Understand the 'right overtaking' error correctly to avoid being wrongly fined

Three cases where overtaking is allowed on the right side of the road

Reckless overtaking and overtaking on the right side of the road is very dangerous because this behavior has a high risk of leading to traffic accidents, and if detected by the traffic police, you can be heavily fined. However, according to the Road Traffic Law, there are still some cases where drivers are allowed to overtake from the right side.

Article 14 of the Road Traffic Law clearly stipulates "When overtaking, vehicles must overtake on the left", except in the following 3 cases:

- The first:When the vehicle in front has a left turn signal or is turning left:

This situation often happens in reality, such as at intersections or crossroads when the vehicle in front is about to turn left to cross the street or make a U-turn. At this time, the vehicle behind is required to pass on the right side and at the same time comply with traffic safety rules when passing.

- Monday:When a special vehicle is working on the road and cannot pass on the left:

This is a fairly common situation in urban areas when specialized vehicles such as road repair vehicles, tree trimming vehicles, garbage collection vehicles, drainage vehicles, police cars, etc. are working in the middle of the road or on the left side of the traffic lane and cars cannot pass on the left, at this time drivers can pass on the right.

- Tuesday:When the tram is running in the middle of the road:

On roads where trams (electric trains) are arranged to run at the same level as other vehicles and are fixed in the middle of the road, cars can pass on the right side. However, this is a rare case in reality in Vietnam today.

Except for the above 3 cases, in all other situations, drivers must overtake vehicles on the left side.

If violating the "right overtaking" violation, the driver can be fined from 3-5 million VND and have his/her driving license revoked for 1-3 months according to Article 5 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP on administrative sanctions in the field of road and railway traffic.

In cases where the road has two or more motor vehicle lanes, cars are allowed to move to the right lane to overtake without being considered as "overtaking on the right" (illustrative photo)

Understand the right-overtaking error and the regulations when overtaking

According to the provisions of Technical Regulation 41:2016/BGTVT:“Right overtaking is a traffic situation in which one vehicle overtakes another vehicle on the right side of the overtaken vehicle on the same direction of travel on roads with only one lane of motor traffic in each direction”.

Based on the above regulations, it can be seen that the act of "overtaking on the right" is only considered a violation when it occurs on a road with only one motor vehicle lane in each direction; but for highways or national highways with two or more motor vehicle lanes in each direction, this overtaking act is not considered a violation of overtaking on the right.

This is also the point that has caused many misunderstandings and arguments between drivers and traffic police in the process of handling violations recently.

However, whether overtaking on the left or right (in cases where overtaking on the right is permitted), when overtaking another vehicle, the driver must still strictly comply with the safety regulations stated in Clause 2, Article 14, Road Traffic Law 2008 as follows:

- Vehicles requesting to overtake must signal with lights or horn; in urban areas and densely populated areas from 10pm to 5am, they may only signal with lights;

- The vehicle requesting to overtake is only allowed to overtake when there are no obstacles ahead, no oncoming vehicles on the road section intended to overtake, the vehicle in front has not signaled to overtake another vehicle and has moved to the right.

Also according to Article 14, Road Traffic Law 2008,Do not overtake other vehicles in the following cases::

- On narrow bridges with one lane; Roundabouts, hilltops and locations with limited visibility;

- At intersections, roads intersect at the same level as railways;

- When weather or road conditions do not ensure safe overtaking;

- Priority vehicles are sending priority signals to perform their duties.

At the same time, when a vehicle requests to overtake, if safe, the driver of the vehicle in front must reduce speed, move close to the right side of the roadway until the vehicle behind has passed, and must not cause obstacles for the vehicle requesting to overtake.