Ministry of Transport will review priority regulations for rescue vehicles on highways

Fire truck driving in the wrong direction in collision with passenger bus.

Ms. Trinh Thi Hang Nga, Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Transport, said that the Ministry is collecting opinions from ministries and sectors and will submit to the Government a proposal to amend the Road Traffic Law this year. During the process of drafting the bill, the Ministry will receive comments from the public and experts on the shortcomings of the Road Traffic Law.

Regarding the regulation on priority of rescue vehicles on highways, according to Ms. Hang Nga, this content is controversial and some people have proposed to amend it, therefore, the Ministry of Transport will seek opinions during the upcoming amendment of the Law.

However, Ms. Nga also said that it is not possible to assess whether the regulation for priority vehicles to go in the opposite direction on the highway needs to be revised or not, because besides the opinion requesting revision, there are also opinions that it should be kept as is, only the process needs to be added to ensure the safe operation of this vehicle.

The accident between a fire truck and a passenger bus on the Phap Van - Cau Gie Expressway, Hanoi on the afternoon of March 18 (injuring and killing 3 people, including a Hanoi firefighter) is causing much controversy over the priority of rescue vehicles when driving in the opposite direction on the expressway.

According to the 2008 Road Traffic Law, it is legal for fire trucks to drive in the wrong direction on the highway while performing their duties. However, how to handle the specific situation in this case, whether the fire truck driver should steer into the middle lane or should only drive in the wrong direction in the emergency lane... are issues being raised.

An expert from the Traffic Safety Association said that according to the Road Traffic Law, the two vehicles were not at fault. The fire truck was allowed to go in the opposite direction due to its right of way, while the passenger car was in the correct lane and at the correct speed.

However, this expert also said that priority vehicles going in the wrong direction on the highway is very dangerous. In 2008, when the Traffic Law was issued, there were no highways so the regulations could not be close to reality. Currently, with the development of the economy and society, many highways as well as the rapid increase in vehicles, the regulations need to be updated and adjusted accordingly.

According to this expert, on the highways there are many sections of median strips that are fenced, so rescue and fire trucks can run down and then take shortcuts at these points to reach the rescue site.