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Hanoi traffic police propose ‘one person, one car’ policy

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/21/2017 13:02 GMT + 7

The Hanoi traffic police unit (PC67) has suggested banning all city dwellers from owning more than one car and one license plate, in a bid to resolve the chronic traffic problem of the Vietnamese capital.

PC67 has officially submitted the proposal as an initiative to curb heavy traffic in Hanoi to the government for consideration, the unit head Dao Vinh Thang told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

There are around 500 new cars and 16,000 new motorbikes registered every month in Hanoi, according to the PC67 head.

“[We suggest that] every person be allowed to own only one car and one license plate for that vehicle,” Thang elaborated.

“If that person wishes to purchase a new car, he or she has to sell the old one, and the old license plate can be transferred to the new vehicle.”

Thang asserted that similar regulation has been applied in many countries around the world and showed its effectiveness in curbing traffic jams, especially in super-metropolis.

The proposal also states that car owner needs to have a bank account and all the traffic fines will be processed electronically instead of having the driver physically come to the police office as currently do.

The PC67 proposal also suggests the government stipulate ‘service life limit’ for cars, rather than allowing people to “keep using the vehicles until they break down completely.”

“This results in the fact that a large number of old and unsafe vehicles are traveling on the streets, exacerbating the traffic jam in Hanoi,” Thang said.

As per the current law, there is no restriction on the number of vehicles, car and motorcycle, a person can own.

There is no immediate comment from the government on the PC67 proposal.