National Assembly Delegate Thai Thi An Chung: Current regulations on age to drive motorbikes are no longer appropriate.

On the afternoon of November 24, at the 6th Session, the 10th National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety. This is a draft law that has received a lot of attention from the people because when officially promulgated, it will have a direct impact on people's lives and activities.

Panorama of the working session on November 24 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Nam An

Nghe An Newspaper discussed on the sidelines of the working session with Ms. Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province about this draft law.

PV: What is your opinion on promulgating the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety independently from the Road Law?

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung: In the context that traffic accidents are always a nightmare for all citizens, it is very appropriate to develop a Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety separate from the Road Law. Basically, I agree with the contents of the draft Law.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation spoke at the discussion session on the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety on the afternoon of November 24, thereby proposing to study and amend the age limit for driving motorbikes to 15 years old and above (ie starting at age 16). Photo: Nam An

Reporter: In the recent group discussion regarding the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, there were some concerns about the absolute ban on alcohol concentration when driving. What is your opinion on this issue?

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung: I agree with the provision of the draft Law that prohibits driving a vehicle with alcohol concentration in the blood or breath. This provision was carefully considered, discussed and weighed by the 14th National Assembly before passing the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm and will be implemented from January 1, 2020.

The time to implement this regulation is not long due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, when the inspection and handling of alcohol concentration violations for drivers are drastically implemented, people have raised their awareness in the use of alcohol and beer.

This not only contributes to ensuring safety for traffic participants but also contributes to changing the habit of alcohol abuse in today's life.

Although there are currently some opinions that this regulation is too strict, and should only be banned when exceeding the permitted alcohol concentration limit, I think that this regulation should continue to be implemented for about 5 more years to evaluate and summarize the implementation, from which there will be a basis to consider whether or not it needs to be amended.

National Assembly delegates from Nghe An at the working session on November 24 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Nam An

Reporter: The draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety stipulates: “People aged 16 and over are allowed to drive motorbikes”. This provision inherits the Law on Road Traffic Safety 2008 and 2001; at the same time, according to current law, there are no regulations on training, testing and granting of driving licenses for motorbike drivers. In your opinion, is such an age regulation still appropriate in the current context?

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung: In reality, most high school students use motorbikes to go to school, while most high school students (grade 10) are 15 years old, not yet 16 years old.

Through consulting parents, parents buy their children a motorbike as soon as they enter 10th grade so that they can be proactive in traveling, because they are old enough.

On the other hand, implementing the policy of training streams after graduating from junior high school, for students who do not continue to study high school but choose to study a trade, using a motorbike is also convenient for them to both study and work.

In my opinion, the current age regulation for driving motorbikes is no longer suitable for reality, when the physical and cognitive abilities of Vietnamese children today have developed much more than 20 years ago.

On the other hand, this regulation is also inconsistent with the age of participation in labor relations, which is from 15 years old and above as stipulated in the Labor Code. Therefore, I propose that it is necessary to study and amend the age of driving a motorbike to be from 15 years old and above (ie starting from the age of 16).

At the same time, to ensure the health and safety of children and other people when participating in traffic by motorbike, I propose to add regulations to provide training in traffic safety laws and safe driving skills for motorbike drivers.

For a long time, the provision of traffic safety knowledge to students has been organized by schools mainly in the form of extracurricular activities and at different levels depending on the level of education. However, in order to drive a motorbike - a type of motor vehicle that the Civil Code identifies as a source of high danger, the responsibility should be assigned to schools to coordinate with the Traffic Police force to organize training in legal knowledge and safe driving skills for students.

National Assembly delegates from Nghe An at the working session on November 24 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Nam An

Reporter: The draft law stipulates: “People aged 18 and over are allowed to drive motorbikes, cars, four-wheeled motorized passenger vehicles, four-wheeled motorized cargo vehicles, smart vehicles, and specialized motorbikes” and assigns the Government to provide specific regulations. Do you think this is reasonable?

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung: I studied the summary report and impact assessment report of the Ministry of Public Security, but these documents did not mention the existing problems and difficulties regarding this content in the process of implementing the 2008 Road Traffic Law and also did not explain why this content was not specifically regulated in the law but assigned to the Government.

I propose that this draft law should stipulate the minimum age of drivers based on the type of vehicle; not only the minimum age but also the maximum age for drivers of vehicles carrying more than 30 people as in current law.

At the same time, I also agree with the opinion of the National Assembly's Law Committee that it is necessary to specifically regulate these types of driving licenses in this law, not leaving it to the Government to regulate.

In the working program on November 24, the National Assembly voted to pass the Law on Telecommunications (amended) with 468 delegates voting in favor (accounting for 94.74%); passed the draft Law on Management and Protection of National Defense Works and Military Zones with 470 delegates voting in favor (accounting for 95.14%). The National Assembly also discussed in the hall the draft Law on Roads.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-thai-thi-an-chung-quy-dinh-do-tuoi-duoc-dieu-khien-xe-gan-may-hien-nay-khong-con-phu-hop-post280535.html