The Viet Nam Registration Department said
about 70,000 automobiles had passed their expiry date since the beginning of
this year and were no longer considered road worthy – but that the majority were
still in use.

Photo: VOV

Furthermore, the department said 40,000 trucks and nearly 30,000 buses were
considered no longer roadworthy but that just 10,400 had been impounded.

Than Van
Thanh, chief of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said the law prohibited
aged vehicles from being on the road for safety reasons.

He added
that vehicle owners were also largely ignorant of the law, while others openly
flouted road regulations because punishments were not strict enough.

The department, which has 88 vehicle registration centres
nationwide, said owners often used fake registration documents to bypass the law
and fool officials.

Most
elderly and illegal vehicles are discovered in major cities such as Ha Noi, HCM
City and Dong Nai.

The
Traffic Department said officials often confiscated registration documents
shortly before a vehicle needed to be scrapped, and informed owners and relevant
agencies about the approaching deadline.

The Viet
Nam Registration Department said the number of unfit vehicles on the country’s
roads had decreased since Decree No 92 was promulgated.

However,
the department said it was not easy to clearly state when foreign-made vehicle
should be taken off the roads because of the availability of new parts.

Vehicles
that have no documents are automatically considered unroad-worthy.

The
department has published the registration numbers of those vehicles that should
not be on the road.

Nguyen
Huu Tri, the Registration Department head, said a public awareness campaign on
the regulation had been run by local media.

Nguyen
Duc Nghi, director of the municipal police, said police would step-up checks on
trucks and buses. Those found un-roadworthy faced fines of VND4-6 million
($190-285) for each violation.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News