VietNamNet Bridge – Traffic police in HCM City have recorded a total of 776 motorists involved in illegal street-racing and gathering, according to the HCM City Police Department’s Traffic Police Office (PC67).

The records of violators have been sent to ward-level police offices.

Violators who commit a second offense of illegal street-racing and gathering will be sent to rehabilitation centres for two years.

Earlier, the PC67 team identified the racing hotspots in the city and sent police officers to maintain public order and safety.

The hotspots are Xo Viet Nghe Tinh, Hoang Hoa Tham and D2 streets in Binh Thanh District, Ton That Thuyet Street in District 4 and Le Dai Hanh Street in District 11, according to a report released on Tuesday by PC67.

Racers usually gather on streets, ride motorbikes at a high speed and use loud horns at around 10 pm on the weekend.

More than 13,500 violations have been uncovered this year, with 4,670 vehicles being detained, the report showed.

Last weekend nearly 5,000 police with 1,200 motorbikes and 420 cars went on patrol to prevent illegal street-racing, according to PC67.

Illegal street-racing was also a topic discussed at a meeting of the HCM City People’s Council yesterday, Dec 8.

Speaking at the meeting, Colonel Phan Anh Minh, deputy director of the City Public Security Department, said that the traffic police had to work with criminal police and civil defense to fight the rising number of incidents of illegal street-racing.

Although police had to go on patrol every night, not only on the weekend, to deal with illegal gathering and racing, the light fine levels did not deter the violators. Many of them committed the offence again and again, Minh said.

Police have published a list of hundreds of motorbike repair shops suspected of being involved in illegal street-racing, he said.

In some cases, around 100 motorists gathered on streets to race or race for bets, he said.

Five people involved in two cases of illegal street-racing were arrested, and will appear in court this year.

Four teenagers who committed several kinds of violations many times, including illegal street-racing, have been sent to rehabilitation centres.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News