On August 8, in relation to the reduction of fines for individuals violating blood alcohol content below 25 milligrams per liter of exhaled air, as mentioned in the draft Decree regulating the handling of administrative violations related to road traffic safety and order in the field of road traffic; excluding points, restoring driving license points, the representative of the Traffic Police Department, Ministry of Public Security, has shared his thoughts.
According to the draft, the Ministry of Public Security proposes reducing the fine amount compared to Decree No. 100/2019 (amended and supplemented by Decree 123/2021) for the act of violating blood alcohol content that has not exceeded 50 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood, or has not exceeded 0.25 milligrams per 1 liter of exhaled air, to be consistent with the nature and severity of the violation.
The Ministry of Public Security proposes a fine of VND 800,000 to VND 1 million for drivers of automobiles and similar vehicles, four-wheeled vehicles carrying people, and four-wheeled vehicles carrying goods, with blood or exhaled air containing alcohol not exceeding 50 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood, or not exceeding 0.25 milligrams per 1 liter of exhaled air.
According to the current regulations in Decree 100 (amended and supplemented by Decree 123), the fine amount is from VND 6 to 8 million.
Colonel Nguyen Quang Nhat, Head of the Guidance, Propaganda, Investigation, and Resolution of Traffic Accidents (Traffic Police Department, Ministry of Public Security), said that when drafting the draft Decree, the Ministry of Public Security had accepted and incorporated the opinions and contributions of various ministries and sectors.
"Many opinions have been raised to reduce the fine for this case," Colonel Nguyen Quang Nhat said. In addition, according to the World Health Organization's recommendation, a healthy adult who drinks one glass of wine will have a blood alcohol content below 0.25 milligrams per liter of exhaled air within one hour. Therefore, the Ministry also consulted and adopted this recommendation.
From a professional perspective, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association, expressed strong agreement with the proposal. According to Mr. Quyen, in the group of minimum blood alcohol content violations, there are people who drink one cup of wine after three hours and have no alcohol in their exhaled air, while others still do. This depends on each individual's ability to metabolize alcohol.
In addition, there are different types of strong or weak wine, and cases of endogenous alcohol, so not everyone who violates the minimum blood alcohol content is intentionally violating. Mr. Quyen believes that the group of people violating the minimum blood alcohol content has a very low risk of causing accidents. Therefore, the fine for this group should be reduced.
"We should not set a high fine for this group, as it may cause a reaction in society. I strongly agree with the Ministry of Public Security's proposal to introduce a new fine for the act of violating blood alcohol content at the minimum level,” Mr. Quyen said.
Furthermore, according to Mr. Quyen, if the fine is too high, especially for cases where the vehicle is old and its value is low, people are willing to abandon their vehicles. This would result in significant social waste. The vehicles would be concentrated at scrap yards, and the process of selling them through auction would not be able to keep up with the concentration.
Similarly, Dr. Khương Kim Tạo, former Deputy Chief of the Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that for the first time in the "history" of drafting decrees related to fines, there has been a proposal to reduce the fine amount, which is very humane. This is a turning point in the management of road traffic safety that the Ministry of Public Security has proposed. The previous fine amount, Dr. Tạo felt, was troubling, so he supports the current proposal.
"The fine for blood alcohol content below 0.25 milligrams per liter of exhaled air is reasonable," Dr. Tạo agreed.
