Despite crackdown, overloaded vehicles spotted
Hanoi (VNA) - Overloaded vehicles are
once again being spotted on roads and highways across the country, despite the
Government crackdown.
In 2013, the public security and transport ministries launched Plan No. 12593
to keep a check on overloaded vehicles, which were a huge risk to motorists. As
part of the crackdown, every province and city was given a mobile scale to
weigh vehicles.
In June 2016, the plan summary showed that the number of overloaded vehicles on
roads had reduced by 80 to 90 percent compared to the before the
campaign.
However, a recent report in the Government’s online newspaper states that
overloaded vehicles are back, not only on highways but also on inner city
roads, such as on the Xuan Mai-Hoa Lac route in Hanoi and Highway No.6 from Hoa
Lac to Hoa Binh. Highways running through northern provinces of Hung Yen and Bac
Giang, and Highway No.1 have especially recorded many overloaded vehicles.
Noticeably, weighing stations at almost all
provinces and cities have closed down.
Dang Van Chung, deputy head of traffic safety
division under the Transport Ministry’s Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, said
that many regions are no longer keeping a tight check to prevent overloaded
vehicles from plying.
Offenders running such vehicles on long journeys are not being punished, while
most weighing stations have shut down, except in Nghe An and Vinh Long, Chung
said identifying the issue.
After Plan No. 12593 ended, the two ministries took stock and stopped the
crackdown activities, which has created the wrong impression that the fight
against overloaded vehicles has ended, Chung said.
He also slammed media reports that vehicles are not being weighed as the
weighing scales are damaged. Scales were installed at the same time, so their
maintenance is also around the same time. Almost all provinces and cities have
sent the scales to Hanoi, which is the only place that has the maintenance
station, Chung said.
Any province with a broken scale or with one that’s being repaired has received
replacement from the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, he added.
“It is fair to say that some provinces do not want to fight against overloaded
vehicles as it has an impact on economic development,” Chung said.
In 2016, the directorate proposed to the Transport Ministry that a directive be
passed to strengthen the drive against overloaded vehicles, he said.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned the responsibility of controlling
the weight of vehicles to local authorities.
“If every single locality tightens control, the campaign will be effective whether there are weighing stations or not,” Chung said. -VNA