Should alcohol levels be completely banned?

A complete ban is unrealistic.

The draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety stipulates a ban on individuals "driving vehicles while having alcohol in their blood or breath." However, in its review report, the National Assembly 's Committee on National Defense and Security stated that some opinions suggest the regulation as drafted is too strict and needs reconsideration.

Representative Pham Nhu Hiep

Speaking at yesterday's group meeting, delegate Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of Hue Central Hospital, argued that regulations should specify alcohol levels for each type of vehicle, rather than a general rule, because "if someone riding a bicycle with a little alcohol in their system is fined, then implementing the law will be complicated." Delegate Hiep agreed that driving after drinking alcohol should be penalized. However, he pointed out that in some cases, people who drink in the evening still have alcohol in their blood the next morning, and imposing a fine would raise concerns.

Sharing the same viewpoint, National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Quang Huan ( Binh Duong delegation) cited the example of Finland, where if you drink one bottle of beer within one hour, the stimulants are no longer sufficient to affect you and you can drive; if you drink two bottles of beer, the time needed is three hours. Meanwhile, Vietnam absolutely prohibits it. "For example, if you drank a little last night, the alcohol level will still be present this morning and you will be in violation. That is impractical," Mr. Huan stated, suggesting that Finland's experience could be applied by setting a level at which driving is prohibited instead of an absolute ban.

Representative Pham Khanh Phong Lan (from Ho Chi Minh City delegation) suggested that the regulations in the draft should be redesigned to include a low alcohol concentration limit that cannot be exceeded, because "sometimes, even without drinking anything, the breathalyzer test can still show a positive alcohol level." Ms. Lan proposed a reasonable approach and a roadmap for banning drinking alcohol while driving, so that people can gradually reduce and eventually eliminate alcohol consumption before driving.

Representative Pham Khanh Phong Lan

Conversely, according to the National Defense and Security Committee, there are also some opinions that agree with the draft regulation on absolute prohibition of alcohol concentration, because this content is already stipulated in the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer, and its implementation has proven effective.

We need a mechanism to prevent negative practices like Thanh Buoi.

Discussing the draft Road Transport Law, and citing the recent negative incidents involving the Thanh Buoi bus company discovered by authorities, National Assembly Deputy Ta Thi Yen (from Dien Bien province) stated that many new types of transportation have emerged in the market, requiring mechanisms to manage them and prevent negative situations. Specifically, according to Ms. Yen, the draft law uses two criteria to determine which businesses are engaged in transportation: "operating vehicles and drivers" and "determining transportation fares." However, these are merely supporting operations in the transportation business. Furthermore, the inclusion of a type called "contract passenger transportation business" could be misleading, as all types of transportation businesses are essentially contract-based. Deputy Yen suggested calling this type "privately leased passenger transportation business," similar to the terminology used in Malaysia, Singapore, and the UK.

In addition, Representative Tran Van Khai (from Ha Nam province) argued that the enactment of policies on road transport development, mobilizing and maximizing social resources within this Road Law, will determine the success of implementing the road transport system plan in Vietnam over the next 10 years.

According to government calculations, the investment capital needed for the national road network by 2030 is approximately 900,000 billion VND, of which about 728,000 billion VND is for expressway projects. However, the draft Road Law has not been meticulously designed or groundbreaking enough to encourage the socialization of investment in road transport infrastructure. Representative Khai suggested that more specific provisions on this policy need to be reviewed and added.

There are still concerns about separating the Road Traffic Law.

During group discussions, many delegates still requested the drafting committee to evaluate and consider whether to separate the Road Traffic Law into two laws: the Road Law and the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety. Delegate Nguyen Thanh Phong (Vinh Long delegation) argued that the 2008 Road Traffic Law should not be separated into two laws as currently presented to the National Assembly. The reason is that these two laws complement each other; separating them would lead to overlap and duplication. Instead, the 2008 Road Traffic Law should be reviewed for any existing shortcomings or limitations and then supplemented or adjusted accordingly.

Minister of Public Security To Lam explained that the separation of the laws has a very important political basis: Directive No. 23 dated May 25th from the Party Central Committee clearly states that these two laws must be drafted. According to him, the task and responsibility of the National Assembly is to institutionalize and concretize the Party's viewpoint on ensuring traffic order and safety in accordance with the spirit of the directive.

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