Challenges in fining motorcyclists who violate traffic laws

At a recent traffic safety conference, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang requested to strengthen control and impose fines on motorcyclists. Motorcyclists account for 80-90% of vehicles on the road, so if the behavior of motorcyclists can be improved, traffic accidents will be further reduced in the future.

Traffic fines are a form of punishment for traffic violations through security cameras installed on the roads. However, in recent times, many provinces and cities have faced many challenges in issuing traffic fines for motorbikes.

Vinh Phuc Provincial Police have been issuing fines to motorcyclists since mid-September 2023. To date, nearly 5.9 million motorcyclists have been found to have violated traffic laws, such as running red lights, speeding, and not wearing helmets. However, the unit has only handled nearly 1,800 cases.

Similarly, after more than 7 months of implementing fines for motorbikes violating traffic laws in the area, up to now, the traffic police of Vinh Yen City (Vinh Phuc) have detected 1,600 motorbike riders out of more than 8,100 vehicles violating traffic laws through the camera system on the road. However, the unit has only handled more than 780 vehicles, mostly cars, with a fine of more than 3 billion VND.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Van Thinh, Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of Vinh Phuc Police, said that the low number of motorcyclists who violate traffic laws is due to the complicated process of verifying vehicle owners and handling violations, many procedures, and taking a lot of time and effort.

From detecting and collecting images and data about the violating vehicle, the authorities re-evaluate the behavior, compare it with legal regulations, and then identify the vehicle owner. "Many vehicles are bought, sold, and transferred to many people, in many different localities, but have not completed the name change procedures. Not to mention that many vehicles have fake license plates with unclear letters and numbers, so verifying the vehicle owner's address is very difficult," said Lieutenant Colonel Thinh.

Because motorbikes are bought and sold without transferring ownership, when the authorities send a traffic violation notice to the registered address, the current owner of the vehicle does not receive it. During the process of identifying the violator, the vehicle owner often does not cooperate, does not admit to driving or lending the vehicle. Therefore, it is often very difficult for the police to establish an administrative violation record for some acts that require revoking the license and temporarily impounding the vehicle.

According to a representative of Vinh Yen City Police, the current sanctions are not mandatory for vehicle owners, owners, and motorbike drivers, but only "verify and urge them to go to the police agency to resolve the violation".

Master Vu Anh Tuan, University of Transport, said that the legal basis for imposing fines on motorcyclists who violate traffic laws is not sufficient, and it is not clear whether the fine is on the motorbike owner or the driver who violates the law. According to current regulations on handling administrative violations, traffic police only fine traffic violators, but do not require vehicle owners to pay fines on behalf of violators.

Currently, car owners who violate traffic laws are required to pay fines in order to have their vehicles inspected periodically. Meanwhile, motorbikes do not have to be inspected. So the car owners who violate the law often "ignore" paying the fine.

In addition, the road surveillance camera system in many provinces and cities is still lacking, making offline fines very limited. At the end of 2023, Director of the Hanoi Department of Transport Nguyen Phi Thuong informed that the city has over 600 cameras, located at 149 intersections, but because they are old and outdated, "offline fines are very rare, basically cameras are used to monitor traffic".

To effectively fine violating motorbikes, Lieutenant Colonel Cao Van Thinh, Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of Vinh Phuc Police, said that first of all, it is necessary to regulate the registration of motorbike license plates nationwide. Motorbikes must have front and rear plates like those in Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia so that the camera system can easily detect violating vehicles.

Along with that, it is necessary to identify the bank account number for the vehicle owner. When a motorbike is recorded with a fine, the authorities can notify the bank so that the money can be deducted from the owner's account. All cases of selling a vehicle, moving, renting a vehicle... are subject to the responsibility of paying traffic fines for the vehicle owner on the registration. This regulation is for buyers and renters to strictly comply with the transfer of ownership.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, traffic expert Nguyen Van Thanh said that the procedure for changing the ownership of motorbikes needs to be simpler so that people can voluntarily do it. "After the motorbike is identified by its owner, it is linked to the bank, and violations are reported to the owner's text message. Violators can look up and pay fines online," Mr. Thanh suggested.

In addition, he also said that provinces and cities need to invest in equipping cameras at intersections in large numbers, and increase handling of violations such as running red lights, encroaching on lanes, speeding, etc.

The whole country currently has more than 42 million registered motorbikes, with Hanoi alone having more than 6.6 million and Ho Chi Minh City having nearly 8.3 million in circulation.