Not only motorcyclists but car drivers are also falling victim to the nails scattered by repair shops on the roads throughout Ho Chi Minh City.
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| The 25B interprovincial road, which leads to Cat Lai Port, is one of the roads on which nail trappers scatter 5-7 cm long nails to trap cars and trucks (Photo: SGTT) |
According to Dinh Nam Dinh, Deputy Chairman of the HCMC Goods Transport Association, these repair shops often scatter nails or pointed steel objects 5 to 7 cm long to flatten tires.
According to a volunteer team that removes those nails and offers free repair in Thu Duc District, in the past, the nails were thrown out mainly on lanes for motorcycles but recently they have also appeared on lanes for cars.
“Since our equipment can’t attract the long nails scattered on cars’ lanes, we have to collect them manually,” a team member said.
Exorbitant repair
At 2 pm on August 12, at the Thu Duc Crossroads in Thu Duc District, a truck hit a 7 cm-long nail and the driver had to pay as much as VND300,000 ($14.4) to have his tire repaired.
T., the driver, told Tuoi Tre it usually cost him just one-fifth of that amount to fix a puncture.
Nail traps are often seen on the roads truck drivers often use such as the 25B interprovincial road that leads to Cat Lai Port, Nguyen Van Linh Street, and the Trans-Asian road that leads to the Song Than Inland Container Depot in Binh Duong Province.
Nail traps are so rampant that Director of Minh Thanh Transport and Forwarding Co Ltd, Doan Minh Thanh, said his drivers were even equipped with self-repair tools.
Thanh said there were days when 15 out of his 50 trucks ran over nails scattered on the streets.
Dang Duc Tiep, Director of Dang Tien Transport Company, said his company had spent tens of millions of dong (VND10 million = $480) to purchase new tires and tubes.
Thai Van Chung, General Secretary of the HCMC Goods Transport Association, said the HCMC police should take action to help eliminate these nail traps and crack down on the violators.
Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Tuyen, deputy head of the Rach Giec Traffic Police Team, said such activities don’t fall under the responsibilities of the traffic police. But he said for the time being, the ward police in districts 2, 7, 9 and Thu Duc where trucks often travel would patrol more frequently to detect nail trappers.
