The Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department showed that by last December, there had been more than 49 million registered motorbikes operating nationwide.

In Ha Noi, more than 5.2 million motorbikes were operating, half of which were reported to have been manufactured in the nineties.

Outdated motorbikes are believed to one of the many causes of accidents. Research conducted by the National Committee of Traffic Safety last year showed that there was a connection between the age of vehicles and the number of traffic-related accidents. The risk of accidents for those who ride motorbikes in use for less than five years was lower than those who ride motorbikes used for at least 10 years.

Motorbikes are the main means of transport for people in the city, meeting nearly 90% of transportation demand.

However, motorbikes discharge a large amount of emissions.

Although they only consume 56% of petrol, they discharged 94% of hydrocarbon, 87% of carbon monoxide and 57% of nitrogen oxide of the total emissions from motor vehicles.

So far, there is no regulation on how long a vehicle can be in use.

In many countries, the inspection of emission discharge of motorbikes in use for more than five years was compulsory, it said.

The committee has admitted to the slow implementation of inspecting motorbikes’ emissions, explaining that it was a complicated and sensitive issue as most of the owners of these outdated vehicles were low-income earners.

The committee has proposed a series of policies such as collecting environmental fees through the evaluation of environmental stamps stuck on the vehicles and revoking worn-out motorbikes discharging excessive amount of emissions.

Under the roadmap, from now until June 30, 2018, Ha Noi will re-examine and list the number of motorbikes and for how long they have been in use, complete legal documents on technical criteria, set up emission discharge testing centers and train specialized staff.

Between next July and December 31, 2019, the city will conduct emission discharge tests on motorbikes with cylinder capacity of more than 175cu.cm and revoke worn-out vehicles.

From 2020, the city will revise the implementation of the roadmap and report the results to the Government. It will also inspect motorbikes with cylinder capacity of less than 175cu.cm.

The city has proposed that the Government ask the Ministry of Transport to build a legal document stating criteria on emission testing of motorbikes, criteria on conditions for emission discharge testing service and penalties for vehicle owners who flout rules.

The Ministry of Public Security will be in charge of deterring violators and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for allocating funds for inspection and creating supportive policies for the replacement of old motorbikes./.