Nghe An tightens inspection and handling of alcohol concentration violations at the end of the year

Drink and drive

At noon on January 6, we were present with the working group of the Road Traffic Police Team No. 1 (Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Police) on patrol and control duty at Km 29 of National Highway 48 in Dong Hieu Commune, Thai Hoa Town. In just over 1 hour, there were 2 cases of drivers violating the law.alcohol concentrationadministrative violation record, vehicle temporarily detained according to regulations.

At 1:05 p.m., the working group inspected the car with license plate 37K-123xx driven by Mr. NKK (born in 1980), residing in Quy Chau district, and discovered that Mr. K. had an alcohol concentration of 0.23 mg/liter of breath. Mr. K. said that when he went to his relatives' house in Quynh Tam commune (Quynh Luu) to play, he had a few glasses of wine at noon, not thinking that he would exceed the permitted limit. "With a fine of 7 million VND and a 11-month driver's license revocation, this Tet I will not be able to drive a car, and my family's travel plans will have to be canceled, but it is also a lesson for me," said Mr. K.

Traffic Police Team No. 1 checks the alcohol concentration of vehicle drivers. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Dang Hung - Deputy Captain of Traffic Police Team No. 1 said: Most drivers agree with the need for strict control, because if people who have drunk alcohol or beer drive, it will be a danger to many others. However, there are still a few drunk drivers who argue and find reasons to justify their violations.

In fact, drinking alcohol and still driving because you think you are not drunk... is the main cause of many serious traffic accidents. According to a doctor at the Emergency Department, Nghe An General Hospital, although there are no specific statistics, it is generally noted that the number of emergency cases related to traffic accidents in the area in the last months of the year has increased somewhat, especially traffic accidents due to the use of alcohol, including cases of accidents and causing accidents due to the use of alcohol before driving. This doctor added that according to research by the World Health Organization, alcohol slows down the reaction speed by about 10-30%, at the same time, limits the ability to coordinate between body parts, limits the ability to recognize objects from a distance, and reduces night vision by up to 25%...

According to the family of Mr. MTT, residing in Vinh City, currently being treated at the Intensive Care Unit - Nghe An General Hospital, although the accident happened more than a month ago, Mr. T. still has to be treated, with the cost reaching hundreds of millions of VND. The cause of the accident was that after drinking alcohol, on the way from Quan Hanh town to Vinh, Mr. T. crashed into a milestone on the side of the road, causing a traumatic brain injury. "Fortunately, it was noon, there were few traffic participants, otherwise it would have been difficult to predict."

Traffic Police Team No. 5 checks driver's papers. Photo: D.C.

Tight control, strict handling

According to statistics from the authorities, 15% of serious traffic accidents are caused by drivers using alcohol, leading to loss of concentration, driving on the wrong side of the road, lane, not controlling speed, not paying attention to observe, avoiding illegal overtaking... Therefore, in the patrol and control plan, violations of alcohol concentration are always strictly handled. In the 3-day New Year holiday of 2023 alone, there were 45 cases of alcohol concentration violations handled.

In the patrol and control plan before, during and after Tet, the provincial traffic police force continues to mobilize and arrange forces and means, thoroughly use means and technical equipment to organize patrols, control, detect and strictly handle violations that are the direct causes of traffic accidents, especially violations of alcohol concentration when driving on roads. Teams and stations coordinate with local police to actively propagate and regularly inspect and handle on national and provincial highways, focusing on strong inspections at noon, evening, holidays and on routes with high traffic volume. In addition, the traffic police force of 21 districts, cities and towns simultaneously deploy working groups to inspect and handle general violations, including violations of alcohol concentration on all routes managed by the locality.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nam Hong - Deputy Head of Traffic Police Department (Provincial Police)

This is also one of the key contents that comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee emphasized at the online conference summarizing the work of ensuring traffic order and safety in 2022 held on the morning of December 23, as well as in Official Dispatch No. 34/CD-UBND dated December 29, 2022 of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee on strengthening the work of ensuring traffic order and safety during the New Year, Lunar New Year and Spring Festival 2023.

Accordingly, the Traffic Police force is required to focus on inspecting, detecting and handling violations that are the main causes of traffic accidents and traffic jams such as: drivers with drugs in their bodies, speeding on the road; overloaded or oversized cargo vehicles, passenger transport vehicles carrying more people than the prescribed number, etc., especially violations of alcohol concentration.

Traffic Police Team No. 1 propagandizes to restaurant owners. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Ensure strict and strict implementation of regulations and anyone who violates will be punished. If the violator is a party member, armed force member, state official or civil servant, inform the agency or working unit for coordination in handling. In particular, it is strictly forbidden for officials, party members, civil servants and public employees to influence or interfere with the inspection and handling of violations of traffic order and safety by functional forces according to Directive No. 19/CT-UBND, dated September 20, 2022 of the Provincial People's Committee.