The Amata intersection in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai is not only a traffic bottleneck but also a frequent place for patrol of local traffic police officers.

Amata is an intersection of National Highway 1A and Dong Khoi Street in the provincial capital of Bien Hoa, known for frequent traffic jams and accidents. There is a flyover to cross the intersection.

During the last three weeks of June, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper noticed that traffic officers were present at the location almost every day.

Motorcyclists were often pulled over for forgetting to use their turn signals, while car drivers were fined for not complying with traffic light signals.

Many motorists claimed that they had been ‘trapped’ as whenever the traffic cops were on duty, the traffic light usually switched from green to red suddenly, without changing to yellow.

‘Fining procedure’

The traffic police officers on duty at Amata will follow an organized procedure when they want to pull a driver over.

As observed by Tuoi Tre, when catching a vehicle violating the rule, one officer would walk straight to the middle of the intersection and signal the driver to stop underneath the flyover.

The officer would then greet the driver, explaining his offense and asking to see his driving license and relevant documents.

At this point, the policeman would not book the case. Instead, he would keep one of the driver’s papers, and ask the traffic offender to walk a few dozen meters across the street towards the security guard booth of the Amata Industrial Park, where two other traffic police officers were waiting inside.

The glass windows of the booth were covered with cardboards.

Traffic violators sometimes had to queue up in front of the cabin to wait for their turn to see the officers.

Once getting inside, some people would spend one or two minutes there, while other would walk out after less than 30 seconds.

Traffic offenders walk into the security guard cabin of the Amata Industrial Park to meet traffic officers.

Finally, the offender would return to the policeman under the flyover, where he would get back his paper and go.

As observed by Tuoi Tre, one driver once offered to pay the traffic officer right under the flyover after being pulled over. However, the officer refused and directed him to the security guard booth.

According to the law, fining traffic offenders without making a report is against protocol.

Similar activities have been observed from traffic cops near Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City in June, which was recently reported by Tuoi Tre.

The revelation has sparked concern among Tuoi Tre readers, many of whom have reported similar situation at multiple locations in the southern hub.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police had been ordered to verify the case, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Son, asserted to Tuoi Tre in an interview on Friday.

“If violations are detected, those individuals responsible will be sternly punished,” he pressed.

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