A bus driver who ran a red light in Ho Chi Minh City last week, forcing a truck on the opposing lane to make an emergency swerve that could have ended in a fatal accident, was on Friday slapped with a US$325 fine for his action.

The bus was stopping at a red light at an intersection in District 9 on March 17 when it suddenly accelerated into traffic when there was still five seconds of red light left, as seen in dashcam footage uploaded on a Facebook page.

As the bus made an illegal left turn, an approaching dump truck on the opposing lane was forced to make a sharp swerve to avoid collision.

The truck narrowly missed plowing into some dozen motorcyclists who were navigating through the intersection, before continuing on into the wrong-way lane.

After footage of the nerve-wracking scene went viral online, the Center for Public Transport Management of Ho Chi Minh City punished the bus driver with a five-day suspension from work and reported the case to the municipal traffic police.

On Friday, the Rach Chiec traffic police division in District 9 issued an administrative fine of VND7.5 million ($325) on the bus driver and temporarily confiscated his driving license for the violation.

Tran Chi Trung, director of the municipal public transport management center, said it would hold training workshops on traffic safety awareness for all bus drivers in the city in the near future to prevent similar incidents from happening.

Starting March, the center will also name and shame bus drivers who violate traffic laws or are reported of poor conduct by passengers on its official website to improve the overall image of public transport in the ciy.

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