Police in Vietnam have given a whole new meaning to the term "dragnet" – in a bid to end dangerous illegal motorbike street racing they are using fishing nets to catch their prey.
By Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok
02 Dec 2011
Cops and private security guards cast the fine fishing nets into the rear wheels of the speeding motorcycles, clogging the machinery and bringing the bike slowly to a halt.
In the past year hundreds of errant bikers have been caught and fined by the traffic police unit in Thanh Hoa Province, where the technique was pioneered after other methods failed or posed a danger to other road users.
Police had previously tried putting up fences or sacks of straw to stop the racers. But the motorcyclists simply rode through the barricades, or span around sharply posing a risk to others.
Now police use their experience to guess where the racers are heading and radio ahead to have their colleagues lie in wait with the fine yet strong fishing nets prepared.
"Without the nets, mob racing in the province would have caused chaos by now," said Luu Thien Minh, head of the Thanh Hoa police traffic unit. "The method does not cause accidents to the racers and limits dangers to other travellers on the streets and to the police." Mr Minh said his department had applied to the Public Security Ministry to legalise the motorbike fishing method, but had yet to receive a response.
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