Hidden dangers from bulky cargo vehicles

Obsession with pedestrians

In Vinh city, cyclos and motorbikes carrying corrugated iron and iron appear frequently on roads such as Nguyen Trai, Phan Boi Chau, Truong Chinh, Phan Dinh Phung,... where there are many construction material businesses. On Truong Chinh street, in front of a corrugated iron rolling and stamping facility, traffic jams often occur because the trucks carrying corrugated iron from the factory block the road. Also because of the fear that the sharp edges of the corrugated iron could hit people, traffic participants have to find a place to hide, making the traffic jam worse.

In reality, the common point of these vehicles is that they all carry bulky goods such as sharp iron and steel, but they are only tied with a few thin ropes. Some vehicles carrying bulky goods are even willing to go in the opposite direction to save time and distance.

Ms. Tran Hai Yen in Le Loi ward said, every time I go on the road, I am very worried about the cyclos and tractors carrying bulky loads on the road. If in the past people said that the most feared things on the road were tractors, now the most feared things on the road are probably... tractors carrying corrugated iron and steel. "There are trucks carrying iron or stacks of corrugated iron that are as sharp as knives, walking around in the middle of the road, looking at them is terrifying. I know they are trying to make a living, but they don't put others in danger," Ms. Yen said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nghe in Vinh Tan Ward said that every time he takes his children to school, what he fears most is the vehicles carrying materials or sharp-edged goods, but they are poorly tied, weaving through alleys, obstructing the traffic of other vehicles. “Vehicles carrying iron, corrugated iron, etc. have caused many tragic accidents, which have been warned about in the media. Therefore, I really hope that the authorities will strictly prohibit this unsafe form of transportation,” Mr. Nghe suggested.

In fact, there have been many accidents involving material transport vehicles. A victim, Mr. DSD in Le Loi Ward, Vinh City, said: "That day, it was noon, I had to go out, just as I reached the alley entrance, I saw a motorbike pulling a homemade vehicle carrying long, winding iron and steel.

Just then the car turned into another alley, but unfortunately encountered an obstacle so it backed up and got stuck in my car. The bundle of iron hit the motorbike causing me to fall onto the road. Before I could regain my composure, my hand got tangled in the iron bars and got scratched. According to Mr. D, after the collision, he fell onto the road and was stunned. People took him to a pharmacy to clean his wound, bandage it and it took nearly 3 weeks for it to heal.

Recalling the incident that happened on Tran Phu Street (Vinh City), Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung in Nghi Kim Commune said that at that time, at noon, when people were traveling on the road, they saw an old man trying to hold a cyclo, helplessly watching the corrugated iron sheets flying everywhere. Seeing the above scene, many motorcyclists had to abandon their vehicles and run away, luckily among them, only one piece of corrugated iron flew into a pickup truck, causing no human injuries.

Need reasonable and safe transportation plan

Reality shows that sometimes, just for a little convenience, personal subjectivity and for a living, sellers and transporters are willing to risk transporting bulky goods in the unsafe form mentioned above. This causes insecurity for traffic participants. Many people are afraid and think that these are the "death vehicles", "mobile guillotines"...

Nguyen Van Dung, a taxi driver in Vinh City, was upset: Pedicabs and tractors carrying bulky goods often encroach on lanes, recklessly overtake, not to mention easily lose control, making it difficult to handle situations that arise on the road. Therefore, the authorities need to take strict action and confiscate the vehicles. In the long term, businesses must have a more reasonable and safer transportation plan using specialized vehicles.

Talking to us, a handling officer of the Traffic Police Team of Vinh City Police said: Faced with the situation of cyclos and motorbikes pulling modified vehicles carrying bulky goods, Vinh City Police have directed to focus on handling; at the same time, assigned the police of wards and communes to go to each neighborhood and household to propagate... However, handling still has difficulties because the cyclo and motorbike drivers are often over 50 years old and have difficult family circumstances.

During the detection and handling process, officers and soldiers have increased propaganda and explained the dangers of transporting bulky goods, but because of the need for food and clothing and because the penalties are still light, they are not enough of a deterrent. Many vehicle owners still find ways to operate during off-duty hours or find ways to avoid traffic police checkpoints...

Regarding this issue, Mr. NVT, a person with many years of experience driving a cyclo to transport goods, said that in addition to transporting normal goods, he still transports iron and steel whenever someone hires him to transport them. Mr. NVT confessed that he knows that transporting these types of materials is very dangerous for both himself and other road users, but because of his livelihood, he has no other choice.

According to Mr. Phan Huy Chuong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee, in the spirit of "Respecting the law to build a traffic culture", wards and communes in the area need to continue to review, promote propaganda, as well as orient job conversion for cases of using cyclos, motorbikes pulling modified vehicles to carry iron, steel, bulky materials... For the functional forces, specifically the traffic police, on the basis of legal regulations, it is necessary to strictly handle. Because in reality, if you carry corrugated iron sheets more than ten meters long (5-6 times the length of the vehicle body), in addition to violating traffic safety regulations, it also endangers the lives of other road users.

In my opinion, we cannot use the excuse of a difficult and arduous life to transport bulky goods in violation of the Road Traffic Law. This is a dangerous act, disregarding the life and health of oneself and other road users. Therefore, in addition to propaganda, the authorities need to increase patrols and resolutely handle violations to ensure traffic safety and order for people, and prevent unfortunate accidents from happening. At the same time, the penalty for this act also needs to be considered to be increased, because in reality, according to Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, the fine of 400,000-600,000 VND for each violation is too light and not enough of a deterrent.