VietNamNet Bridge – Police and Vehicle Registration Agency are arguing on who is responsible for investigating recent fires of vehicles on street.
Police said that many owners of vehicles that got fire did not make declarations of their incidents and did not ask for investigations. Meanwhile, the Vehicle Registration Agency said that it cannot make a conclusion of recent fires of vehicles because it has to wait for investigation results from police.

A police officer from Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, said that police only investigate fires with criminal signs, which are associated with asset destruction or fatality. Fires of vehicles on the street, in which vehicle owners do not request of investigation, are not investigated.

The owner of the SH bike which was burnt on Kim Ma road, Hanoi, last week--did not report the incident to police. The owner of the Air Blade bike that got fire on Nguyen Trai Road, Hanoi, reported the case to police but did not ask them to conduct investigation.

While police are not interested in investigating these fires, the Association for Protection of Consumers does not raise its voice to protect consumers. The association’s Vice Secretary General Vuong Ngoc Tuan said that if owners of fired vehicles do not ask for the association’s assistance, it cannot make intervention.

Tuan said only the family of Nguyen Thi Quynh in Bac Ninh province, whose Honda bike got on fire, which killed pregnant Quynh and her daughter, sent their complaint to the association. The association then forwarded the complaint to Honda Vietnam. This firm transferred VND50 million ($2,500) to Quynh’s family.

Tuan added that both police and the scientists of the Institute of Criminal Sciences are investigating the fatal fire in Bac Ninh but they do not make public the reason. Meanwhile, Honda Vietnam confirmed that its product did not have any technical error.

Do Huu Duc, vice chief of the Vehicle Registration Agency, said that vehicle getting fire is not rare in the world. He said that if the sample product meets technical, safe and environmental criteria of Vietnam and the product quality checking conditions at the factory or the producer met Vietnam’s standards, the agency will issue certification for that model of vehicle.

With the certification, the producer is allowed to mass-produce the vehicles and have to ensure that the products meet the standards of the model vehicle. Vietnam does not make periodical tests of bikes in use like other countries.

The Vehicle Registration Agency maintains annual check of quality of vehicles in mass-production, Duc said.

Nguyen Van Ich, vice chief of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Transport, said that the Ministry has not given any instruction related to recent fires of vehicles.

Duc pointed out different supposition that caused recent fires of vehicles, which are mainly related to poor maintenance of vehicle owner.

Linh Chi