Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Committee has proposed a roadmap torevoke outdated motorbikes that discharge harmful substances into theenvironment.

Figuresfrom the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department showed that bylast December, there had been more than 49 million registered motorbikesoperating nationwide.

In Hanoi alone,more than 5.2 million motorbikes were operating, half of which were reported tohave been manufactured in the nineties.

Outdatedmotorbikes are believed to one of the many causes of accidents. Researchconducted by the National Committee of Traffic Safety last year showed thatthere was a connection between the age of vehicles and the number oftraffic-related accidents. The risk of accidents for those who ride motorbikesin use for less than five years was lower than those who ride motorbikes usedfor at least 10 years.

Motorbikesare the main means of transport for people in the city, meeting nearly 90 percentof transportation demand.

However,motorbikes discharge a large amount of emissions.

Although they only consume 56 percent of petrol, they discharged 94 percent ofhydrocarbon, 87 percent of carbon monoxide and 57 percent of nitrogen oxide ofthe 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 emissiondischarge 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inspecting motorbikes’emissions, explaining that it was a complicated and sensitive issue as most ofthe owners of these outdated vehicles were low-income earners.

The committee has proposed a series of policiessuch as collecting environmental fees through the evaluation of environmentalstamps stuck on the vehicles and revoking worn-out motorbikes dischargingexcessive amount of emissions.

Under the roadmap, from now until June 30, 2018, Hanoiwill re-examine and list the number of motorbikes and for how long they havebeen in use, complete legal documents on technical criteria, set up emissiondischarge testing centres and train specialised staff.

Betweennext July and December 31, 2019, the city will conduct emission dischargetests on motorbikes with cylinder capacity of more than 175cu.cm and revokeworn-out vehicles.

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

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

The Ministry of Public Security will be in chargeof deterring violators and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible forallocating funds for inspection and creating supportive policies for thereplacement of old motorbikes.-VNA