Limit speeding and reckless driving with fines

(Baonghean) - Faced with the situation of many drivers speeding and overtaking recklessly, causing traffic insecurity, since June 2017, Vinh City Traffic Police have begun to deploy speed cameras in the inner city and issue fines to drivers.

Vinh City traffic police shoot speeders on Tran Phu Street. Photo: Phuong Thao

Many buses and taxis violate speed limits.

Identifying Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City) as one of the routes with many speeding vehicles. Especially the bus companies passing through here often speed, overtake recklessly, and squeeze each other to compete for passengers, posing many potential risks of traffic accidents. On September 2, a disguised speed shooting team led by Captain Le Dang Khoa - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Team (Vinh City Police) used support tools to detect and check speeding vehicles on this route.

In just over 1 hour, the authorities discovered many cases of speeding by more than 10km/h. Such as the bus with license plate 37B-01484 of Thach Thanh company, the bus with license plate 37B-01377 and license plate 37S-7454 of Dong Bac company; the taxi with license plate 37A-30592 of Mai Linh company... By the end of September 2, 2017, the traffic police force had recorded nearly 20 cases of speeding, most of them were drivers of bus and taxi companies in the area.

In parallel with the disguised team, another working group also carried out public speed shooting on National Highway 1 through Nghi Lien Commune, Vinh City. Thereby, it was noted that although they had entered the inner city area, many drivers still exceeded the speed limit, some motorbike drivers even ran red lights and accelerated to flee when they discovered the authorities.

Typically, at 12:30 on September 2, Nguyen Van Tu (residing in Nghi Loc district) drove a motorbike through Nghi Lien commune (Vinh city) at a speed of 75 km/h. When the traffic police asked Tu about the maximum speed limit in the inner city, this young man said that he knew the law that motorbikes were only allowed to go 60 km/h, but because he thought that there were few people around at noon and that he would not be monitored by the traffic police, he deliberately drove the motorbike faster than the speed limit.

Speed ​​shooting in the inner city and issuing fines to drivers has been implemented by Vinh City Police since June 2017. Accordingly, the traffic police force will combine public speed shooting, on-site records and disguised speed shooting and issuing fines. Both methods are carried out in parallel, ensuring that the area is always closed 24/7. This is done on all inner-city routes with all vehicles.

In cases where the disguised teams detect violations, the traffic police will not immediately impose fines but will save the images to send a notice of the fine. For buses and taxis, the notice of violation will be sent to the business; including full images of the vehicle, time and location of the violation.

Based on that, businesses can easily identify the offending driver to have appropriate handling. As for private vehicles, the authorities will contact the vehicle owner and driver to come to the traffic police headquarters to work. If the violator has not come to resolve the issue within 7 days, the Vinh City Traffic Police will send a document requesting the inspection agency to coordinate in handling the issue.

Positive signal

After 5 months of implementation, the combination of both public speed shooting, on-the-spot fines and disguised speed shooting, offline fines has significantly increased the traffic awareness of many drivers. Ms. Tran Thi Mai (a water seller on Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, Vinh City) said: "Previously, only when they saw the shadow of traffic police, bus and taxi drivers would drive slowly. But now, there are even disguised police officers shooting speed, so they drive more cautiously. We, the people, are very supportive of this."

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Mr. Phan Manh Tuan (a motorbike taxi driver, residing in Ben Thuy ward, Vinh city) said: "For a long time, we have only seen traffic police apply fines for speeding in suburban areas, now it is also applied in inner city areas, I think this is a good solution to prevent speeding and reckless driving...".

Authorities record traffic violations. Photo: Archive

It is known that the working groups of the Traffic Police Team, Vinh City Police will continuously change the time, location and method of speed shooting, ensuring a closed area.

On the gateway routes into the city, traffic police set up checkpoints, wearing uniforms, openly shooting speed and arresting violators on the spot to deter violators. On inner-city routes, traffic police disguise themselves in plain clothes to record speeding violations as a basis for fining drivers.

Assessing the results of the implementation of the plan to ensure traffic safety in the inner city, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Duy Ha - Deputy Head of Vinh City Police said: Although it has only been implemented for a short time, the combination of the two forms of speed shooting has brought many positive signals, and people's awareness of traffic participation has increased significantly.

Therefore, in the coming time, Vinh City Police will strengthen inspection and punishment by this method, to ensure traffic safety and order, especially at the end of the year and near Lunar New Year.

Phuong Thao