Breas – Talk Vietnam

Recalling old substandard motorbikes to ensure traffic safety and reduce air pollution is a necessity, but this cannot be done easily because motorbikes are the livelihood of the poor. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) has released Document No 7442, requesting cities/provinces to strengthen control over air pollution and eliminate dust and emissions hotspots. The ministry has asked Hanoi and HCM City to speed up the implementation of comprehensive solutions to ease air pollution, such as new public transport, vehicles using clean energy, and removal of old vehicles from circulation. The recall of old motorbikes has been discussed for many years. According to the Vietnam Register (VR), there are 3.4 million cars and 50 million motorbikes. Hanoi has 7 million motorbikes and HCM City 9 million in regular circulation. Of these, 40 percent are old motorbikes that have been used for more than 15 years. In Hanoi, it is easy to see trashy motorbikes, with no horn, lamp, mirror or license plate rolling on the streets. The owners of the motorbikes are often vegetable and fruit merchants, builders and scrap collectors who use the bike to carry goods. The old motorbikes are mostly models manufactured many years ago, including Honda Cub, Wave, SYM Angel, Suzuki Viva, Best and Chinese models Loncin and Lifan. Many of them have been modified to be able to carry cumbersome goods. They are loud and kick dust and threaten the safety of other people. Studies show that motorbikes emit 80-90 percent of CO, HC and NOx of total emissions. Old motorbikes that are only occasionally maintained will produce a volume of toxic emissions much higher than vehicles regularly maintained. Currently, emissions examinations are being implemented in accordance with the Ministry of Transport’s Circular No 70 dated November 2015. But the regulation is only applied to cars, and there is no standard for motorbikes. Experts and officials all agree that it is necessary to …