A policeman handles a violated  three-wheel vehicle in Hà Nội. — Photo dangcongsan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Hanoians still see three-wheel vehicles carrying bulky goods on a lot of local streets, ignoring regulations.

The situation continues, even though, two months ago, Deputy Prime Minister cum Chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Trương Hòa Bình ordered authorised agencies to strictly deal with violations related to three-wheel vehicles.

The order came after two fatal incidents caused by three-wheel vehicles were reported in Hà Nội in late September. The victims were a 9-year-old boy and a middle-age woman. The deaths have sparked public concerns about the danger of three-wheel vehicles carrying bulky goods.

Three-wheel vehicles transporting steel, wood and building materials were seen on major streets city-wide, such as Đê La Thành, Hào Nam, Xuân Thủy, Cầu Giấy, Nguyễn Xiển, Khuất Duy Tiến, Đại Cồ Việt, Trần Khát Chân, Giải Phóng, Thanh Trì and Nguyễn Văn Cừ.

Even in streets around Hoàn Kiếm (Sword) Lake, these vehicles are also present, reported Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper yesterday.

A resident in Hàng Khoai Street, in the Old Quarter, said traffic jams often jammed up the 200-metre street due to three-wheel vehicles transporting bulky goods every day.

Three-wheel vehicles carrying steel plates of 7-8 metres in length were the “fear” of motorbike drivers, she said.

On seeing these three-wheel vehicles, motorbike drivers often stopped to avoid them, causing traffic jams along the street, she said.

The same situation is happening on other Old Quarter streets of Hàng Ngang, Hàng Đào, Hàng Giày, Hàng Đường and Hàng Mã, she said.

An officer from Traffic Police Team No 4 under the Hà Nội Police Department said although the police had tightened the rules related to three-wheel vehicles on the streets of Nguyễn Khoái, Trần Nhật Duật, Bạch Mai, Trương Định and Tân Mai in recent months, the drivers were still ignoring them.

Under article 6 of a Government decree issued in 2013, a three-wheel vehicle or cyclo transporting bulky goods will only receive a fine of VNĐ200,000-400,000 ($9-18).

Three-wheel vehicles and cyclos are only allowed to carry goods with widths not beyond 0.4 m from the wheel, and the length not beyond 1 meter from the top and bottom of the vehicles.

According to experts, the sanctions were not strong enough to deter violators.

Nguyễn Minh Đức, deputy head of Traffic Police Team No 1, said after the Deputy Prime Minister’s order, traffic police conducted more patrols to deal with violations by three-wheel vehicles but failed to bring the situation under control.

It was because the volume of goods transported to the two wholesale markets of Đồng Xuân and Long Biên was higher in the time before Tết. Almost all of the goods were carried by three-wheel vehicles, Đức said.

Traffic police had to both adjust the traffic situation and handle these vehicles, he said.

Additionally, drivers of three-wheel vehicles were found to use small alleys to avoid being seen by traffic police, he said.

“It’s hard to deal with all the violations,” he said.

Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, deputy head of the Hà Nội Police Department’s Traffic Police Office said to end the situation, authorised agencies should help traffic police fine violations related to three-wheel vehicles at shops and producers who hired these vehicles to transport goods.

Data from the office showed that local police have dealt with over 8,800 violations related to three-wheel vehicles this year.

Just between September 26 and October 31, the number of violations reached more than 5,800.

The most often violation was identified as the transportation of bulky goods, the office said. — VNS