VietNamNet Bridge - The transport firms having cars without the black box will be fined from VND500,000 to VND2 million ($25-100) or even have their business licenses revoked from August 1, 2013.

Inspectors slam manufacturers of poor quality black boxes

Cars without a black box to be fined from July



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Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Vice Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said July 1 was scheduled to be the first day for fining transport firms and vehicles without the black box. However, the authorities decided to extend the deadline to July 15.

From July 15, the Ministry of Transport will inspect the installation of black boxes at transport companies and send data to the Department of Transportation, and police agencies of provinces as well as the media. From August 1, the violators will be fined.

"The fine is from VND500,000 to VND2 million. The companies that have many cars without the black box will have their business licenses revoked," said Hiep.

According to the National Traffic Safety Committee, the country has about two million cars but only 5 percent of the vehicles must have the black box. Statistics show that up to 95 percent of serious accidents were related to the cars that must have the black box. Hiep hoped that the use of the monitoring device would help reduce the number of serious traffic accidents.

The Ministry of Transport has set up a software system that integrates the data of 20,000 cars that must have the black box. It is scheduled that by July 15, this system will integrate the data of the entire 48,000 vehicles of this kind.

There are 52 providers of black boxes in Vietnam. The Ministry of Transport recently checked 32 companies and revoked the licenses of six. Five others are permitted to deal with their mistakes within two months.

It is necessary to use the black box but some experts doubted the effectiveness of this project.

Mr. Bui Danh Lien, President of the Hanoi Auto Transport Association said that at present, there are no charts of speed for vehicles on the highways so many transport firms set the maximum speed for vehicles at 80km/h. If vehicles enter towns at the speed of 60-70km, the device will not make alarm while the vehicles exceed the speed in fact.

Phi Son