On January 27, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting on the draft Decree amending and supplementing decrees in the field of roads.
Regarding regulations on managing four-wheeled electric vehicles with engines, Colonel Pham Quang Huy - Deputy Director of the Traffic Police Department stated the reality that many localities have "broken barriers" when allowing these vehicles to circulate mixed with cars, containers, and motorbikes on national highways and provincial roads, increasing the risk of accidents.
Therefore, the Ministry of Public Security has coordinated with the Directorate of Roads and the Ministry of Construction to propose to only allow electric vehicles to operate on routes with separate lanes; places with sufficient infrastructure can reserve 1 lane to serve tourism and economic development, in order to both use the number of vehicles invested and ensure traffic order and safety.
Regarding the proposal to limit 2-story sleeper buses, Colonel Pham Quang Huy said that in the past time, there have been many serious accidents related to this type of vehicle, mainly on steep mountain passes and mountainous areas with super-high slopes.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Justice Dang Hoang Oanh said that ministries and sectors basically agreed with the proposal to ban 2-story sleeper buses from operating on level 3 and level 4 roads in mountainous areas to ensure traffic safety.
To avoid sudden impacts on business operations of enterprises, the Deputy Minister proposed to apply according to a roadmap, with a transition period to notify, combine infrastructure review and implement supporting solutions; then move towards thorough prohibition.
Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister clearly stated that 2-story sleeper buses are usually only used for tourism, concentrated in urban areas and flat terrain, for high mountainous areas, difficult terrain, and many steep passes, they are basically not used. If used, there must be separate standards for vehicles and separate standards for roads.
Therefore, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Construction to urgently issue regulations for 2-story sleeper buses operating in mountainous areas, including infrastructure design, roads and vehicles. After issuing regulations, all 2-story sleeper buses that do not meet the requirements will not be allowed to operate.
The State needs to have mechanisms and policies, credit, and allocate support funds for businesses and vehicle owners to exchange, renovate, and install additional safety equipment in accordance with regulations, or switch to operating in a suitable area.
The Ministry of Public Security reviews all regulations related to public passenger transport drivers, including 2-story sleeper bus drivers, from driver's licenses, health to skills, "these subjects must have regulations different from private drivers".
Applying technical technology solutions to monitor vehicles, in which the Ministry of Public Security presides over journey monitoring, speed monitoring, especially 2-story sleeper buses operating in mountainous areas.
For four-wheeled electric vehicles, control in the direction of only operating in places with separate lanes or areas with a maximum speed of 30 km/h; roads with a traffic speed of over 30 km/h must be prohibited from traffic. The Ministry of Public Security coordinates with the Ministry of Construction to unify and be responsible for determining roads prohibiting four-wheeled electric vehicles from circulating.
In particular, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, electric bicycles can currently run up to 50-60 km/h, while not requiring a driver's license, training or testing; the risk level is therefore even higher than large displacement motorcycles.
The Deputy Prime Minister proposed to study and include this content in management documents, taking advantage of mechanisms and policies to reduce accidents and risks for traffic participants.
