'Matrix' of traffic rescue services

Price chaos

Although the incident happened a long time ago, every time he mentions it, Mr. N.D.D. in Vinh City still cannot hide his anger. According to Mr. D, in April 2019, he drove a 7-seat Tucson from Nghi Loc to Vinh City, at that time around 12:00 a.m. When he was near the road to the Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital, to avoid a car passing in the same direction, his car plunged into the field. As a result, the car could not be pulled up even though it was only a few meters from the edge of the road.

Mr. D. recounted, “After the accident, I got out of the car but couldn’t find my phone because it was dark. So I had to borrow a passerby’s phone to call a friend to ask him to find the rescue number on the internet and I only had time to inform him of the location of the accident. Because I was so eager to get the car up, when the tow truck arrived, I forgot to ask for the price, because I thought it would cost at most over 1 million VND for a distance of about 5km to Vinh City, where there was a tow truck, which was also a repair garage.

Traffic rescuers were present at the scene of the accident at noon on October 15, 2019 at km 1+800 on the Vinh city bypass in Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo courtesy of D.C.

After taking a taxi to follow the tow truck back to the garage, handing over the car, I was so tired that I went home to sleep, and returned early the next morning to pay for the tow truck service and also to repair the damage. However, when I saw the bill for the tow truck service, which was almost three times more than expected, I wondered and was told by the garage staff that it was because the tow truck was at night and had to be lifted from the field...

According to Mr. D, because he was too "shocked" by the rescue price, and at the same time heard the estimated repair cost of up to nearly ten million VND to fix the dent on the front of the car and damage to the front bumper, along with a few scratches, he contacted another garage not far away with the price less than half, and at the same time learned that the rescue service fee like his case here would only be 1.5 million VND. Indignant when recounting, Mr. D. said that the rescue unit took the opportunity to "beautifully rip off" the victim.

Similarly, for many Vinh City residents during the historic flood in late October 2019, it was like getting lost in a price maze when calling for a tow truck. According to Ms. NTH, at that time, calling for a car was difficult, but getting a floor price was even more difficult. Because at this time, in addition to reputable units, transport vehicles and trailers from small, non-specialized garages also flooded the streets, and price gouging was real.

Rescue vehicles running at full capacity during the historic flood in late October 2019. Photo courtesy of Lam Tung

“At that time, my car was flooded right on Ho Tung Mau Street, across from Giao Te Hotel. At first, I called a garage on Road 32 to have my car towed home, less than 2 km away, for 900,000 VND, but then I was told that I had to wait. I continued to call another garage in Quan Bau area and was quoted 700,000 VND, but was also told that I had to wait, but after nearly 20 minutes, they still did not arrive. Because I was too impatient, I saw a tow truck passing by, they offered 1.4 million VND, and with no other choice, I had to agree. It is true that in times of trouble and pressure, things are priceless, but the price was really “mixed”, and the price I had to pay was “a bit steep”.

Need to have management method soon

In fact, every year in Nghe An, there are hundreds of traffic accidents, many of which involve cars, causing serious damage to people and property. Meanwhile, the number of rescue vehicles is still small, only a handful, and most of them are used to handle traffic violations, major incidents, and are really urgent.

Therefore, whenever a traffic accident occurs and a tow truck is needed to tow and transport the vehicle to a garage for repair, vehicle owners must call for a vehicle from private auto repair shops, some businesses in the province have specialized vehicles...

However, the regulations on the operation, management, and prices of traffic rescue in the area are almost "open". According to the synthesis of the Vehicle Management Team, under the Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Police, in the list of registered cars there are: Rescue cars; rescue; cars towing broken cars; rescue cars and cars towing and transporting cars. If all 5 types are combined, up to now, the whole province has 53 cars.

In reality, there are no statistics on how many units and individuals have registered for the rescue field. According to the data of the Transport Management Department, under the Department of Transport, there are currently 320 transport business units in the province. There are 13,500 vehicles with badges and nearly 10,000 are vehicles for transporting goods. Accordingly, rescue vehicles are also included in the list of vehicles for transporting goods normally.

There are accidents that require the mobilization of many rescue vehicles at the same time. Photo: D.C.

Regarding the issue of transportation prices, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Head of the Department of Transportation Management, Department of Transportation said: According to Circular 152/2015/TTLT-BGTVT-BTC, when registering for fixed-route transportation business, buses, taxis, the unit must declare the price. As for the contract form, tourist cars, and transportation business vehicles are still subject to agreement on the basis of revenue and expenditure compensation according to the market level.

To learn more about the conditions for operating a traffic rescue transport service, through a garage owner with a rescue vehicle, we learned: First of all, the vehicle must be registered for the transport business and the driver must have a driver's license qualified to drive the corresponding vehicle. According to this person, it is currently very difficult to determine how many businesses are registered for rescue operations, specifically how many vehicles. Because in reality, they are just vehicles for transport business, but when needed, they become rescue vehicles.

And because of that "flexibility", even those who have no experience in rescue still participate in rescue, so it is difficult to avoid unexpected problems, such as situations in the towing of vehicles, which can cause slipping and further damage... As for the price issue, because of the form of agreement, a specialized rescue unit can have a reasonable price, but for individuals and units that do business in a haphazard manner, it is difficult to avoid raising prices, "fishing in troubled waters", affecting other rescue units.

Many tow truck owners are also repair garage owners. Photo courtesy of Quang An

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of Nghe An Automobile Transport Association, said: The rescue sector should be considered a special type of business and it is necessary to publicize prices, both to create healthy competition between rescue vehicle providers and to facilitate people when needed. In reality, when people call for rescue, it is often an urgent matter, so they do not have enough time and calmness to compare prices, know where is cheaper, better to make a choice.

To prevent accidents, each car owner needs to learn through friends, online feedback about the rescue service of a facility in the area to make connections, contact when needed. In particular, before each long trip, drivers need to update the rescue contacts in the localities they pass through to prevent situations where the car encounters risks or accidents. Avoid being ripped off in terms of price, as well as quality issues in rescue work.

From the above reality, it is thought that this activity should soon be put into order, in order to support people when needed, as well as reduce traffic congestion. Enterprises with external rescue vehicles need to organize meetings to exchange experiences in rescue work, update new vehicle models to meet increasingly complex rescue needs...

Management agencies should research and come up with a basic price framework to unify businesses operating in this field. This will create healthy competition, helping legitimate rescue businesses develop and expand investment in equipment and human resources to be able to handle all situations, while people will feel more secure.