Driving a vehicle participating in road traffic with alcohol in blood or breath is an act strictly prohibited by law. However, many opinions believe that it is necessary to create an appropriate threshold for violating alcohol concentration to create conditions for people.
Locals speak up
Violations of alcohol concentration when participating in traffic are stipulated in Clause 8, Article 8 of the 2008 Road Traffic Law. Specifically, the following acts are strictly prohibited: “Driving cars, tractors, and specialized motorbikes” on the road with alcohol in the blood or breath”; “Drive a motorbike or motorbike with an alcohol concentration in the blood exceeding 50 mg/100 ml of blood or 0.25 mg/1 liter of breathing air.”
This content was later amended by Clause 1, Article 35 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019, which stipulates: “Road participants are strictly prohibited from operating vehicles participating in road traffic.” but there is alcohol in the blood or breath. Since then, drivers who operate vehicles with alcohol in their blood or breath have been severely punished.
Recently, in the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (prepared by the Ministry of Public Security), the ban on drinking alcohol while driving was once again included. Specifically, in Clause 1, Article 8, the draft Law stipulates that it is absolutely forbidden for vehicle drivers to participate in traffic with alcohol in their blood or breath. This content has similarities with the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019, which defines the alcohol concentration limit as 0.
Regarding the content of the absolute ban on alcohol concentration in the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces have proposed to remove the regulation on the alcohol concentration violation threshold of 0.
Specifically, the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province said that, according to Clause 1 (Article 8) of the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order, it regulates the act of “driving a vehicle participating in road traffic with blood or breath containing “alcohol level”, understood as blood alcohol concentration above 0 mg/100 ml of blood or above 0 mg/1 liter of breath, is a violation.
The draft Law does not specifically stipulate what level of alcohol concentration in blood or breath is considered a violation, which is not consistent with practice. Therefore, Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee proposed to consider specifically regulating this content.
Meanwhile, the People’s Committee of Ha Tinh province commented that Clause 1 (Article 8) of the draft Law proposed adding the content “exceeding the prescribed limit” at the end of the sentence, rewriting it as “Controlling vehicles participating in traffic”. on the road with alcohol concentration in blood or breath exceeding the prescribed level. Accordingly, it is necessary to stipulate a minimum level to ensure the basic rights of citizens.
Sharing his opinion on this issue, Mr. Hoang Manh Hung (Hanoi) said: “In my opinion, the threshold for violating alcohol concentration should be raised a bit to create conditions for people. Many times I drink from noon, but at night, when I measure my alcohol concentration, there is still a little bit left in my body, even though I have rested and been alert enough.”
Research and consult the world
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), in the world there are more than 140 countries and territories that regulate blood or breath concentration limits at levels greater than 0.
In some neighboring countries of Vietnam such as China, Thailand, Singapore,… the alcohol concentration limit when participating in traffic is above 0.
For example, in China, a vehicle driver is determined to be “driving after drinking” if his blood alcohol concentration is from 20 mg/100 ml to less than 80 mg/100 ml. With a blood alcohol concentration higher than 80 mg/100 ml, you will commit the crime of “driving while intoxicated”. This crime can be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 6 months and driver’s license suspension for 5 years.
Thai law stipulates that a vehicle driver is considered drunk when the blood alcohol concentration exceeds 50 mg/100 ml for people 20 years of age and older). Similarly, Singapore’s Road Traffic Act stipulates that the alcohol concentration limit when driving in this country is 0.35 mg/liter of breath, 80 mg/100 ml of blood.
Besides, according to medical research, in the normal state of the body, the blood always maintains a certain alcohol concentration at 0.03% or there are cases where the body has an alcohol concentration due to factors such as eating and drinking foods fermented in the stomach, medication.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Chinh – Former Head of the Department of Infection Surgery and Wound Care at Viet Duc Hospital: “After a period of drastic control and handling of violations of alcohol concentration, traffic accidents related to the use of Alcohol and beer use has decreased significantly, proving the effectiveness of the regulations in practice. Setting a framework for punishing alcohol concentration will create more flexibility and convenience for people. However, people’s self-awareness is very important to ensure safety for themselves and those around them.”
Mr. Nguyen Minh Hieu (Me Tri, Hanoi) said: “Alcohol concentration threshold greater than 0 but at an appropriate level will both ensure traffic safety and socio-economic and cultural development. At the same time, it is also necessary to increase penalties for cases exceeding the inspection threshold to act as a deterrent and minimize violations.”
Vietnam is a country with many religions, customs, and festivals, with alcohol being a cultural feature that is often indispensable on important occasions. However, how much alcohol to use and the allowable alcohol concentration level is appropriate for each type of vehicle needs to be carefully researched and evaluated on the basis of ensuring practical requirements, feasibility and basis. science.