National Assembly 'finalizes' taxis and passenger cars not required to install child safety seats

On the morning of December 10, the National Assembly voted to pass the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 10 laws related to security and order.

With the amended and supplemented Law on Road Traffic Safety, regulations regarding child car seats have been added.

Specifically, the amended law stipulates that when transporting children under 10 years old and under 1.35m tall in a car, the driver is not allowed to let the child sit in the same row of seats, except in cars with only one row of seats; the driver must use and instruct the driver on the use of appropriate safety equipment for children, except in passenger transport vehicles.

General Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security, presented a summary report on the acceptance and explanation of the draft law.

Thus, compared to the current regulations, the amended law has exempted commercial passenger transport vehicles (taxis, ride-hailing vehicles, buses, etc.) from the mandatory responsibility of installing child safety equipment when transporting children.

The amended law also postpones the application of the above regulation until July 1, 2026, instead of January 1, 2026, as stipulated in the currently effective Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety.

Furthermore, the government has conducted a thorough and comprehensive impact assessment of the regulation requiring road vehicles to be equipped with devices that record images of the driver and the passenger compartment.

Based on that, the Government proposes that commercial transport vehicles, tractor-trailer trucks, ambulances, and internal transport vehicles must be equipped with vehicle tracking devices and driver image recording devices.

Passenger transport vehicles with 8 or more seats, excluding the driver's seat, must be equipped with a passenger compartment video recorder to enhance management and supervision, promptly detect and handle unsafe behaviors and violations of the law on road transport vehicles, and contribute to preventing and minimizing traffic accidents.

The handling of data obtained from driver image recording devices and passenger compartment recording devices shall comply with the law on personal data protection and other relevant legal provisions.

At the same time, the Government added a regulation stipulating the installation of driver image recording devices for passenger transport vehicles with fewer than 8 seats (excluding the driver's seat), and cargo transport vehicles (excluding tractor-trailers and internal transport vehicles), effective from January 1, 2028.

The regulation requiring the installation of video recording devices in the passenger compartment of passenger transport vehicles with 8 or more seats (excluding the driver's seat) will take effect from January 1, 2029, and will be implemented according to a roadmap stipulated by the Government to ensure feasibility, avoid unnecessary costs, and provide organizations, businesses, and individuals with sufficient time to prepare the necessary conditions for compliance with the law.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/quoc-hoi-chot-taxi-xe-khach-khong-bat-buoc-phai-lap-ghe-an-toan-cho-tre-5067616.html