New regulations on absolute ban on alcohol concentration, deducting points from driver's license

Drivers with alcohol levels in their blood and breath cause traffic accidents at a very high rate

This morning (July 22), the Office of the President held a press conference to announce the President's order announcing the laws passed by the National Assembly at the 7th session.

One of the contents that has received a lot of attention from the press is the contents of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, effective from January 1, 2025. Lieutenant General Le Quoc Hung - Deputy Minister of Public Security, introduced the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety.

The law continues to inherit prohibited acts from the 2008 Road Traffic Law, which prohibits driving a vehicle participating in road traffic with alcohol in the blood or breath .

Deputy Minister of Public Security said that when the draft law was introduced, it received many comments. The majority agrees, but there are also some concerns regarding the regulation of zero alcohol concentration when driving a vehicle in traffic.

The 2008 Road Traffic Law stipulates that prohibited acts are driving cars, tractors, or specialized motorbikes on the road with alcohol in the blood or breath. As for motorbike drivers, it is accepted that there is alcohol in the blood and breath, but clearly stipulates that the threshold does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breathing air.

However, the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety stipulates that the alcohol concentration is zero.

"Regulating the concentration of alcohol in blood and breath when driving a vehicle in traffic is zero in order to establish a traffic culture and minimize traffic accidents. Because, the overall rate of traffic accidents is In recent times, drivers with alcohol levels in their blood and breath have caused traffic accidents, accounting for a very high proportion of the total number of traffic accidents," Mr. Hung said.

Regulations on deduction of driving license points

Regarding the regulation on deducting driving license points, the Deputy Minister of Public Security said that the Ministry of Public Security has been advising the Government to develop a decree regulating administrative penalties in the field of road traffic. There are specific regulations for administrative violations that will result in points being deducted from the driver's license.

It is expected that for acts with points deducted, there will be no provisions to revoke the driver's license. After the Government's decree, the Ministry of Public Security is preparing and will issue a Circular specifically regulating the re-testing of legal knowledge on road traffic order and safety in cases where all points are deducted. .

"When all points are deducted, there will be a requirement to study and re-test the violator's legal knowledge of road traffic order and safety. Only when eligible will points be re-issued on the driver's license," Trung said. General Hung said.

The Deputy Minister of Public Security said that to facilitate point deduction, reform administrative procedures, and avoid causing confusion and trouble in deducting points for violators, the Ministry of Public Security will build a database. on violations and handling of violations of traffic order and safety.

Currently, 85% of decisions to handle administrative violations are under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security, so the facility has been fully integrated so far that it can connect, share, and identify violations of people. specific population at each time. At the same time, it is very easy to retrieve and punish further.