This afternoon (May 22), the National Assembly discussed a number of controversial contents of the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety .

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense and Security Le Tan Toi informed: Compared to the draft Law submitted to the National Assembly at the 6th Session, the draft Law that has been received and revised has 9 chapters and 89 articles, the number of chapters remains the same and increases by 8 articles due to the addition of 5 new articles, merging 4 articles into 2 articles, and separating the content of some articles into 5 other articles. The National Assembly Standing Committee has directed the revision of the content of 79 articles, keeping the content of 2 articles (Article 33 and Article 54) the same. The draft Law after being received and revised achieved high consensus between the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government...

Majority of opinions agree absolutely no alcohol

Chairman of the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi said: In the report explaining and accepting the draft Law, most opinions agreed with the plan to prohibit driving vehicles on the road while having alcohol concentration in the blood or breath.

In addition, some delegates proposed to set a minimum limit for blood and breath alcohol concentration for drivers. Regarding this content, the National Assembly Standing Committee has specifically and clearly analyzed the advantages and limitations of each option to report to the Conference of full-time National Assembly deputies and send to request opinions from National Assembly delegations, National Assembly agencies, and relevant agencies.

"The National Assembly Standing Committee agrees with the draft Law and most of the above opinions to protect people's lives, health, and property, protect social resources, and protect the longevity of the race. Therefore, the National Assembly Standing Committee proposes that the National Assembly keep this provision in Clause 2, Article 10 of the draft Law that has been accepted and revised," the report stated.

Regarding the proposal to add the content of abolishing Clause 6, Article 5 of the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly found that Clause 6, Article 5 of the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm prohibits "driving a vehicle with alcohol concentration in the blood or breath" with the scope of prohibition not only on road traffic but also in all areas of traffic (road, railway, inland waterway, maritime, aviation). Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly proposed not to add this content to the draft Law.

Legalization of regulations car license plate auction

Regarding the auction of license plates, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly found that, after the initial period of implementing Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 of the National Assembly on piloting the auction of license plates of automobiles, important results have been achieved, meeting the needs of the people, increasing revenue for the state budget, creating publicity and transparency in the registration and management of license plates of automobiles, and receiving great attention, agreement and support from public opinion.

The legalization of the provisions of Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 into the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order is very necessary, combined with the issuance and management of license plates according to the vehicle owner's identification code, contributing to reforming administrative procedures, reducing the number of documents when registering, vehicle registration work, meeting the goals of digital citizens and digital government. Expanding the auction of license plates for transport business vehicles and motorbikes is suitable for the needs of a large number of people who want to have license plates of their choice.

Because the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety and the draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Property Auction will be passed by the National Assembly in the same 7th Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee has directed the development of 2 options to send to National Assembly delegations, National Assembly agencies, and relevant agencies for comments.

"The majority of opinions agreed and had specific comments on the Plan to add 1 article to this draft Law to ensure compliance with the scope of regulation, which will fully and specifically regulate the contents of vehicle license plate auctions and create consistency with other regulations in the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety," informed the Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense and Security.

Proposal to calculate and deduct points from driving license

Regarding the points of driving licenses, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has directed the development of Article 58 on points of driving licenses. Adding regulations on points and deduction of points from driving licenses is a civilized and modern management measure, in line with the policy of developing the digital economy and digital society of our country. This regulation will affect behavior, raise awareness of traffic participants, and help management agencies comprehensively monitor the driver's compliance process after violations.

Drivers who violate the law, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, may have their driving license points deducted. If they do not have points deducted within 12 months while they still have points, all 12 points will be restored.

In case all points are deducted, the person granted a driving license must participate in a test of knowledge of road traffic safety laws and regulations. If he/she passes the test, all 12 points will be restored. At the same time, the Government is assigned to specify the violations that result in deduction of driving license points, the authority to deduct points, the order and procedures for deducting points, restoring driving licenses, and prescribe a roadmap for implementing this Article.

Regarding patrolling and controlling road traffic safety and order, the majority of opinions basically agreed with the content of the draft Law. Some opinions suggested adding the responsibility of patrolling and controlling to ensure road traffic safety and order of the traffic inspection force. The Standing Committee found that the regulation assigning only one agency to preside over and take primary responsibility is consistent with the Party's guiding views.

The Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety stipulates that patrolling and controlling activities to ensure road traffic order and safety are the responsibility of the traffic police force; while the Law on Roads stipulates that traffic inspectors inspect, check, and handle violations of road infrastructure.

In response to the opinions of some delegates on the establishment of a Fund to reduce damage caused by traffic accidents, the National Assembly Standing Committee also directed the addition of Article 85 in the draft Law, ensuring clear principles: not for profit purposes; managed and used for the right purposes, in accordance with the law, promptly, effectively, ensuring publicity and transparency; not spending duplicately with the state budget.

The establishment of this Fund is in line with practical needs when many organizations and individuals at home and abroad want to share, help, and contribute to minimizing the damage caused by traffic accidents to people and society. The Fund's funding source is mainly socialized financial resources, mobilizing maximum resources and promoting the joint efforts of the whole society to provide spiritual and material support to those who are unfortunate victims of traffic accidents, relatives and families of the victims so that they can quickly stabilize and return to normal life.

(People's Electronic Newspaper)