At the 10th session of the 14th National Assembly, many new draft laws were discussed. Notably, the Draft Law on Ensuring Road Traffic Order and Safety contains many new provisions that have sparked considerable debate. Below are 8 new points regarding driving licenses in Vietnam in the Draft Law on Ensuring Road Traffic Order and Safety.
Article table of contents
8 New points regarding driving licenses in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order in Vietnam (Illustrative Image)
1. Driving licenses Categories Reduced from 13 to 11
In the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, 11 Categories of driving licensess are specified, including: A01, A2, A3, B, C, D2, D, BE, CE, D2E, DE.
Meanwhile, Clause 1, Article 59 of the 2008 Road Traffic Law specifies 13 Categories of driving licensess, including: A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, C, D, E, FB2, FD, FE, FC.
Furthermore, the validity periods for driving licensess are stipulated in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order. To be specific:
- License Categories A01, A2, A3 have no expiration;
- License Category B has a validity of 10 years from the issuance date;
- License Categories C, D2, D, BE, CE, D2E, DE have a validity of 5 years from the issuance date.
2. Annulment of License Category A4 in Vietnam
According to Article 42 of the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, the license Category A4, which was previously issued to drivers of tractors with a load capacity of up to 1,000 kg as per the 2008 Road Traffic Law, will no longer be specified.
3. Consolidation of License Categories B1 and B2 into a General Category B in Vietnam
In the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, the license Category B will be issued to drivers of passenger cars with up to 9 seats (including the driver's seat); cargo vehicles with a designed load not exceeding 3,500 kg; and vehicles specified for Category B licenses with an attached trailer where the total designed weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg.
In contrast, Article 59 of the 2008 Road Traffic Law specifies license Categories B1 and B2 as follows:
- Category B1 is issued to non-professional drivers of passenger cars with up to 9 seats; cargo vehicles, and tractors with a load capacity under 3,500 kg.
- Category B2 is issued to professional drivers of passenger cars with up to 9 seats; cargo vehicles, and tractors with a load capacity under 3,500 kg.
Thus, according to the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, there will no longer be a distinction between license Categories B1 and B2 for non-professional and professional drivers, respectively; all such drivers will be issued a Category B license.
4. Division of License Category D into Categories D and D2 in Vietnam
Article 42 of the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order specifies the issuance of license Categories D2 and D to specific categories of drivers:
- Category D2 is issued to drivers of passenger cars with 10 to 30 seats (including the driver's seat); vehicles specified for Category D2 licenses with an attached trailer where the total designed weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg; and vehicles specified for Categories B and C.- Category D is issued to drivers of passenger cars with more than 30 seats (including the driver's seat); vehicles specified for Category D licenses with an attached trailer where the total designed weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg; and vehicles specified for Categories B, C, and D2.
In contrast, the 2008 Road Traffic Law currently specifies that license Category D is issued to drivers of passenger cars with 10 to 30 seats and vehicles specified for license Categories B1, B2, and C.
Thus, in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, license Category D will differ significantly from its current definition in the 2008 Road Traffic Law. The current Category D will include Category D2 in the new Draft Law, and the new Category D will be newly defined.
5. Addition of License Categories BE, CE, D2E, DE
Compared to the 2008 Road Traffic Law, the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order adds license Categories BE, CE, D2E, and DE. To be specific:
- Category BE is issued to drivers of vehicles specified for Category B licenses when towing a trailer with a total designed weight of more than 750 kg.
- Category CE is issued to drivers of vehicles specified for Category C licenses when towing a trailer with a total designed weight of more than 750 kg; or a tractor-trailer combination.
- Category D2E is issued to drivers of vehicles specified for Category D2 licenses when towing a trailer with a total designed weight of more than 750 kg.
- Category DE is issued to drivers of vehicles specified for Category D licenses when towing a trailer with a total designed weight of more than 750 kg; or passenger vehicles with an articulated connection.
In contrast, the 2008 Road Traffic Law specifies license Categories FB2, FD, and FE for drivers already holding licenses in Categories B2, D, and E, respectively, to drive vehicles specified for those Categories when towing trailers or articulated passenger vehicles; Category FC for drivers already holding a Category C license to drive specified vehicles when towing trailers or tractor-trailers.
Thus, the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order proposes significant changes to the Categoryification of driving licensess in certain specific cases.
6. Disabled Persons Eligible for More Than Just Category A1 Licenses
This significant change in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, specifically in Article 42, allows disabled persons to be issued driving licensess appropriate to the type of vehicle and their disability status, without limiting them to Category A1 licenses.
In contrast, the 2008 Road Traffic Law only acknowledges that disabled persons driving three-wheeled motorcycles used by disabled persons are issued Category A1 licenses and does not specify any other types of licenses for them.
This provision in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order is more progressive and suitable, ensuring fairness and better protection of disabled persons' rights when participating in road traffic.
7. Driving licensess Valid Within the Territory of Vietnam
Clause 6, Article 42 of the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order stipulates that driving licensess are valid within the territory of Vietnam, including:
- Licenses issued by competent Vietnamese authorities;
- International and national licenses appropriate to the types of vehicles they're permitted to drive, issued by countries that are members of the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (Vienna Convention), for foreigners;
- Licenses appropriate to the types of vehicles they're permitted to drive, issued by countries or territories with which Vietnam has signed mutual recognition agreements;
- Foreign licenses appropriate to the types of vehicles they're permitted to drive, issued by countries recognized per international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory.
These specific provisions are more detailed compared to the 2008 Road Traffic Law, which only generally states that licenses are valid within the territory of Vietnam and any country or territory with which Vietnam has signed mutual recognition agreements.
8. Cases Where Driving licensess Are Invalid
This is a completely new provision recorded in the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order, specifically stating that driving licensess are invalid in cases where:
- The license is in the period of being subjected to penalties involving the temporary revocation of the right to use;- The license has expired;- The license has a revocation decision.
Additionally, the Draft Law on ensuring road traffic safety and order includes detailed provisions regarding international driving licensess:
- An international driving licenses is issued by competent authorities of countries part of the Vienna Convention according to a uniform template; has a validity of no more than 3 years from the issuance date and must be consistent with the remaining validity of the national driving licenses.
- Individuals holding international driving licensess issued by Vietnam, when participating in traffic within the territory of other Vienna Convention member countries, must carry both the international and national driving licensess and comply with the road traffic laws of the host country.
- Individuals holding international driving licensess issued by Vienna Convention member countries, when participating in traffic within the territory of Vietnam, must carry both the international and national driving licensess appropriate to the type of vehicle they are driving and comply with Vietnamese road traffic laws.
- Individuals holding international driving licensess who violate Vietnamese road traffic laws and are subjected to temporary revocation of their international driving licensess will have the revocation period limited to the remaining period they are permitted to reside within the territory of Vietnam.
Le Vy
