All road transport vehicles, including over nine-seater passenger coaches, container trucks and tractor-trailers, across Viet Nam must be equipped with onboard surveillance cameras prior to July 1. In Da Nang, the municipal Department of Transportation has asked the city’s Automobile Transport Association, road transport service providers and the Management Board of the Da Nang inter-provincial coach station to accelerate the installation of such onboard cameras in line with the national government's new regulations.

All road transport vehicles, including over nine-seater passenger coaches, container trucks and tractor-trailers across Viet Nam must be equipped with onboard surveillance cameras prior to July 1.

As per request of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam (DRVN), transport businesses are highly recommended to select cameras that use 4G or 5G mobile networks to ensure optimal transmission of images and avoid wastefulness, as 2G technology will soon be scrapped in compliance with the roadmap of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Camera data must include such information as driver's license numbers, number plates, time, and GPS coordinates.

The camera coverage area is required to include the cabin of the vehicle, its doors, and the driver.

All videos and images must be transmitted 12-20 times per hour on journeys to corresponding transport businesses and the DRVN.

Police officers and traffic inspectors will be allowed to access camera footage to facilitate their investigation and inspection.

The DRVN is running a campaign to inspect and handle violations through data monitoring device for all passenger and goods transportation vehicles nationwide from April 15 to July 15.

Although the regulatory time is imminent, some transport service providers based in the city are still reluctant to make the installation of onboard surveillance cameras due to their worries over high installation costs.

Mr Dang Van Phung, the owner of a passenger coach in Khue My Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District, said not only does the initial installation cost about VND 4 - 5 million VND, but every month the vehicle owner must also pay a few hundred thousand Vietnamese dong for transmission charges. In particular, they may face such a heavy financial burden in light of their stagnant trading operations triggered by coronavirus impacts.

Mr To Van Hiep, the Chairman of the Da Nang Trucking Association – DANATA lauded the installation of surveillance cameras in road transport vehicles for ensuring the safety and effective management of passengers, drivers, assistant drivers and tour guides, as well as to enhancing the quality of services and building  brand names for Da Nang transport service providers.

During the installation of surveillance cameras on such vehicles, special attention will be paid to ensuring that the position and the number of installed cameras must record all images of drivers and passengers in cabin.

Also heed will be paid to strictly complying with the camera manufacturers' instructions, as well as preventing short circuits on vehicles.

After July 1, functional local bodies will not approve travel schedules for any vehicles that are required to install onboard surveillance cameras but fail to do so in line with the mandatory regulations, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Transport Le Thanh Hung noted.

Reporting by THANH LAN – Translating by A.T