A serious shortage of parking lots in the capital is pushing drivers to illegally park on streets and pavements, despite a doubling of fines on May 20.
Fines have increased from VND300,000 to as much as VND1 million (US$53).
One driver, Le Hai Long, said he tried for half an hour without success to find a parking lot for his car in Dinh Tien Hoang Street.
Finally, he decided to illegally park his car on the side of the street.
"All of the places were occupied and people kept shaking their heads when they saw my car. I had no choice but to park illegally although I knew I could have been fined up to VND1 million for my behaviour," he said.
Thai Tuan, a taxi driver, admitted that he usually parked his vehicle in small alleys to wait for customers and avoid being found by traffic police.
"I can't always find a parking place because there simply aren't any in many streets," Tuan said.
Figures from Hanoi's Traffic Police showed that as of April, about 360,000 automobiles were using city roads. However, city parking lots provide spaces for only 10,000 cars - and half of them are always taken by permanent customers who park on a monthly basis.
According to experts, this means 33 cars have to scramble for each lot each day, and the rest will either have to illegally park or drive around and around while their passengers shop or do business. This only worsens congestion.
A representative from the Hanoi Parking Company, which is responsible for planning all parking plots in the city, said only six out of 159 lots had been built to proper standards.
He also admitted that the two most crowded districts, Hoan Kiem and Hai Ba Trung, had the smallest areas set aside for parking.
Police figures show that after four days of implementing the stiffer fines this month, nearly 400 out of the 5,560 traffic violations of all types involved illegal parking.
Thach Nhu Sy, chief inspector of the municipal Department of Transport, said heavier fines were not the best way to improve public awareness and they didn't solve the problem.
Sy suggested authorities should review and re-organise parking plots in busy main streets, such as Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, Hai Ba Trung and Tran Khat Chan.
He also said the city could use part of public places, such as Hanoi Friendship Palace and Hanoi's Children Palace, for parking.
And he said that agencies and companies using their parking areas for trading should be forced to return to open them up for parking again.
