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During Tet, when other industries are off, road patrol officers enter peak days because more incidents will arise.

The Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway is nearly 106km long with an average traffic of 50,000 cars, trucks, and containers running every day, but this is also the expressway rated as "the safest in Vietnam".

Contributing to this safety cannot fail to mention the role of traffic patrollers (road patrollers). The work is hard, stressful, and dangerous, but they still silently stick to every meter of the road day and night to ensure traffic safety and security.

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Even a small object on the highway can be dangerous for other vehicles. In the photo, the patrol force directs traffic to avoid danger.

With 3 teams on duty patrolling traffic on the entire Hanoi - Hai Phong highway, each shift will have to cover an average of 150 - 180km in both directions.

On the highway, even a small object that falls can cause a car to flip over, causing a terrible accident if the driver is not paying attention, is startled and loses control. Therefore, the duty of the patrolmen is to always clean up the scattered objects as soon as possible, not even leaving a plastic bag behind.

Every smallest incident related to the Hanoi - Hai Phong highway is photographed and reported immediately by the patrol team for timely handling, ensuring safety for vehicles traveling on the road.

For large objects that have fallen on the road and cannot be moved immediately, the patrol officers will drive a special vehicle (with warning lights and sirens on top) straight into the lane in front of the fallen object, deploy a “lane closure”, set up a turn sign, and a reflective plastic cone to warn. They will stand in this area to regulate traffic and wait for other forces to come to their aid.

That is during the day, and at night there will be additional warning lights for vehicles to see clearly from a distance.

With 5 years of experience in the profession, with just a simple description, Mr. Phung Van Thang, a patrol officer of the Hanoi - Hai Phong highway, immediately knows which location on the route it is.

Every road he passes through is carefully observed and inspected, monitoring weather developments, technical conditions, construction violations, safety corridors, etc. to promptly detect any unusual signs for warning and correction.

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After each shift, the patrol staff sit down together to review their experiences.

Regardless of day or night, rain or shine, the patrol officers never neglect their duties. After each shift, Mr. Thang and his colleagues will sit down, analyze the situation, and draw lessons to help each other do better.

Mr. Thang shared that the hardest part is when it rains heavily and the wind is strong because that is when many accidents happen. The work is stressful at that time, the patrol officers have to patrol continuously. Not to mention when a traffic accident occurs, the members have to be there early to record and report. In many situations, the patrol officers have to stand for hours under the scorching sun to participate in traffic regulation.

"Many times I picked up my bowl of rice and then put it down again because of urgent work and had to leave immediately," Mr. Thang shared.

Greater pressure during holidays and Tet

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, head of patrol team No. 1, said that the pressure on patrol staff is even greater during holidays and Tet. At this time, the traffic volume on the route increases significantly, and many incidents related to vehicles will arise.

“To ensure traffic safety for people returning home for Tet and enjoying spring safely, we must always be highly focused, mobilize all personnel on duty 24/7, increase patrols and inspections to ensure safety on the route.

We are also always ready to go on duty as soon as we receive dispatch information, to ensure the fastest and safest approach to handling incidents and supporting customers," said Mr. Hung.

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There are situations that force traffic patrol officers to stand for hours directing traffic.

To this day, Mr. Hung still cannot forget the situation on the night of the 30th of Tet (the year of Tan Suu 2021) when he had to catch buffaloes on the highway. Because according to him, buffaloes and cows appearing on the highway is an extremely dangerous situation.

“While I was patrolling the route, I received information from the control center reporting that there were 3 buffaloes on the highway, located at about Km9 in the direction of Hai Phong - Hanoi, requesting us to quickly approach to check and handle the situation.

When approaching the location, we immediately took measures to warn other vehicles that there were dangerous obstacles on the road, and instructed slow-moving vehicles to pay attention and avoid them," Mr. Hung recalled.

When getting closer, Mr. Hung realized that these buffaloes were roaming freely without a herder, without a rope through their noses, especially at night when the buffaloes saw the lights and car horns, they panicked and ran around on the road.

“Seeing that the situation was dangerous and difficult to handle, I immediately reported to the control center. Then the company leaders mobilized personnel from the departments at the station; the traffic police force also came to support. 12 personnel from related forces quickly participated.

The job seemed simple during the day but was extremely difficult at night. Just a small mistake could result in being gored by a buffalo.

It took us a long time to get close and put a rope around the buffalo’s neck. Then, some led it, others chased it for kilometers to find a way to get the buffalo off the highway,” Hung said.

Ensure the safety of road patrol staff

As the "eyes and ears" of the highway management unit, road patrol officers like Mr. Thang and Mr. Hung are well-trained in professional skills, updated and trained in the fastest and most effective communication methods.

"If there is an incident, we will approach and send photos and videos via Zalo so that the center's leaders know and come up with the fastest and most timely solution," said Mr. Thang.

Mr. Trinh Quang Mong, Deputy Head of the Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway Operation and Management Department, said that to ensure the safety of the road patrol team, in addition to providing professional knowledge and skills, the unit also provides reflective protective clothing and warning devices.

“We equip our patrol officers with triangle warning lights, flashing lights, and wrist lights that glow at night... These are very useful protective devices for our brothers on duty on the route,” said Mr. Mong.

For cars on duty, this unit has also equipped a remote warning system so that vehicles about 300m away can see and know what problem the car is warning of so they can slow down, pay attention and follow the instructions of the patrol officers.

During Tet holidays, the company has a care and support policy, fully preparing conditions for eating, resting and celebrating Tet for working staff.

"To give everyone time to celebrate Tet with their relatives and family while still ensuring work and traffic safety for people, the teams will take turns working," Mr. Mong shared.