The Việt Nam Register (VR) has asked its branches nationwide to increase technical safety examinations of vehicles, particularly container trucks, coaches and tractor trailers, as part of measures to improve traffic safety.— Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Register (VR) has asked its branches nationwide to increase technical safety examinations of vehicles, particularly container trucks, coaches and tractor trailers, as part of measures to improve traffic safety.

The move was made following a series of serious recent traffic accidents that involved these kinds of vehicles and caused great public concern about traffic safety.

Inspections will focus on fire prevention and weight requirements.

According to the VR, vehicles that fail to meet technical safety standards and fire prevention and control requirements will not be registered.

VR branches were instructed to work with traffic police nationwide to carry out unannounced inspections of vehicles on roads and strictly punish violators, particularly the owners of cars and trucks with expired registrations and vehicles that have been modified to increase their capacity.

The VR said some 19,300 vehicles across the country will be forced off the road by early 2019 due to their expired or overdue registrations.

Of that number, 1,776 are passenger vehicles while the remainder are trucks. HCM City will take the lead with 4,359 units, followed by Hà Nội with 1,976 and southern Đồng Nai Province with 1,556.

Under the current regulations, drivers of vehicles caught with expired registrations will be fined VNĐ4-6 million (US$170-260), have their driving license revoked for one to three months and have their vehicle impounded.

Last Wednesday, a container truck hit 21 motorbikes waiting at a red light at the Nhựt Chánh junction in Bến Lức District of Long An Province, killing three people on the spot and injuring 18 others. One more person died en route to the hospital.

Two days later, a truck hit two cars and one motorbike waiting at a red light in Đà Nẵng’s Hải Châu District. The truck was found to have an expired registration and was not supposed to travel.

In 2018, more than 18,700 traffic accidents were recorded nationwide, killing 8,248 people and injuring more than 14,800.

Việt Nam aims to reduce the number of traffic accidents, deaths and injuries by 5-10 per cent this year, according to targets set by Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình. — VNS