Many schools have failed to ban students from driving motorbikes to class despite their efforts.

 Students driving to school without helmets is a common scene in HCM City 

In the 2011-2012 school year, HCM City recorded 891 students who had violated traffic laws, including stealing motorbikes, ignoring red lights and speeding.

Huynh Thi Be ren, Assistant for the Youth Board of the Tran Khai Nguyen High School, admitted that despite pupils not being old enough to take motorbikes to school, they would often leave their motorbikes at parking lots and surrounding households, making it difficult for schools to control.

Many schools had discussed the problem with parents and asked them to sign a pledge that they wouldn’t allow their children to drive to school. However, many of them made excuses claiming their children lived to far away from school, or that the family were too busy to collect them.

Nguyen Hoai Chuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said the municipal education and training sector had boosted publicity about the problem and adjusted school hours, which had helped bring some considerable improvements. However, it faced many difficulties in managing pupil motorbike use.

In many foreign countries, children aged 16 are allowed to learn how to drive a car because they are regarded as being for their crimes. However, in Vietnam, a separate punishment framework is applied for children aged between 16 and less than 18, in which, the highest punishment for children of this age is no more than 18 years in prison.

Under the Vietnamese laws, children aged from 12 years old are permitted to ride a bicycle; those aged 16 can use 50cc motorbikes and people aged over 18 are allowed to apply for a driving license.

Pham Minh Tuan, Deputy Head of the Bureau of Road and Railway Traffic Police, said it was difficult to ban students from using motorbikes which are the most convenient means of transport, while 50cc motorbikes were rare.

“In foreign countries, children aged 16 can learn to drive a car, so should we consider the age stipulated for driving a motorbike. The problem is that despite strict measures we can’t control the situation,” said an official from the HCM City Department of Education and Training.

“Parents also face difficulties in taking their children to school or picking them up, meanwhile, other means of transport are not convenient to them”, said a representative from Dong Nai Province’s Department of Education and Training.

Mr. Tuan said, currently, schools don’t concentrate enough on traffic safety and therefore, student awareness remained limited. Schools should enhance co-operation with the traffic police to improve the situation.

Greater awareness

Phan Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Director of Dong Thap Province’s Department of Education and Training said extra-curricular activities on traffic safety need to be enhanced. Schools can also summon students who violate traffic regulations for advice. She also added that schools not only target students but also their parents to help raise their awareness of the risks.

Pham Dang Khoa, Deputy Headmaster of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School in HCM city, said his school refused to keep student motorbikes over 50ccs. Both parents and students must sign a pledge that says they will not drive to school on over-powered bikes.

The school invites policemen to give traffic safety talks to students and they are also taken to Cho Ray Hospital to observe traffic accident victims.