The traffic police have strictly punished law breaking nearly 10,000 cases related to alcohol concentration limit, which is normally the direct cause to various traffic accidents. Ho Chi Minh City is the locality with the highest number of violators in this aspect, at over 1,300 cases.
Decree No.100 about sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of road and railway traffic stipulates that if the alcohol concentration does not exceed 50mg/100ml in the blood or 0,25mg/1l of breathing air, the fine is the lowest, at VND2 million (US$85.6). Those exceeding 80mg/100ml in the blood or 0,4mg/1l of breathing air will receive the highest fine, at VND8 million ($342.5).
Despite such a severe punishment, this law-breaking type shows no sign of reduction, especially in large urban areas. The National Traffic Safety Committee reported that in the first 7 months of 2022, there have been more than 6,500 traffic accidents, killing 3,785 people and injuring 4,256 victims. The deaths have risen by 112.
The main reason, according to this committee, is due to a sharp increase of transport activities after the Covid-19 pandemic last year. While traveling on roads, many vehicle drivers have low traffic awareness in dangerous behaviors like lack of observation, speeding, reckless overtaking others, falling asleep.
The local traffic police are launching various campaigns to propagandize traffic laws to increase awareness in the public. Food shops and restaurants are requested to remind their customers not to control vehicles after drinking alcohol.
However, it seems these educational and administrative methods are not sufficient. It is high time that functional agencies introduced stronger sanctions for criminal punishment of serious traffic law breaking cases. Punishment forms must also be diverse to suit all possible situations.
