Nguyen Huu Hao, who drives a coach on the Ha Noi - Thanh Hoa route, said that every coach had hammers to smash windows in case of emergency and fire-extinguishers when it was first bought, but the items had gone missing over time.
"The fire-extinguishers have also become rusty," he said.
Another driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said that passengers didn't care whether his coach had emergency hammers and fire-extinguishers, and he didn't need the equipment anyway because he never had accidents.
He claimed that passengers didn't have any idea what an emergency hammer looked like, and wouldn't know how to use them to smash windows anyway.
Passenger Nguyen Duc Thanh said he had never seen rescue equipment on coaches, and most of coaches only had multimedia equipment for showing DVDs or for singing karaoke.
"I hope terminal management equip their coaches with emergency hammers and fire-extinguishers, and give passengers guidance on how to use them," he said.
Despite it being quite common for equipment to become lost, terminal management and drivers remained unaware of suppliers.
Nguyen Minh Anh, owner of an accessory shop on Tran Khat Chan Road, said that previously his shop had sold safety equipment for coaches, but people rarely bought it now.
"Mine and many other shops on this street don't bother selling this equipment any more," he said.
The Viet Nam Vehicle Licensing Department regulates that all coaches must have safety equipment, yet the country still lacks any guidance on punishment for violators.
Government's Decree 34/2010/ND-CP, which regulates administrative fines for traffic violations, does not specify fines for coaches lacking safety equipment.
Director of the Department for Transport and Legislation under the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam Do Xuan Hoa said: "The lack of punishments means terminal management aren't paying any attention to safety equipment."
The lack of safety equipment was thrown into sharp relief when floodwater swept away a coach carrying 37 passengers from National Highway 1A in the central province of Ha Tinh this October. Twenty passengers died in the incident as they could not swim, and the bus lacked emergency hammers to smash the windows. — VNS
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