In order to ensure the practice of COVID-19 prevention rules in transportation activities, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport requested provinces and cities to urge the installation of in-cabin surveillance cameras in vehicles with more than nine seats and trucks. Along with that, the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam (DRVN) proposed increasing the use of data from monitoring devices and handling vehicles that fail to transmit data to the competent authorities during their journeys.

Functional forces inspect a vehicle on Hoang Van Thai Route , Lien Chieu District.(Photo taken in October, 2021). Photo: THANH LAN

Multiple violations in data transmission

Recording and storage of the images on the vehicles must be sent to police, traffic inspectors and licensing agencies to ensure transparent surveillance. Videos and images must be transmitted 12-20 times per hour on journeys to transportation businesses and the DRVN.

The installation of surveillance cameras in road transport vehicles aims to improve the effectiveness of transport management, contributing to preventing and minimising traffic accidents.

According to the Da Nang Department of Transport, hundreds of vehicles have failed to transmit data to transportation businesses and the DRVN.

In August 2021 alone, 40 vehicles did not transmit data continuously for 31 days, such as the Hai Van Transport Service Cooperative, the Da Nang Passenger Car and Transport Service JSC and the Phi Hiep Transport and Trade Services JSC. This makes it more difficult to inspect and supervise vehicles, especially the possibility of serious traffic accidents and the risk of coronavirus spread.

The drivers of many vehicles have intensively turned off in-cabin surveillance cameras in order to avoid being detected whilst exceeding the speed limit and illegally staying for more than 12 hours in coronavirus-stricken zones without making mandatory medical declarations and undergoing quarantine in centralised establishments as required). In fact, in recent times, many cases of COVID-19 spread through means of transport, especially passenger coaches and trucks, have occurred.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport is urging the installation of surveillance cameras on freight transport vehicles. According the Deputy Head of DRVN Phan Thi Thu Hien, in the context of complicated developments of COVID-19, the use of cameras is an effective solution to identify whether or not both drivers and passengers strictly adhere to the face mask rule whilst onboard and vehicles carry the permitted number of passengers. 

Strict handling violations for sake of pandemic prevention and control

Along with journey monitoring equipment, surveillance cameras will be a means of playing an important role in pandemic prevention and control. Besides, cameras can help transport businesses and competent authorities easily monitor the driver's violations such as making video calls behind the wheel, distraction and other unsafe traffic behaviors. The installation of cameras is also very convenient for tracing if there is a case of COVID-19 on the vehicle.

Recently, many localities across the country have continuously detected the drivers of long- haul passenger coaches on inter-provincial routes to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. These cases can become transmission chains if not controlled in time.

Through traffic monitoring data from September 10 -30, more than 83,000 drivers and their assistants registered to enter Da Nang, and most of them are onboard passenger transport vehicles

During this period, functional local forces checked more than 1,700 vehicles with a total of more than 2,000 people. Finally, a fine of VND330 million was levied on deeds going against the pandemic prevention rules.

Reporting by THANH LAN – Translating by A. THU