Foreigners caught riding motorbikes without international driving permits in Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa

On Wednesday evening, a traffic police team conducted patrols targeting traffic violations by foreigners in several areas of the province.

At around 8:30 pm, officers stopped a 54-year-old Russian man riding a motorbike on Tran Phu Street in Nha Trang Ward, as observed by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

During the inspection, the man presented an Indonesian driver’s license but was unable to produce an international driving permit.

Officers explained the relevant regulations and asked him to come to the police station for further processing.

However, he refused to comply, locked his motorbike, and insisted that his Indonesian license was sufficient and that no additional documents were needed.

After more than 50 minutes of persuasion, he eventually contacted a Vietnamese woman to come to the scene to assist with the inspection.

Police later took the man and the motorbike to the station for handling in accordance with regulations.

At 9:46 pm on the same evening, officers stopped another foreign rider, a Canadian man, also traveling on Tran Phu Street.

When traffic police signaled him to pull over, he became verbally aggressive toward officers.

He was unable to present a valid international driving permit and was taken to the police station for further verification.

Authorities later confirmed he was not under the influence of alcohol.

At the station, despite repeated explanations of Vietnamese traffic regulations, the man argued that his tourist visa exempted him from the requirement to hold an international driving permit.

Police issued a fine and impounded his motorbike, but he refused to comply and demanded the return of his vehicle.

Officers continued to explain that vehicles are subject to seizure when drivers do not hold valid licenses, but after more than an hour of explanation, the man remained uncooperative.

The traffic police later coordinated with the Immigration Management Division under the Khanh Hoa Department of Public Security to handle the case.

Police also fined the owner of the motorbike for allowing a person who has no driver's license to operate the vehicle.