Sidewalks become an unforgettable "road" during rush hour
Recorded in the past few days, during the morning rush hour from 7:30 to 8:30 every day, local traffic congestion has frequently occurred on Ho Tung Mau Street (Cau Giay District, Hanoi City). The line of vehicles was dense, inching forward. While the road is already overloaded, the sidewalk, which was originally reserved for pedestrians, suddenly becomes an unstoppable "roadway" for motorbikes.
Not hesitating to violate traffic regulations as well as face heavy fines, many motorcyclists still blatantly "go in the wrong direction", rushing straight onto the sidewalk to find a way to escape the congested road.
A security guard working at a gold shop on the above route said that the sidewalk used to be a pedestrian crossing, now it has become a place where motorbikes swerved like on the main road. Not only dangerous but also causing frustration for pedestrians.
"Every time there are functional forces, this situation improves somewhat. However, as soon as the Traffic Police withdrew, the situation recurred. There are people who are not conscious and still deliberately push their vehicles onto the sidewalk to get through the traffic jam faster, despite the danger," said the security guard.
Referee is strict, it is still difficult to rectify awareness
Speaking to reporters, Major Tran Phuong Tien - Officer of Road Traffic Police Team No. 6 (Traffic Police Department, Hanoi City Police) - said that according to the provisions of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, motorbike drivers on the sidewalk will be fined from 4 to 6 million VND and have 2 points deducted from their driving license.
"In the past, the unit has increased strict handling of violations. Thereby, the compliance awareness of a part of traffic participants has improved. However, there are still many people who are not fully aware of the dangers of this behavior, so they still deliberately violate it, said Major Tien.
In reality, in addition to causing unsafe traffic and violating pedestrian spaces, riding motorbikes on the sidewalk also poses a serious risk of accidents, especially in sections with many students and the elderly. Not only that, this arbitrariness and disregard for the law also creates a bad precedent, affecting the efforts to restore urban order that the city is implementing.
To thoroughly resolve the above situation, Major Tran Phuong Tien said that in the coming time, Road Traffic Police Team No. 6 will continue to promote propaganda to raise awareness among the people. At the same time, the authorities will arrange more patrol and control teams, set up checkpoints and apply professional technical equipment to record and handle violations more strictly and strongly.
