The draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety being discussed by the National Assembly has many new points, including the regulation that ambulances must also be equipped with journey monitoring devices and devices to record images of the driver.
Specifically, Clause 2, Article 36 of the draft law stipulates that commercial transport vehicles must be equipped with a journey monitoring device. Notably, the draft also adds that commercial transport vehicles with 8 seats or more (excluding the driver's seat), tractor-trailers, and ambulances must be equipped with a journey monitoring device and a device to record the driver's image.
Commenting on this content, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, suggested that the drafting committee re-study the necessity of this regulation.
Because according to the Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, the subject of regulation is too broad (including ambulances and tractors) and must also install journey monitoring devices. "Is it necessary to install many types of devices and collect so much data? Does it conflict with other laws? Which agency specifically regulates this content?", Mr. Quyen wondered.
Therefore, Mr. Quyen proposed to only regulate the installation of journey monitoring devices (which can be integrated with cameras) for transport business vehicles as per current regulations and specific regulations on the formation of data integration and analysis centers to manage and use data more effectively, avoiding waste.
Ambulances equipped with GPS tracking devices are necessary
Contrary to the above view, another traffic expert expressed agreement with the proposal put forward by the Ministry of Public Security. In particular, he welcomed the drafting committee for including ambulances in management.
“For a long time, ambulances (private vehicles providing patient transport services) have been operating in a chaotic manner, without specific regulations on prices or operating conditions. The press has reported many cases of ambulances operating illegally, ready to collect money, despite not having a license to operate.
Specifically, in May 2023, Huynh Quoc 115 Ambulance Transport Company Limited (headquartered in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City) was fined 160 million VND by the Department of Health Inspectorate, suspended from operation for 18 months, and forced to dismantle and delete advertisements for operating without a license. This ambulance once charged a patient 3.5 million VND for a distance of about 4km from Ward 10, Tan Binh District to Cho Ray Hospital.
Last August, a heartbreaking story happened to the family of Mr. TG (36 years old, living in Ca Mau province) because they had to spend 16 million VND on an ambulance to take their child from Ca Mau to Ho Chi Minh City for emergency treatment. Despite spending a large sum of money to save their child, the baby did not survive. Running out of money, the father had to put his child's body in a styrofoam box and take it back to his hometown.
I think the lack of specific regulations for ambulances is the reason why people get into these awkward situations," this expert informed.
Therefore, he believes that requiring ambulances to install journey monitoring devices and driver image recording devices is a necessary tool to make this transport activity transparent. Moreover, this is also consistent with the draft Road Law being discussed by the National Assembly.
Specifically, in the draft Road Law, the drafting committee also proposed a separate provision on patient transport by ambulance, in order to tighten management of this activity and ensure safety for transported patients.
The draft stipulates that patient transport services are the use of ambulances with specialized medical equipment by organizations and individuals to transport emergency patients or patients.
Medical examination and treatment facilities, organizations and individuals providing patient transport services and using ambulances to transport patients must meet the conditions prescribed by law on medical examination and treatment.
In addition, the draft also stipulates the conditions for ambulances transporting patients, including identification signs, information posting, journey monitoring devices, data collection devices, images of the driver, data, and images to ensure journey safety according to regulations.
Experts believe that regulating the conditions of organization and means to be allowed to carry out patient transportation activities (ambulance transportation activities) is necessary to more closely manage this activity, thereby contributing to ensuring safety (including traffic safety) for transported patients.
TB (according to Vietnamnet)Source
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