'Terminating' 341 expired cars in Nghe An

Statistics of cars with expired usage period

According to statistics from the Nghe An Motor Vehicle Inspection Center, the total number of cars in the province that have expired as of December 31, 2018 is 341, including 304 trucks and 37 passenger cars.

According to regulations, vehicles that have expired or are about to expire will be updated in the warning list in the inspection management program so that the motor vehicle inspection centers will not allow inspection. This list is also reported to the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Transport and sent to the Traffic Inspectorate and Traffic Police.

In addition, vehicle owners will also be notified by inspection centers in many forms before the vehicle's expiry date at the final inspection cycle. It is recommended that drivers are not allowed to drive vehicles when the expiry date has expired, and vehicle owners must return the registration and inspection certificates...

Circular 15/2014/TT-BCA of the Ministry of Public Security stipulates the responsibilities of competent authorities in revoking vehicle registration certificates and license plates. Accordingly, vehicle registration and management agencies shall base on the list of expired cars and cars not allowed to circulate provided by the inspection agency to review and carry out procedures to revoke vehicle registration certificates and license plates.

At the same time, the Circular also stipulates that vehicle registration and management agencies coordinate with the police of the commune, ward or town where the vehicle owner resides to notify and request organizations and individuals whose vehicles have expired to carry out procedures to revoke the registration certificate and license plate.

Officers of Nghe An Motor Vehicle Inspection Center check safety conditions for passenger cars. Photo: D.C.

The regulation is like that, but how many of these will strictly implement the destruction, in other words, "kill", or still secretly circulate is not an easy question to answer. In fact, although there have not been any accidents related to expired vehicles in the area, a series of accidents related to expired vehicles in the past time in the whole country is enough to ring the alarm bell.

For example, the accident that occurred in March 2018 at Hung Vuong quarry (Vuong Loc commune, Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province) caused 1 death due to truck with license plate 38H-7648 (expired from January 1, 2018, unregistered since May 2014) rolling down the slope); or the accident where truck with license plate 19C-006.35 (expired from January 1, 2017, unregistered since December 2012) plunged into a ravine in Thuong Phung commune, Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province, killing 4 people on board in April 2018...

The fact that expired vehicles have a high risk of accidents is completely reasonable. According to Mr. Nguyen Quy Khanh - Director of Nghe An Motor Vehicle Registration Center: Expired vehicles often have problems with brakes, technical equipment, and safety components. These components are no longer compatible, so there is a possibility of failure at any time.

And many traffic accidents have occurred due to brake failure, equipment failure... In addition, these "outdated" cars also pose many risks of fire and explosion because the gas tank is old and rusty, and the fuel pipes are not sturdy and can easily leak, leading to fire and explosion.

Decree 95/2009/ND-CP dated October 30, 2009 of the Government stipulates: The term of use is the permitted time of use of a car calculated from the year of manufacture. Specifically, the term of use for cargo cars is not more than 25 years, for passenger cars is not more than 20 years; For cars converted from other types of vehicles to passenger cars before January 1, 2002, it is not more than 17 years.

Tighten management

In order to control, prevent and eliminate expired vehicles, every year the Provincial Motor Vehicle Inspection Center posts a list of discarded vehicles at the inspection procedure room and sends notices to the relevant authorities to have a control and handling plan.

Mr. Nguyen Quy Khanh said: In the last inspection before the vehicle expires, the Center will issue a red-marked inspection sticker for the vehicle and put it on the warning list in the system's inspection data so that the inspection centers will not accept inspection of expired vehicles in the next inspection period.

At the same time, notify about the vehicle's expiry date and encourage the vehicle owner to comply with the regulations on vehicle expiry date. But that is also the reason why many vehicles nearing the expiry date often avoid the final inspection. Worryingly, if the vehicle owner tries to falsify the technical safety inspection documents to legalize the vehicle and circulate on the road.

Vehicles undergo inspection procedures at Nghe An Motor Vehicle Inspection Center. Photo: D.C.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nam Hong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Police Department: From the list provided by the Department of Registration, every year the department sends a list of vehicles that have expired so that the Traffic Police force in the areas can promptly detect and handle them.

At the same time, notices were sent to vehicle owners whose vehicles had expired in the province, but as of December 31, 2018, only 22 cases had come to complete the procedures to return the registration and license plate. Regarding cases of overdue inspection, from the beginning of 2018 until now, the force has detected and handled 190 cases.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Hong, there are cases where the vehicle has been through many owners without completing the transfer procedures, and up to now, the owner's whereabouts have not been determined. In addition, there are cases where the post office staff could not find the address to send the notice, so they had to return it, because in fact, the vehicle's owner was registered at address A, but has now moved...

According to Decree 46/2016 on administrative sanctions in the field of railway and road traffic, the penalty for vehicles that have expired is from 4 to 6 million VND/case, along with the driver's license being revoked for 1 to 3 months and the vehicle being confiscated.

According to Mr. Nguyen Sy Thang - Chief Inspector of the Department of Transport: Every year, the Department Inspectorate directs regional inspection teams to strengthen coordination with functional forces to conduct inspections and strictly handle organizations and individuals who bring vehicles past the inspection deadline and vehicles that have expired their use date to circulate on roads, especially on roads in remote areas, near mineral mines, cargo staging areas, construction sites... From the beginning of 2019 until now, through inspections, the force has discovered 8 vehicles past the inspection deadline.

Traffic inspectors check vehicle parking and related documents. Photo: D.C.

As can be seen, handling expired vehicles is not easy, and in fact, if we only rely on the vehicle owners' self-awareness, it will be very difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to step up propaganda work so that information not only reaches vehicle owners but also helps people understand the risk of causing traffic accidents when leaving expired vehicles on the road.

In addition, local authorities should advise organizations, schools, businesses and individuals to check registration and inspection documents when renting a vehicle to avoid renting a vehicle that has expired and is not safe for traffic; and not to buy, sell or exchange vehicles that have expired.

Regarding the force directly involved in inspection and handling, it should be assigned to the commune police (especially in rural areas, mountainous areas, remote areas) to supervise the vehicle owners to return registration papers, license plates and the vehicle's deregistration. In addition, there should be stronger sanctions so that vehicles that have expired must be dismantled into scrap and destroyed to ensure traffic safety and limit traffic accidents.

Directive 29/CT-TTg dated October 5, 2016 of the Prime Minister on handling of road vehicles that have expired their usage period or are past their inspection date clearly states: requiring the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Information and Communications to increase propaganda, patrols, and penalties.

At the same time, request the People's Committees of provinces and cities to direct local authorities to conduct a general inspection, review, and compile a list of vehicles that have expired or are past their inspection period; and have specific plans to handle them in accordance with legal regulations.

In particular, the Directive requires handling of the responsibility of the head if a vehicle that has expired its usage period or is past its inspection period participates in traffic and causes an accident.