HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội’s People’s Committee has proposed a roadmap to revoke outdated motorbikes that discharge harmful substances into the environment.

Figures from the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department showed that till last December, there were more than 49 million registered motorbikes operating nationwide.

In Hà Nội alone, more than 5.2 million motorbikes were operating, of which half were reported to have been manufactured in the nineties.

Outdated motorbikes are believed to one of the many causes of accidents. Research conducted by the National Committee of Traffic Safety last year showed that there was a connection between the age of vehicles and the number of traffic-related accidents. The risk of accidents for those who rode motorbikes in use for less than five years was lower han those who rode motorbikes that were in use for at least 10 years.

Motorbikes are the main means of transport for people in the city, meeting nearly 90 per cent of transportation demand.

However, motorbikes discharge a large amount of emissions. Although they only consume 56 per cent of petrol, they discharged 94 per cent of hydrocarbon, 87 per cent of carbon monoxide and 57 per cent of nitrogen oxide of the total emissions from motor vehicles.

So far, there is no regulation on how long a vehicle can be in use.

In many countries, the inspection of emission discharge of motorbikes in use for more than five years was compulsory, it said.

The committee has admitted to the slow implementation of inspecting motorbikes’ emissions, explaining that it was a complicated and sensitive issue as most of the owners of these outdated vehicles were low-income earners.

The committee has proposed a series of policies such as collecting environmental fees through the evaluation of environmental stamps stuck on the vehicles and revoking worn-out motorbikes discharging excessive amount of emissions.

Under the roadmap, from now until June 30, 2018, Hà Nội will re-examine and list the number of motorbikes and for how long they have been in use, complete legal documents on technical criteria, set up emission discharge testing centres and train specialised staff.

Between next July and December 31, 2019, the city will conduct emission discharge tests on motorbikes with cylinder capacity of more than 175cu.cm and revoke worn-out vehicles.

From 2020, the city will revise the implementation of the roadmap and report the results to the Government. It will also inspect motorbikes with cylinder capacity of less than 175cu.cm.

The city has proposed that the Government ask the Ministry of Transport to build a legal document stating criteria on emission testing of motorbikes, criteria on conditions for emission discharge testing service and penalties for vehicle owners who flout rules.

The Ministry of Public Security will be in charge of deterring violators and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for allocating funds for inspection and creating supportive policies for the replacement of old motorbikes. — VNS