Dozens of drivers on drugs in southern Vietnam

Dong Nai police said on Saturday that forces had been deployed to ensure safety on national highways prone to accidents, like 1A, 20 and 51.

Police have issued fines totaling over VND1.8 billion ($73,350), revoked 156 driving licenses, and seized 197 vehicles. They also found 146 alcohol level violations, and 31 drivers who tested positive for narcotics while driving.

On Oct. 13, a police team on National Highway 20 found a bus on the Bien Hoa-Tan Phu route showing signs of traffic violations and inspected it. Its driver tested positive for drugs. Three days later, the police found another truck carrying agricultural goods from Lam Dong to Ho Chi Minh City in which both its driver and assistant were on drugs.

Late last month, a sleeper bus and a 6-seat van collided head-on along National Highway 20, which runs across Dong Nai to connect HCMC and the high tourist town Da Lat, resulting in five deaths. A representative from the Department of Roads at the Transport Ministry said the sleeper bus was running at 69 kph right before the crash, while the permitted speed on the road section was 50 kph max. The bus driver was driving without a license, as his had been revoked earlier also for speeding.