According to regulations, driving a vehicle in violation of alcohol concentration will be punished. The current penalty for alcohol concentration violations is stipulated in Decree 100/2019/ND-CP (amended in Decree 123/2021/ND-CP). Specifically:

Penalty for alcohol concentration for motorcyclists

Fine from 2 - 3 million VND if alcohol concentration does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or does not exceed 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 10 - 12 months.

Fine from 4 - 5 million VND if alcohol concentration exceeds 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeds 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 16 - 18 months.

Fine from 6 - 8 million VND if alcohol concentration exceeds 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeds 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 22 - 24 months.

Penalty for alcohol concentration for car drivers

Fine from 6 - 8 million VND if alcohol concentration does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or does not exceed 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 10 - 12 months.

Fine from 16 to 18 million VND if alcohol concentration exceeds 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeds 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 16 to 18 months.

Fine from 30 - 40 million VND if alcohol concentration exceeds 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeds 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath. Additional penalty is revocation of driving license from 22 - 24 months.

Penalty for alcohol concentration for cyclists

Bicycle, electric bicycle and electric motorbike drivers who violate alcohol concentration will also be fined. Specifically, a fine of 80,000 - 100,000 VND will be imposed if the driver has an alcohol concentration that does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or less than 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath.

Fines from 200,000 - 300,000 VND when cyclists, electric bicycles, electric motorbikes have alcohol concentration exceeding 50 - 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 - 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath.

Fine from 400,000 - 600,000 VND when blood or breath contains alcohol concentration exceeding 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath.

Penalties for alcohol concentration for drivers of tractors and specialized motorbikes

Having alcohol concentration but not exceeding 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or not exceeding 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath: fined from 3 million to 5 million VND; Suspension of the right to use a driving license (when driving a tractor), certificate of training in road traffic law (when driving a specialized motorbike) from 10 months to 12 months;

Having an alcohol concentration exceeding 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath: fined from 6 million to 8 million VND; Suspension of the right to use a driving license (when driving a tractor), certificate of training in road traffic law (when driving a specialized motorbike) from 16 months to 18 months;

Having an alcohol concentration exceeding 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath: fined from 16 million to 18 million VND; Suspension of the right to use a driving license (when driving a tractor), certificate of training in road traffic law (when driving a specialized motorbike) from 22 months to 24 months.

Driving a vehicle with alcohol in the body is an extremely dangerous act, with a high potential to cause traffic accidents, so drivers who violate alcohol concentration regulations may also have their vehicles temporarily impounded to limit serious consequences for people and other vehicles participating in traffic.

This is stated in Article 82 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, amended by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP. Accordingly, to immediately prevent administrative violations, traffic police are allowed to temporarily detain vehicles before issuing a penalty decision for certain violations, including alcohol concentration violations:

- Violations of alcohol concentration for car drivers at point c, clause 6, point c, clause 8 and point clause 10, Article 5.

- Violation of alcohol concentration for motorcyclists at point c clause 6, point c clause 7, point e clause 8 Article 6.

- Violation of alcohol concentration for drivers of tractors and specialized motorbikes at point c, clause 6, point b, clause 7, point a, clause 9, Article 7.

- Violation of alcohol concentration for bicycle drivers at point q clause 1, point e clause 3, point c clause 4 Article 8.

With the above regulation, people participating in traffic by road vehicles such as cars, motorbikes, tractors, specialized motorbikes or bicycles can have their vehicles temporarily impounded by traffic police for violating alcohol concentration.

When temporarily detaining a violator's vehicle, the Traffic Police will make a record of temporary vehicle detention in 2 copies, obtain the violator's signature and give that person 1 copy to keep (Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations).

The temporary detention of vehicles due to alcohol concentration violations is carried out in accordance with the general provisions on temporary detention of vehicles in Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. Accordingly, the period of temporary detention of vehicles violating alcohol concentration is no more than 7 working days from the date of temporary detention. This period is calculated from the time the vehicle is actually detained.

The vehicle detention period may be extended in the following cases:

- In case the case file must be transferred to the competent authority for sanction: The vehicle detention period shall not exceed 10 working days.

- In cases where individuals or organizations request an explanation or must verify related details: The vehicle detention period shall not exceed 1 month.

- In cases where individuals or organizations request an explanation or must verify related details that are particularly serious, have many complicated details, and require more time to verify and collect evidence: The vehicle detention period shall not exceed 2 months.

Minh Hoa (t/h)