Nghe An will fine those who run yellow lights thanks to cameras

(Baonghean.vn) - Decree 46/2016 of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of road and railway traffic takes effect from August 1, 2016. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi - Deputy Head of the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department (Provincial Police) about this issue.

More than 100 violations have increased fines

PV:Decree 46/2016 of the Government took effect from August 1, 2016. However, many people do not know the contents of this decree?

Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi

Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi:Since 2013, the regulations on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of road and railway traffic have been amended and supplemented three times. After a period of implementing Decree 171/ND-CP and 107/ND-CP on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of road traffic, the old sanctions do not meet practical requirements.

In my opinion, the issuance of Decree 46 is timely and appropriate. The Decree amends, supplements, and re-describes 105 violations and groups of violations to clarify them. The Decree also adds 45 violations and groups of violations that have not been regulated in current decrees to meet practical requirements.

Decree 46 adjusts fines, additional penalties, and remedial measures for 115 acts and groups of acts such as violations of alcohol concentration, violations of speed regulations, violations on highways, violations of overloading, violations related to road transport business, and violations of road traffic infrastructure...

PV:Many violations of the Traffic Safety Law have increased penalties in Decree 46. Is the reason to increase revenue?

Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi:According to Decree 46, many violations have increased fines compared to the old regulations such as: alcohol concentration violations, driving across the median, driving on the sidewalk, speeding violations...

According to the summary, the causes of accidents mainly focus on the above violations. In particular, in recent years, the behavior of exceeding alcohol concentration and speeding has caused many serious accidents. Therefore, in my opinion, increasing the penalty level is reasonable, especially for intentional violations that are repeated and dangerous to society.

Increasing the fine level does not mean to collect high fines but to propagate, prevent violations, and increase deterrence. In my personal opinion, each fine is a propaganda and reminder. Moreover, people should comply with the provisions of the Law, then there will be no need to care about the level of the fine anymore.

The fine for running a yellow light and a red light is the same.

PV:Some provisions in Decree 46 are causing people to wonder, with many conflicting opinions. A typical example is the increase in the fine for running a yellow light to a red light and combining them into one violation?

Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi:There is still an incorrect understanding of the law on non-compliance with traffic light signals. Failure to comply with any traffic light signal will result in a penalty of “non-compliance with traffic light signals”.

Specifically, the 2008 Road Traffic Law stipulates: A green signal means you can go; a red signal means you are prohibited from going; while a yellow signal means you must stop before the stop line, except in cases where you have already gone past the stop line, in which case you may continue; in the case of a flashing yellow signal, you may go but you must slow down, pay attention, and give way to pedestrians crossing the street.

From August 1, 2016, the act of running a yellow light will be punished the same as running a red light.

Thus, the act of “failing to comply with traffic light signals” is the act of the driver not complying with the prescribed traffic light signals. Some people still understand that “running a yellow light” is allowed or that if they violate, they will only be warned… is an incorrect understanding.

According to Decree 46, drivers who run yellow or red lights will be fined the same: up to 2 million VND for cars and 400,000 VND for motorbikes.

PV:Many people think that punishing the act of running a yellow light or a red light is inappropriate because before stopping at a red light, the yellow light time is for traffic participants to prepare mentally. If a penalty is given for running a yellow light, it could be dangerous when the driver has to brake suddenly.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nghi:Currently, all traffic lights have a countdown timer, so it is incorrect to say that the yellow light duration of only 3 seconds makes drivers confused.

Furthermore, as a rule, when approaching an intersection, drivers must slow down to observe other vehicles. Therefore, drivers must control their speed and stop when they see a yellow light.

Thus, when the traffic light turns yellow and the driver does not stop before the stop line, it is considered a violation of the Road Traffic Law and will be punished. The punishment can be in the form of direct error detection or through a video camera.

To apply the regulations in Decree 46 into practice, the Traffic Police Department has organized training for officers and soldiers of all forces to understand the legal regulations to carry out their tasks, and at the same time, instructed and propagated to people to know and fully comply with the new regulations.

Thank you sir!

Nguyen Hung