Severe punishment for transport companies that use "addicts" at the wheel!

In recent days, there have been a series of tragic accidents with a huge number of casualties. The most recent was an accident that killed 8 people and injured 8 others in Kim Luong commune (Kim Thanh district, Hai Duong) on ​​the afternoon of January 21.

Not long ago, a particularly serious traffic accident in Long An when a container truck crashed into a series of motorcyclists waiting at a red light also claimed the lives of 4 people and injured 18 others. Both of these accidents were caused by “addicts” driving while participating in traffic.

Traffic accidents are always a nightmare for everyone, leaving many painful consequences for many families and society. The nightmare of traffic participants will grow bigger if there are no strong solutions to prevent "addicts" from holding the steering wheel.

We have many regulations and even the Road Traffic Law that specifically regulates each violation and has sanctions. But every day, every hour, we have to witness sudden, heartbreaking deaths caused by traffic violators.

According to the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Planning and Investment), in 2018, there were 18,232 traffic accidents nationwide, killing 8,125 people, injuring 5,124 people and slightly injuring 9,070 people.

That means, on average, 22 people leave their homes every day and never return. That also means that many families have lost a loved one or breadwinner, as well as tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of children who have lost their parents.

Why are there laws, decrees, and circulars, but traffic accidents still do not decrease and are becoming more serious? There are many reasons, but the main reason is still due to the human subject. That is the awareness of traffic participants and of law enforcement officers in handling traffic violations.

Traffic participants’ awareness is still limited, and many do not comply with traffic safety regulations. Speeding, reckless driving, encroaching on roads and lanes, driving beyond the prescribed limit, using alcohol, beer, and even drugs… are common occurrences, sometimes occurring right in front of the traffic police.

The handling of traffic violations in many places is still done in a perfunctory, casual manner, following the trend rather than regularly and continuously, which is also the reason why traffic participants are "immune" to the law. Along with that, the punishment is still done in a "raise high, hit lightly" manner, "let it go" or "make the law" style, which also makes the traffic violation situation more and more serious...

To limit these shortcomings, along with strictly implementing the regulations and laws on road traffic, those regulations that are not strong enough and no longer suitable for the current situation can be amended to be a strong deterrent to violators as well as all traffic participants. These things need to be done promptly to limit the unjust and heartbreaking deaths caused by traffic violations.

Along with training drivers on ethics and law, it is necessary to consider periodic health check-ups for them on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis as mandatory, to limit those who do not meet the standards from participating in traffic, causing a series of serious accidents.

For drivers with drugs in their system, there must be strong sanctions, such as confiscating their driver’s license or banning them from driving forever. And this is only a “top-of-the-line” solution if the vehicle owner and business owner are not simultaneously punished. Because the vehicle owner and business owner are the ones who select and employ the driver, they must bear the main responsibility for the driver’s violations.

If from the beginning, transport companies had done a good job in recruiting and supervising drivers, regularly checking their health, ethics and skills, then there certainly wouldn't have been heartbreaking accidents caused by drivers drinking alcohol or being on drugs like the recent ones.

Therefore, to prevent the painful consequences from the beginning, when detecting a driver with drugs in his body, in addition to handling the driver, it is necessary to severely punish the transport company for using drug-addicted drivers, and even prosecute before the law or revoke the business license of the company.

When this is done seriously, other transport companies will "not dare" and "cannot dare" to use "addict" drivers.

Don’t let the haunting of unjust deaths become more and more heavy. Don’t let the pain of mourning, the burden of making a living weigh down on the small shoulders of children who lost their fathers and mothers in traffic accidents.

Let us join hands to act. From amending and supplementing regulations that are no longer appropriate and not deterrent enough to being conscious when participating in traffic.

After all, all rules and actions are by people and serve people.