Warning of traffic accident risks from homemade vehicles

The most feared thing on the street is workers and farmers.

Many farmers in Nghe An consider farm vehicles as their family's "capital". However, this type of vehicle has many shortcomings, often without lights, like a "mobile piece of iron" at night, becoming a terror to traffic participants.

In early September, on National Highway 48E in Yen Thanh district, we witnessed a tractor carrying rice running wildly on the road. When passing through Tang Thanh commune, the tractor suddenly lost control, and both the vehicle and the driver fell into a deep ditch. Luckily, the tractor driver only suffered minor injuries, but passersby were terrified.

Mr. Nguyen Tho Ha in Nam Thanh commune said: The most dangerous thing is during harvest season, when farm trucks carrying rice from the fields speed and recklessly overtake in the alleys of the countryside, threatening the lives of road users. It is best to stay away whenever you hear the sound of a farm truck.

Having had the opportunity to learn, it was found that this type of "vertical head" farm tractor, simply produced by "village workers", has a Dong Phong engine in the front - China, and an iron box attached to the back, with almost no safety criteria, and a very high risk of insecurity.

A farm vehicle owner in Bac Thanh commune shared: We know it is unsafe, but because we do not have the financial means to buy a transport vehicle, we had to hire a mechanic to produce this type of farm vehicle, which costs just over 25 million VND. This vehicle is quite versatile, it can carry rice, goods, and can plow and harrow the fields.

In recent times, the authorities at all levels and the Yen Thanh District Police have made many efforts such as propagandizing and mobilizing people not to use farm vehicles, switching to other safer vehicles. Along with that, they have patrolled, handled, and confiscated many homemade farm vehicles, but have not handled them thoroughly.

Chaos of homemade vehicles transporting materials and mixing concrete

Recently, in Nghe An, there has been a situation where many homemade vehicles carrying materials and mixing concrete without ensuring safety have been running on the roads. In Hoang Mai town, we witnessed a dilapidated homemade concrete mixer truck with no windows, no horn, no lights, and a concrete mixer attached, speeding on National Highway 1A.

According to some bricklayers, this vehicle may be a self-propelled mixer, the engine can both mix concrete and move on the road. Using a homemade concrete mixer is cheaper than hiring a professional concrete mixer truck, however, the product quality is poor; because it is mainly done by hand, the product is not even. Not to mention that homemade vehicles running on the road have a very high risk of causing traffic accidents.

In addition, in some localities, there are many types of homemade three-wheeled vehicles, used to transport construction materials such as sand, rocks, and other goods. The vehicles do not meet technical standards, but weave through all the roads, causing traffic insecurity.

To limit the use of homemade vehicles, relevant units and local authorities at all levels need to strengthen propaganda and mobilization work so that people understand and comply with legal regulations on not circulating homemade vehicles, vehicles that have expired, and voluntarily liquidating, replacing, and destroying these types of vehicles.

The People's Committees at district and commune levels coordinate with the police force to regularly review and strictly manage the number of homemade vehicles and vehicles that have expired their usage period currently operating in the area, and the number of establishments that produce and trade homemade vehicles; establishments that purchase and renovate vehicles that have expired their usage period, requiring the owners of the establishments to sign a commitment to comply with the provisions of law in production and business activities, and not to produce or supply vehicles that operate in violation of regulations.

In case of business establishments intentionally violating, local police forces will strictly handle them according to the provisions of the law to create a strong deterrent.

Van Truong