National Assembly delegates support absolute ban on driving with alcohol concentration

On the morning of March 27, at the National Assembly House, the 5th Conference of Full-time National Assembly Deputies continued to discuss the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh said that the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety was discussed by the National Assembly at the recent 6th Session. After the session ended, the National Assembly Standing Committee directed the Standing Committee of the National Defense and Security Committee to coordinate with the drafting agency, relevant ministries, branches and other agencies of the National Assembly to promptly absorb and revise according to the opinions of National Assembly deputies and opinions of relevant agencies and organizations.

On March 15, the National Assembly Standing Committee met and gave instructions to continue perfecting the content of the draft Law.

The documents sent to the National Assembly deputies include 8 types, closely following the opinions expressed at the 6th Session, the opinions of the Standing Committee of the National Defense and Security Committee, the opinions of the drafting agency and relevant agencies as well as the conclusion of the National Assembly Standing Committee at the 31st Session.

In the Summary Report on some major issues of the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, many National Assembly deputies suggested continuing to review the contents of the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety and the draft Law on Roads to avoid duplication and overlap; the reference provisions must ensure accuracy.

Regarding the prohibition of driving a vehicle on the road while having alcohol in the blood or breath, the majority of National Assembly deputies agreed with the draft Law on this provision.

According to National Assembly delegates, the above regulation has been tested in practice and has shown good results, with the number of accidents related to alcohol and beer having decreased significantly. The purpose of this prohibition is to prevent and reduce potential risks and damages caused by the use of alcohol and beer while driving, which is supported by scientists.

Up to now, the above prohibition has been put into practice, has been widely agreed upon by the people and is gradually forming a culture of "don't drive after drinking alcohol."

Regarding endogenous alcohol concentration detected through breath, up to now there is no clear basis, it can be re-checked through blood test to avoid distorting the processing results.

Delegate Ly Thi Giang (Ha Giang) agreed with Option 1: Regulations prohibiting the act of driving a vehicle on the road while having alcohol in the blood or breath.

However, delegates said that in order for the law to come into effect, it is necessary to rely on convincing grounds to impose appropriate penalties and there needs to be a roadmap to gradually create cultural habits when participating in traffic.

Delegates from Ha Giang province said that in ethnic minority areas, handling this violation is often difficult because it is related to culture.

“During Tet, ethnic minorities have the habit of drinking alcohol, so punishment needs to have a plan and roadmap for people to understand and comply,” the delegate emphasized.

According to delegates, applying the law to punish is necessary but should not be rigid.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, delegate Thai Thi An Chung (Nghe An) expressed the opinion that an absolute ban on alcohol concentration in the breath of drivers participating in traffic is necessary to change the habit of abusing alcohol, which is harmful to health.

According to delegates, although strict punishment for driving after drinking alcohol has economic impacts, it is still necessary to build a civilized society.

Analyzing the consequences of alcohol abuse while participating in traffic, delegate Nguyen Tao (Lam Dong) said that in recent years, people's awareness of obeying road traffic laws in Vietnam has been at an alarming level. Increasing the handling of traffic violations has contributed to reducing accidents in all three criteria.

Delegates fully support the handling of alcohol concentration violations, however, it is necessary to determine a penalty roadmap so that people's compliance is highly effective.

According to delegate Nguyen Minh Tam, in the Government report on receiving and revising some major contents in the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order, although the harmful effects of alcohol and beer on road traffic participants were mentioned, only figures were given on the number of accidents, the number of people with traumatic brain injuries, the number of deaths... related to alcohol and beer, but there were no specific statistics on the number of accidents involving traffic participants whose blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeded the threshold.

To have a basis and ensure persuasiveness in the regulation of "prohibiting the act of driving a vehicle on the road while having alcohol concentration in the blood or breath," delegates proposed that there should be specific statistics to be more explicit in order to create high consensus and unity...

At the Conference, delegates agreed that the development of the Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order is consistent with the Party's guidelines and policies, meeting objective practical requirements.

The main objective is to ensure the lives, health and property of people participating in traffic; to specifically identify the state agency responsible for road traffic order and safety; to develop and manage road traffic and transport infrastructure to adapt to the development of the economy, society, science and technology, towards developing a modern, synchronous, safe and high-quality road traffic and transport infrastructure system.

Thereby, contributing to improving the effectiveness of state management in ensuring security, order, road traffic safety and managing traffic infrastructure and road transport./.