VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Goods Transport Association wants the police to break up the gangs scattering nails and other sharp objects on roads ostensibly to earn money from fixing punctured tyres.

Bigger nails were being scattered these days, targeting larger vehicles like trucks, causing transport operators to suffer losses and endangering all road users, it said.

Roads in Districts 2, 7, 9, and Thu Duc are thought to be the worst affected.

Doan Minh Thanh, director of Minh Thanh Transport Logistics Co Ltd, said at least two of the company's 76 trailer trucks and containers suffered flat tyres every day.

The average fee charged for fixing a puncture ranged from VND50,000 to 400,000, (US$2.4 - 19.5) he said.

But the major problem, he warned, was that while punctured tyres had to be replaced with new ones to ensure safety when heavily laden trucks run at high speeds, drivers did not always do so, posing a major risk of accidents.

Many mechanic shops have come up along the highways and offer to repair or change tyres at exorbitant prices.

There are even vehicles cruising along roads with equipment to change tyres for large vehicles, and they too demand high charges.

People caught scattering nails faced jail terms of two to seven years in case of a second offence, lawyer Thai Van Chung of HCM City said.

In July, Nguyen The Cong, 30, was sentenced to 18 months for scattering nails on roads in southern Binh Duong Province.

During the same month Pham Van Canh, 32, also of Binh Duong Province, got 22 months and his wife Bui Thi Nga, 29, got 12 months for the same crime.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News