Fire exit disabled: danger lurks

(Baonghean.vn) -When a car has a fire or an accident, the emergency exit is the fastest way for the victim to save themselves. However, the reality is that it is not taken into account by passengers and car owners...

Recently, there have been many serious passenger bus accidents across the country, killing many people and injuring many others. Typical examples include the accidents in Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa... Faced with the situation of traffic accidents occurring continuously at an extremely serious level, the authorities have taken many positive measures. On the afternoon of June 3, in Hanoi, Minister Dinh La Thang signed the Coordination Program between the National Traffic Safety Committee and the Ministry of Health to reduce traffic safety damage. Three days later, on June 7, 2013, after the tragic accident in Son Thai commune, Khanh Vinh district, Khanh Hoa province, killing 7 people and injuring 21 others, the Prime Minister issued an official dispatch requesting to promptly overcome the consequences and take proactive measures to prevent traffic accidents on the Da Lat - Nha Trang route.

On the afternoon of June 10, Minister and Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Dinh La Thang chaired a meeting with the Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee and the Ministry's advisory agencies to discuss more effective management solutions to prevent accidents. Also attending the meeting were Deputy Ministers Nguyen Hong Truong, Le Dinh Tho, and Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Nguyen Hoang Hiep... The above solutions are extremely timely and practical. However, in the long term, the authorities need to have more synchronous solutions, in which special attention should be paid to the issue of emergency exits on passenger vehicles and buses.

Emergency exit - a small but extremely important detail that affects the severity of each accident that we rarely pay attention to. The emergency exit is the glass door located along both sides of the vehicle with the purpose of allowing passengers to exit safely and quickly when an accident occurs. There are many types of emergency exit doors, previous passenger cars used doors with handles that could be pulled out and closed. Along with the development of the transportation industry in general and passenger transport in particular, air-conditioned, closed sleeper buses gradually replaced the previous "bus" cars. This type of vehicle has the characteristic of being closed to run the air conditioner, so the emergency exit door is fixed and cannot be opened or closed. When an accident occurs, customers use a small hammer attached to the door to open it.

However, currently, many passenger cars are not equipped with emergency hammers. Not only passenger cars, but also many buses in Hanoi are not equipped with them. Especially, there are many old buses that still use emergency doors with a handle that can be pulled out and closed, but some drivers and bus attendants have used screws to block them so they cannot be opened anymore. Therefore, if a fire or accident occurs, it is impossible to rescue a large number of people who are trapped in a state of panic through one door (for passenger cars) and two doors for getting in and out (for buses). And because the emergency doors are disabled, rescue forces also face many difficulties in reaching the victims. As a result, there are more deaths and more critical cases.

Mr. Cao Van Duong - a final year student at the University of Engineering and Logistics of the People's Public Security, a regular passenger on the Vinh - Hanoi bus route, shared that he usually does not pay attention to the emergency exit. And if an accident happens, he does not hope to escape through the main door because firstly, it is far away, secondly, at that time, the people in the car will be very panicked and it will be difficult to squeeze to the main door.

Thus, the subjectivity of passengers and the indifference and disregard for people's lives of vehicle owners and passenger transport companies are some of the indirect causes leading to serious consequences when accidents occur.

Cao Sy Hoa - Hamlet 19 - Dien Thinh - Dien Chau