VietNamNet Bridge – A number of violations were detected during an inspection conducted by the Ministry of Transport on driving training centres in southern provinces.

The practice ground at a driving training centre in HCM City. Some training centres in the city were found to be lacking suitable facilities for practice.

The ministry has checked five provincial departments of transport, 25 automobile driving training centres, four motorbike driving training centres and 15 examination centres in HCM City, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Hau Giang provinces.

Two centres in HCM City and Hau Giang Province were found to have no grounds suitable for driving practice based on regulations and their work permits were also out of date.

Four other centres in HCM City lacked automobiles for practicing with, while the number of trainees far exceeded the number of trainers, causing them to be overloaded.

Furthermore, the grounds used for testing in three driver examination centres in HCM City and Hau Giang Province did not reach regulated standards.

Chief inspector of the ministry Nguyen Van Huyen said following the findings, ministry inspectors would propose tweaks to some detailed regulations, for instance, small centres will be merged with larger centres.

"Driving training centres will thus avoid inundating staff with trainees and provide greater uniformity," said Huyen.

Inspectors will also suggest temporary suspensions for sub-standard training centres - so they can improve training quality - and the withdrawal of work permits from chief violators.

Deputy director of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam Nguyen Van Quyen said motorbike driving tests must be carried out in centres with proper equipment, including computers and cameras.

The examination must be open and the theory part is encouraged to be carried out on a computer, he said.

As of July this year, a driving licence management software system will be rolled out nationwide for use by all transport departments and driving training centres.

Under the system, automobile and motorbike trainees must have their photographs taken at training centres before registering for courses to prevent them from purchasing driving licences illicitly.

Deputy chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Nguyen Hoang Hiep said many driving training centres just offered the theory and track test, during which drivers must perform 10 driving manoeuvres, but ignored the compulsory road traffic test where drivers must safely travel a chosen distance near to the centre.

In foreign countries, trainees were asked to drive on roads full of obstacles to assess their true skills, he said.

"Driving licence examinations must be strictly tightened with more attention centred on the actual road traffic test," said Hiep.

Source: VNS