Manually operated cameras and public awareness.

In less than half a month, authorities have issued traffic violation tickets to three individuals based on videos provided by road users. This shows that monitoring the behavior of others while participating in traffic is gradually becoming a habit. It also serves as a warning that everyone should be much more conscious when on the road, not only to ensure their own safety but also the safety of others.

About five years ago, people's traffic culture was still in its infancy. At that time, solutions for monitoring behavior on the road were almost nonexistent, relying only on the visual observation of traffic police during patrols.

Later, when camera surveillance systems were installed on the roads, traffic behavior had another means of monitoring. Public awareness improved significantly, especially when passing through sections of road equipped with cameras. However, the province's resources are limited, and the camera system cannot cover every intersection. Therefore, the problem of drivers avoiding cameras to prevent traffic violations persists, or drivers only show awareness on sections with cameras, while reckless driving, running red lights, and weaving through traffic continue in areas without them.

However, with the rapid development of technology and the influence of social media, every road user has become a mobile camera, or, as it's colloquially called, a "human-powered" camera. What's remarkable is that these "human-powered" cameras can also force drivers who drive recklessly, swerve, or run red lights to sign administrative penalty notices, just like the automated traffic cameras used by authorities.

Citizens monitoring each other's fulfillment of civic responsibilities and compliance with the law is also a new step in establishing a fair and transparent society. In early April 2025, the Traffic Police Department of Quang Tri province issued fines to three teenagers in Huong Hoa district for not wearing helmets while riding motorcycles. These three individuals were not spotted by traffic police patrols, nor were they caught on camera. The fines originated from a video clip recorded by a car driver on National Highway 9.

The car driver then posted the clip on Facebook. Based on the images in the clip, the traffic police immediately retrieved the vehicle's registration data and summoned those involved for questioning. The three teenagers could not deny their identities in the clip, admitted their violations, and signed the penalty notice with a total fine of over one million dong for not wearing helmets and carrying passengers who were not wearing helmets while participating in traffic.

Most recently, an incident caused widespread public outrage when a group of three young men on a motorbike blocked a Green SM taxi on Dai Co Viet Street (Dong Luong Ward, Dong Ha City). One of the three men repeatedly threatened the taxi driver and used a helmet and sandals to vandalize the vehicle. These actions, which violated both traffic laws and public order regulations, were recorded by the taxi driver himself using his phone. The clip was then posted on social media. Just one day later, the three aggressive young men were summoned to the police station for questioning.

In addition to a 500,000 VND fine per person for not wearing a helmet while riding, the leader of this group of young men was also fined 2.5 million VND for insulting and provoking others. Furthermore, based on images from the video on social media, the police identified that the motorbike used by the group had a fake license plate. This offense resulted in a 5 million VND fine. The total fine for all the group's actions is nearly 9 million VND.

Technology and social media were not created to monitor society, but to serve its development. However, technology is also contributing to social management, including traffic management. The use of technology and social media by citizens to support the government in bringing social activities into order is a positive sign. This contributes to further raising public awareness when participating in traffic. In today's technologically advanced society, it's not just traffic police or cameras that are monitoring traffic violations; every action on the road is being monitored by individual citizens. Therefore, each citizen must monitor themselves with every press of the accelerator, every turn signal, or every gesture before a red light.

Safety is the first and most important standard when participating in traffic. Safety comes not only from supervision but also from the self-awareness of each individual. With the weak and inadequate transportation infrastructure in our province, the self-improvement of traffic awareness by each person is even more crucial and necessary.

Thien Phong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/camera-chay-bang-com-va-y-thuc-cua-nguoi-dan-192876.htm