Over recent time, Da Nang’s functional forces have geared up their patrols and taken stronger measures to ensure traffic order and safety on major downtown streets heavily packed with vehicles of all types, especially before, during and after the forthcoming Tet (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) festival.

Traffic inspectors handling illegal car parking on a section of Phan Dang Luu Street

According to the municipal Department of Transport, the illegal parking of countless private cars on streets throughout downtown Da Nang is causing partial congestion, and this problem turns worse during rush hours when a high volume of road users are recorded. A large number of road users, therefore, have always expressed their strong annoyance with this unpleasant fact.

During rush hours, a large number of vehicles including cars, tourist coaches, taxis, and motorcycles are caught in traffic gridlock, which sparks anger amongst road users. To make the traffic jam worse, scores of automobiles lined up along some downtown streets, occupying part of the roadway and creating tremendous difficulties for commuters.

In order to resolve congestion, in parallel with the publicity on the traffic regulations, and the strict handling of the act of parking in the wrong place, especially along downtown streets, the municipal administration has approved the allocation of 14 more local streets where 4-wheeled vehicles will only be allowed to park either on odd dates or even dates in the downtown districts of Hai Chau, Thanh Khe, Cam Le, Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son.

These streets are Thanh Thuy, Ngo Gia Tu, Vu Huu, a section of Le Dinh Duong between its intersections with Ong Ich Khiem and Nguyen Van Linh, a section of Ha Huy Tap between its intersections with Dien Bien Phu and Truong Chinh, a section of Nguyen Phuoc Nguyen between its intersections with Dien Bien Phu and a road leading to Da Nang International Airport, along with Ky Dong, a section of Bac Son between its intersections with Phan Khoang and Tran Dinh Nam, a section of Doan Huu Trung between its intersections with Nguyen Dinh Tu and An Hoa 6, plus Le Kim Lang, Tran Ngoc Suong, Ho Nguyen Trung, Phan Ba Phien, and a part of Nguyen Ba Lan between its intersections with Tran Van Du and Ba Huyen Thanh Quan.

Besides, in an effort to ensure traffic safety and reduce traffic congestion, parking restrictions have put into place in some streets in Da Nang.

Four-wheeled vehicles are now banned from parking at all time within 30m-50m of the intersections controlled by traffic lights.

Also, all parking are prohibited around the clock along a section of Ha Huy Tap near the Sen Lake, a section of Nguyen Phuoc Nguyen between its intersections with a road leading to Da Nang International and Truong Chinh, and a part of Nguyen Ba Lan between its intersections of My Da Dong 2 and My Da Dong 3.

Chief Traffic Inspector from the municipal Department of Transport Nguyen Trung Nghia said that the act of stopping and parking automobiles in contravention of the national traffic regulations has occurred quite a lot along some major streets, especially the encroachment into some designated bus stops.

In reality, some private cars have been fined for stopping illegally at some bus stops. Given their lost parking space, buses, of course, usually face difficulties in picking up and dropping off their passengers here.

Last year, the Da Nang Department of Transport and the Da Nang Traffic Lights and Public Transport Management Centre (DATRAMAC) have jointly piloted the placement of life-sized traffic inspector dummies at bus stops across the city as an efficient way to raise public awareness of complying with traffic regulations.

The municipal Department of Transport has instructed traffic inspectors to intensify their inspections and the handling of traffic violations, especially from now until the Tet festival 2021.

Efforts to curb the illegal parking will surely continue to be ramped up over the course of the year.

As stipulated in the Vietnamese traffic laws, illegal parking can be fined up to 12 million VND for offending cars and 5 million VND for motorbikes.

By THANH LAN- Translated by A.T