Warning about causing accidents and leaving victims behind
Driving a vehicle and causing an accident and then fleeing the scene shows disregard for the health and lives of others, and disregard for the law. This is a problem that has been widely condemned, however, it still occurs in reality, causing outrage among the masses.
When human life is taken lightly
Recently, at around 10:55 p.m. on May 21, 2024, a traffic accident occurred on Thang Long Street (Vinh City). At the scene, two young men and a motorbike were found lying in the middle of the road, in addition, a car license plate was left on the road.
Mr. Vo Duc Duan (living opposite house number 143 Thang Long street, Nghi Lien commune (Vinh city) recounted: At the above time, I was in the house when I heard a loud noise, ran out to Thang Long street and saw 2 seriously injured young men lying on the western edge of the street, about 20m to the north there was a motorbike with license plate 37H1-274.56 that was severely damaged.
Besides, there was a car with license plate 37D-024.17 lying in the middle of the road. According to Mr. Duẩn, before that, some people came to the scene and saw a Kia Morning car but it ran away.
As a result of the above accident, one victim named Toan (born 2004), residing in Chau Thai commune, Quy Hop district, died, the other person was seriously injured.
Immediately afterwards, the authorities found the car that caused the accident. According to the vehicle registration information, the vehicle with license plate 37D-024.17 is a van, registered on December 28, 2017, the owner of the vehicle is NTHN (born in 1994). The inspection period is July 19, 2022, the inspection expired nearly 2 years ago.
Previously, at 2:25 p.m. on January 29, 2023, on National Highway 46, through Thanh Tien village, Vo Liet commune (Thanh Chuong), a motorbike with license plate 37D1 - 790.XX was traveling in the direction of Ro bridge - Thanh Thuy when it collided head-on with a passenger car going in the opposite direction.
After the strong collision, the motorcyclist died on the spot. At the scene, the motorbike was lying in the middle of the road, the front part was crushed, the victim was lying on the side of the road about 15m from the collision site.
“Hearing the ‘bang’ sound, I ran out to the street and saw that the passenger car had fled. The victim was thrown to the side of the road and died. There was a phone next to him. I quickly grabbed the phone and called many numbers in my contact list to inform my relatives,” said a resident of Thanh Tien village, Vo Liet commune (Thanh Chuong). The victim was later identified as a police officer working at Prison No. 6, Thanh Chuong district.
Mr. Nguyen Van A., residing in Dien Chau district, whose relative died because the driver who caused the accident did not take him to the emergency room in time, said: Letting a traffic accident happen is an unexpected thing, but the driver who caused the accident should have faced that misfortune to deal with the consequences, taking the victim to the emergency room in time. Even though they knew their relative would not survive, the family would have felt less resentful and less haunted.
Investigate and handle strictly
According to the procedure, after receiving information about traffic accidents, the authorities will quickly arrive at the scene to examine the scene; urgently review and collect relevant information, especially for the victims and witnesses present at the scene to be able to grasp the characteristics of the vehicle causing the accident.
In addition, conduct a review of camera locations on the route to identify vehicles passing before and after the accident; at the same time, coordinate with patrol teams, police units and localities to conduct checkpoints on routes and areas...
However, in the process of investigating and handling cases of traffic accidents and then fleeing, authorities encounter many difficulties and obstacles, especially incidents that occur at night, when there are few people passing by, or on routes where vehicles can travel at high speeds such as National Highway 1A.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Tuan - Captain of the Propaganda, Investigation, Traffic Accident Resolution and Violation Handling Team, Provincial Traffic Police Department: Many drivers of cars and motorbikes causing traffic accidents drove away from the scene, taking advantage of the night, rain, dark roads, and few people passing by to escape... In addition, to avoid the authorities, these subjects quickly took the damaged vehicles to hide and repair.
However, based on the traces at the scene combined with information and images provided by the people, the authorities were able to track down the driver of the vehicle to handle it according to regulations. Even in cases where the person causing the accident fled hundreds of kilometers.
For example, the case of the bus driver Vu Dinh Phi (34 years old, in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An) in the accident on the evening of March 10, 2024, at Km9+500 on the Hue bypass, killing 2 people and then the driver left the scene and was discovered by authorities while in Nghe An.
According to local police officers, drivers fleeing the scene after an accident causes many consequences. First, the victim will not be rescued in time, which can endanger their lives. Second, it makes it difficult for the investigation agency because the scene is disturbed... This violation is mostly concentrated among young people.
Dr. and lawyer Trong Hai - Director of Trong Hai Law Firm and Associates said: According to the law, the driver of the vehicle causing the accident must stay at the scene of the accident until the police arrive, except in cases where the injured person must be taken to the emergency room or the victim must be taken to the emergency room or because of a threat to life, but must immediately report to the nearest police station...
Driving a vehicle causing an accident and then fleeing the scene shows disregard for the health and lives of others, disregard for the law, and shows the moral degradation of the driver. This issue must be condemned and additional legal regulations are needed to deter it.
In addition to increasing penalties for those who cause accidents, authorities need to widely inform about these incidents to increase deterrence, education, and raise awareness of traffic participants. In addition, driving schools and authorities need to further strengthen propaganda about driving ethics for vehicle operators.
The most important thing is that every traffic participant must raise their awareness and must determine that: Causing an accident and then fleeing the scene, not helping the victim is not only a violation of ethics and traffic culture rules of conduct, but also a very serious violation of the law.
Decree 100/2019/ND-CP stipulates the penalties for drivers who violate traffic rules as follows:
- For drivers of cars and similar vehicles: Fines of 16-18 million VND for drivers who cause traffic accidents but do not stop, do not preserve the scene, flee without reporting to the competent authority, and do not participate in first aid for the victims. In addition, drivers who commit violations will also be subject to additional penalties such as having their driver's license revoked for 5-7 months (Based on Point b, Clause 8, Article 5).
- For drivers of motorbikes, mopeds (including electric motorbikes), motorbike-like vehicles and motorbike-like vehicles: Fine from VND 6,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 for drivers causing traffic accidents who do not stop, do not preserve the scene, flee without reporting to the competent authority, do not participate in first aid for the victims. In addition, drivers who commit violations will also be subject to additional penalties such as suspension of their driver's license for 3-5 months. (Based on Point d, Clause 8, Article 6).
- Vehicle owners who cause traffic accidents and then flee the scene may be prosecuted under Clause 72, Article 1, Penal Code 2017 with a prison sentence of 3 - 10 years.
