"Black Box" - A solution to reduce traffic accidents.

(Baonghean) - Installing GPS tracking devices on all types of road motor vehicles is one of the important factors in reducing road traffic accidents. To make this work even more effective, it is necessary to strengthen the inspection of the operations of transport businesses using GPS devices and strictly handle violations…

Check the GPS data extraction before allowing the vehicle to depart from Vinh Bus Station.

Mr. Phan Huu Man, Chairman of Binh Minh Transport Service Cooperative (Vinh City), said: “Following the policy of installing GPS tracking devices, the cooperative has propagated and encouraged its members to strictly comply. All passenger transport vehicles of the cooperative have installed GPS devices in accordance with regulations. The cooperative has 121 passenger transport vehicles, including 51 vehicles operating inter-provincial routes and 60 vehicles operating fixed intra-provincial routes. Thanks to the GPS devices, the cooperative can better monitor and manage the passenger transport operations of its members.” Similarly, Duc Binh bus company, operating the Do Luong – Da Nang – Hanoi route, has also strictly implemented the installation of GPS devices, thereby monitoring the vehicle's schedule and ensuring traffic safety.

July 1st, 2013 was the deadline for installing GPS tracking devices on passenger transport vehicles. It is known that in the province, there are 25 companies operating fixed-route passenger transport services with 610 vehicles, 2 companies operating bus services with 68 vehicles, 7 companies operating taxi services with 855 vehicles, and 10 other contract transport companies with 46 vehicles… and all passenger transport vehicles have successfully installed tracking devices. Some companies, such as Van Minh, Thanh Vinh, Thach Thanh, and Binh Minh, with large fleets of vehicles, have signed contracts with equipment suppliers and diligently maintained their GPS devices, ensuring stable operation. Installing this device helps the transportation sector better manage passenger transport operations of units, businesses, and bus companies in the area, and thereby provides appropriate solutions to handle violations.

Currently, the management of vehicle tracking devices is carried out by businesses and units using GPS, or by authorized businesses providing the devices, and all data is managed by the Transport Department and the Road Department. Mr. Vo Xuan Thanh – Deputy General Director of Nghe An Bus Station Joint Stock Company said: “In accordance with the requirements of the Department of Transport, all vehicles must have GPS devices, and these devices must be operational. Before departure, all data must be fully extracted so that Vinh Bus Station can process departure procedures. This avoids situations where some units or vehicle owners install GPS devices but they are not working and are only used for evasive purposes during inspections… Every day at Vinh Bus Station, 300 vehicles depart, and all have had their GPS data extracted.” Thanks to the strict compliance with the installation of GPS devices and the full data extraction, management at Vinh Bus Station has been greatly facilitated. Before the installation of vehicle tracking devices, some vehicle owners would arbitrarily sign contracts for inter-provincial passenger transport for several consecutive days, abandoning routes and informing Vinh Bus Station that they were taking their vehicles for repairs, or claiming the driver was sick… This caused difficulties in passenger transport services and made it very difficult to handle the vehicle owners and operators. However, after the installation of vehicle tracking devices and the requirement to extract data, this situation no longer occurs. Vehicle owners and drivers now adhere to the registered schedules and routes, and it is even possible to monitor whether the vehicles enter the bus station or transfer passengers along the way…

Recently, the Ministry of Transport established an inspection team to review the implementation of solutions to ensure road transport safety in Nghe An province. The team highly praised transport units and businesses for their effective installation of vehicle tracking devices. However, the inspection of GPS devices also revealed several instances of drivers violating regulations regarding continuous driving time, speeding, and failing to register their names when changing drivers. For example, at Thanh Vinh Company, the Ministry of Transport's team found that drivers of five vehicles operating on the Vinh-Hai Phong route had a total of 599 speeding violations (the highest speed being 89 km/h) and numerous violations related to continuous driving time. Vehicle 37B-00279, for instance, had 234 speeding violations and 14 violations related to continuous driving time.

Investigations have revealed that, due to the mandatory installation of vehicle tracking devices on all passenger transport vehicles by the stipulated deadline (July 1, 2013), some units, businesses, and transport companies were unable to select reputable suppliers. This resulted in GPS devices only functioning for a short period, or frequently experiencing technical malfunctions and breakdowns. Furthermore, during an inspection by the Ministry of Transport on the implementation of measures to ensure road transport safety in Nghe An, it was discovered that the vehicle tracking device installed on vehicle 37V-3679 of Thach Thanh company contained incorrect information regarding the number of speeding violations, contrary to QCVN 31:2011/BGTV.

The installation of vehicle tracking devices on road motor vehicles has proven highly effective, being a key factor in reducing road traffic accidents. To further enhance the effectiveness of this effort, it is necessary to strengthen the inspection of transport businesses using GPS devices, strictly and decisively handle violations related to speed, driving time, and vehicle routes, and suspend operations and revoke permits for vehicles with malfunctioning or non-compliant GPS devices.

Hoang Vinh