The Vietnamese traffic safety watchdog has urged police to hand down stern penalty on a car driver who was caught backing his vehicle for over one kilometer along the emergency stopping lane of an expressway in northern Vietnam.

The National Traffic Safety Committee has recently sent a document to the traffic police division under the Ministry of Public Security to have assertive action regarding the reckless traffic violation.

The incident took place along an expressway connecting Hanoi and the northern city of Hai Phong at 2:24 pm on Friday.

Footage from CCTV cameras shows that the automobile with license plate 34A-18069 was running in reverse from the 50th kilometer to the 49th kilometer on the hard shoulder of the road.

A man in blue suit later got out of the car and appeared to lead the way as the vehicle continued backing for a few hundred meters.

According to the traffic safety committee, such an action seriously violated traffic law, posing high risk of traffic accidents and dangers to other road users.

On November 10, CCTV cameras along the same expressway also caught a tractor-trailer as it was traveling on the wrong direction after making an illegal U-turn.

The truck was apparently trying to reach an exit it had missed, according to the video.

The driver was fined VND7 million (US$300) and had his driving license revoked for five months.

The construction of the 105km Hanoi- Hai Phong expressway was initiated in February 2009 and finished in December 2015.

The expressway is a major freight corridor for Vietnam's Northern Pivotal Economic Region. It is designed with the maximum speed limit of 120km per hour.

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