These vehicles, mostly motorbikes or makeshift three-wheelers, pose a risk to traffic safety due to the large loads of goods potentially causing collisions and blocking the vision of other drivers.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Đức Thắng, chief of the city’s Traffic Police Unit No 7 which regularly patrols the streets of Hà Đông and Thanh Xuân districts, there were more than 150 violations of overloaded vehicles within just one month from mid-February to mid-March.

“From March 6-15, our unit handled 39 cases of makeshift three-wheelers with fines totalling around VNĐ25 million (US$1,010). Four vehicles and 31 vehicle documents were confiscated,” he said.

Traffic Police Unit No 1, which is in charge of an area with major wet markets including Long Biên and Đồng Xuân, also handled and seized 16 makeshift three-wheelers with more than VNĐ97 million ($3,900) in fines from mid-December last year until now. 

Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) newspaper reported that most of the violating three-wheelers handled by Traffic Police Unit No 7 are old and exceeding their shipping capacity, many of which have no licence plates. 

When pulled over by the police, most drivers said that due to difficult family circumstances, they opted to use outdated and unsafe vehicles to transport goods to make ends meet. 

To maximise incomes and reduce the number of trips they have to take, the drivers often try to load as many bulks as possible for a ride. 

Chief of the Traffic Unit No 14 Major Phạm Đức Hoàng said that in addition to handling and documenting violation cases according to regulations, officers also put in the effort to raise awareness of the extremely high danger risks that overloading vehicles can cause while in traffic.

Meanwhile, as many of the violating vehicles are outdated, authorities also need to look into issuing a standard framework to ensure vehicle safety and related environmental criteria, he said, explaining that this would allow law enforcers to seize and destroy vehicles that are not qualified for operation.

Hoàng said: “In the long term, it is also necessary to research and develop small-sized transport vehicles that can travel through Hà Nội’s streets and alleyways to respond to people’s transportation needs. 

“This will reduce the use of makeshift three-wheelers and motorbikes for bulky goods transport like right now.”

Lieutenant Colonel Đào Việt Long, deputy head of Hà Nội Traffic Police Department said that to put an end to overloaded transporting vehicles which violate the Law on Road Traffic, awareness campaigns will be held alongside increased patrols by district-level police forces.

Joint efforts from all departments of local authorities are crucial to this mission, he said, especially in inspecting and handling unqualified vehicles at the grassroots level. — VNS