Attempting to encourage awareness of traffic safety and reduce traffic accidents, the National Traffic Safety Committee has launched a three-month campaign to tighten control over the amount of alcohol drivers can drink. The launch of the campaign was announced by the committee at a press conference on October 1 in Hanoi. In attendance were Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy chairman of the Committee, Major General Nguyen Van Tuyen, head of the Road and railway Traffic Police Department, and the representatives of the Transport Ministry and Vietnam Road Transportation Association, among others. Two slogans of the campaign are “Don’t drive after drinking” and “Driving under the influence of alcohol – High cost to pay”. During the campaign, which began yesterday, October 1, and will continue until the end of this year, traffic police will crack down on the alcohol intake of drivers of motorized road vehicles, enforcing the law with strict punishments for violators. Traffic police officers will use breath alcohol concentration calculators to identify drivers whose alcohol levels exceed the allowable limit. Besides tightening control over alcohol levels, traffic police and other concerned agencies will use media propaganda to enhance the public’s awareness of traffic safety and encourage compliance with traffic rules, Hiep said. Seminars on the relationship between drinking and traffic accidents will be held on Vietnam Television (VTV) and the Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) to provide regulations on the legal blood alcohol level of drivers, enforce penalties for violations, and advise drivers to comply with these regulations and all other traffic rules for everybody’s safety.    2.6% of GDP lost to drinking and driving The Committee will also organize symposiums on social responsibility of those who make, distribute, trade, and advertise alcoholic beverages. To date, only four foreign beer companies, including Heineken and Tiger, have warnings against “driving under the influence of alcohol” printed on their beer cans, while no domestic firms have done the same, Hiep said. However, Hiep noted, the warning printed on Heineken cans is very small and positioned so that one may not notice it, which needs to be changed. “We will call on beer producers to print such warnings in larger font and in more obvious places.” According to preliminary statistics, 80 percent of traffic violations in the country are related to driving under the influence of alcohol, and 30 percent of deaths are related to drinking liquor or beer, Major General Tuyen said. Last year the country lost 2.6 percent of its GDP, or US$3.5 billion, to traffic accidents related to drinking and driving, Hiep said. “A sociological study shows that 40 percent of traffic accidents are related to being drunk behind the wheel; 75 percent of the drunken drivers were under 40 years old,” the official said.  Currently Vietnamese people drink about 30 liters of beer per capita per year, ranking first in Southeast Asia and the fourth in Asia, after Japanese, South Korean and Chinese, according to the statistics released by Euromonitor International, an international market research organization, said Nguyen Trong Thai, Chief of the Secretariat of the National Traffic Safety Committee.  

Fines for violators of breath alcohol concentration limit

Under Decree 71 by the Government, a fine of VND500,000-1 million (US$48) is applied to drunk drivers of motorbikes if they are found to have alcohol levels of 0.25 mg per liter of breath, or 50 mg per 100 ml of blood.

With alcohol levels of over 0.4 mg per liter of breath, or 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, the fines for motorbike drivers range from VND2-3 million.

As for drivers of cars, the fines are VND8-10 million for drivers with alcohol levels of 0.25 mg per liter of breath. In case the alcohol levels are over 0.4 mg per liter of breath, the fine is VND10-15 million.