HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình has asked agencies to tighten regulations on traffic order and safety to keep unauthorised vehicles off the roads.

He made the request following a serious incident which left one person dead and 19 others were injured.

The accident occurred on March 1 after a 45-seater coach, travelling to Kon Tum from the central coastal province of Quảng Nam, overturned and plunged into an abyss alongside the Lò Xo Pass in the Central Highlands province of Kom Tum’s Đắk Glei District.

The dead victim was identified as the coach driver, Vũ Văn Huy, 34, from Hà Nam Province.

Initial investigations revealed that a problem with the vehicle’s gears may have caused the accident.

According to Nguyễn Hữu Hùng, director of Kon Tum Province’s Transport Department, the vehicle was not authorised to operate on the route as the vehicle’s global positioning systems were not working. 

The Deputy PM, who is also chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committe, praised the Traffic Safety Committee of Kon Tum Province, Dak Glei District, locals and relevant forces who participated in the rescue efforts to reduce damage to people and property.

He ordered the People’s Committee of Kon Tum and Hà Nam provinces to direct its police force to promptly investigate the accident.

The responsibility of the vehicle owners should be clarified and due punishment should be imposed, Bình said.

The Deputy PM asked the Ministry of Transport to study the supplementary design standards and a more sustainable structure for installation at the curves with steep drops to prevent serious accidents.

The ministry was also assigned to review the contents of the draft decree on business and conditions of automobile transportation of businesses to ensure traffic safety and order. It should be submitted to the Prime Minister this month.  — VNS