanoi Transport Association said such rule will violate the labour and criminal law.
On June 9, a truck collided with two motorbikes on the opposite lane while trying to overtake another truck in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The accident killed six people on the motorbikes. The same day a Mai Linh passenger bus suddenly flipped over in Quang Nam Province, killing three people and injuring 30.
On June 7, a passenger bus that carried primary students and teachers hit a mountainside in Khanh Hoa Province and killed six people. The survivors said that the driver lost control of the brakes.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc when asked about the regular use of outdated and substandard vehicles said the authorities would carefully review individual responsibilities and punish drivers, bus companies and the registry agency.
Phuc also voiced his ideas to ease public concern about bribe-taking traffic police officers. "We need a stricter and more transparent system to monitor traffic officials. We must pay police a reasonable wage to remove the temptation to take bribes so they can completely focus on their work," he said.