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Police in Thanh Hoa Province say they have resumed the controversial use of fish nets to catch illegal motorbike racers and speeding motorists during the 2012 Lunar New Year.
Traffic police throw fish nets at the rear wheels of motorbikes if their riders are suspected racers or ride dangerously in the north-central province without obeying traffic police.
Thanh Hoa police told Tuoi Tre News that such methods are not as dangerous as many think as the net will gradually slow down the motorbike as it gets tangled in the rear wheel.
This is a safe method for both violators and traffic goers, the police said.
The police started using fish nets from Oct 28 last year and there have been no deaths or serious injuries to those caught in the net so far, they said.
This controversial method was halted for a while after the public raised suspicions that the nets could cause violators to fall down, which was very dangerous as they were travelling at high speed.
Head of Thanh Hoa police Colonel Le Van Nghiem said many opposed the method because they thought police cast the net onto the heads of racing violators - subjecting them to life-threatening dangers when they only threw the net onto the rear end of the fast-travelling bikes.
The measure has been approved by the Thanh Hoa Province Police Department and is applicable only to drivers who race illegally, drive at excessive speeds, or zigzag on streets.
It is not applicable to those who commit normal traffic violations, Lieutenant Colonel My Duy Xuan, head of the city traffic police team, told Tuoi Tre News.
The nets are only used after racers or dangerous drivers do not stop their vehicles after being signaled to do so by traffic police officers.
Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security said there were 129 traffic accidents nationwide in the past three days, killing 106 people and injuring 110 others.
This is down by 13 fatalities and 32 injured cases compared to Tet last year.
The information in this article was contributed by Tuoi Tre News. For more information, visit the website http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/.
 
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