Vietnam: New traffic rules create problems

Road users, including pedestrians, and traffic police complain that some rules introduced almost a month ago to make streets safer have proved impossible to enforce or obey.

Decree No 34, which took effect on May 20, is intended to prevent traffic offences and, most importantly, road accidents.

But police had found it difficult to punish offenders, said the director of central Thanh Hoa Province’s Traffic Police, Dao Duc Minh, who suggested that relevant agencies quickly adjust the new rules to make them more effective.

The new regulation stipulates that motorbike riders carrying children older than six not wearing safety helmets will be fined between VND100,000-200,000 (US$5.2-10.5). The rule was essential to protect children, but it was difficult for traffic police to be sure about their age, the policeman said.

They were not old enough to have identity cards and their parents did not always have the birth certificates of their offspring with them.

For example, the new regulation stipulates fines for pedestrians who do not use crossings or pavements.

But a resident of Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung District’s Bach Khoa Ward, Pham Thi Hoai, complained that it was difficult to obey the rule when pavements were filled with motorbikes and cars and pedestrians were forced to walk along the road.

“And in many streets, there are traffic lights, but no zebra crossing for pedestrians,” she said. And a Hung Vuong Taxi Company driver said it was difficult for him to park legally because there were too many taxis and too little parking space.

“The rule forces taxi drivers to drop their customers hundreds of metres from destinations,” he said.