Many comments on the Draft Law on Roads and the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety

In recent years, the situation of road traffic order and safety has changed but not fundamentally, traffic accidents are still high and serious. According to statistics, from 2009 to now, there have been more than 379,000 cases nationwide.road traffic accidents, killing more than 124,000 people; injuring more than 367,000 people. On average, every year there are nearly 9,000 deaths, nearly 30,000 injuries, most of whom are of working age.

In big cities, due to the sudden increase in traffic volume, while traffic organization and infrastructure have not met requirements, causing widespread congestion on key highways and national highways, negatively affecting socio-economic development.

One of the fundamental reasons for the above situation is that the 2008 Road Traffic Law, which was developed and promulgated on the basis of amending the 2001 Road Traffic Law, still has many points that are not consistent and not close to reality. After 15 years of implementation, the 2008 Road Traffic Law has revealed many limitations and inadequacies, failing to meet the requirements in management work, especially in the face of the development of traffic infrastructure, the rapid increase in the number of vehicles...

The Draft Law on Roads submitted by the Government to the National Assembly on August 30, 2023, consists of 92 articles; regulating road activities, including regulations on planning, investment, construction, management, operation, exploitation, use, maintenance, and protection of road infrastructure; road transport and state management of road activities.

The Draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety was submitted by the Government to the National Assembly on August 31, 2023. This draft has 81 articles, regulating road traffic order and safety, including: road traffic rules; road vehicles; drivers participating in road traffic; commanding and controlling road traffic; patrolling and controlling road traffic order and safety; handling road traffic accidents; state management of road traffic order and safety.

Regarding the Draft Road Law, at this conference, representatives of a number of departments and branches gave comments related to the scope of regulation; regulations on roads, road infrastructure and road infrastructure protection; regulations on investment, construction, maintenance, operation and exploitation of road works. Some opinions expressed concerns about the regulations on the construction of rest stops - this is a new point in line with the development of road traffic, but there are no detailed and specific regulations...

Especially, in the context of more and more highways being built; intelligent traffic management is becoming more and more popular, requiring specific regulations for these types. Avoid the situation where in a short time the law becomes outdated and cannot keep up with the development.

Regarding the Draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, many opinions say that because this Law is separated from the Law on Road Traffic, there are some new contents such as regulations on periodic health check-ups for motorbike drivers; regulations on children under 10 years old not being allowed to sit in the front seat; regulations on integrating documents into electronic identification accounts. However, there should also be regulations on authority in organizing traffic on routes in accordance with the current management decentralization. In particular, regulations on children under 10 years old not being allowed to sit in the front seat also need to be clearly defined in which cases, if there are safety devices, what technical standards must be met...

Some opinions also said that the content and terminology of the two drafts are not consistent with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to review the regulations on state management of road traffic activities and road traffic safety and order to be consistent, demonstrating the responsibility for close coordination between relevant agencies in the two fields...

Speaking at the conference, Comrade Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation acknowledged and highly appreciated the delegates' opinions on the Draft Laws. Based on the delegates' comments, the Provincial National Assembly Delegation will synthesize and submit to the National Assembly for consideration and completion so that the Draft Laws can be soon passed at the next session.