Driver carrying 45 passengers caught driving with high breath alcohol level on Vietnam expressway

According to the Highway Traffic Control and Patrol Team No. 6 under Vietnam’s Traffic Police Department, 38-year-old driver N.M.C., a resident of former Ben Tre Province, was pulled over around 9:30 am while driving a 51B-164.06 passenger bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Nai Province.

A breathalyzer test revealed an alcohol concentration of 0.425mg/L, above the maximum threshold of 0.4mg/L.

The driver was booked for ‘driving on the road with an alcohol concentration exceeding 0.4mg/L of breath’, as stipulated im the Vietnamese government’s Decree 168, which took effect on January 1 this year and introduces much higher administrative fines for road traffic violations.

He also faces a fine of VND30-40 million (US$1,150-1,530), a license suspension of 22-24 months, and vehicle impoundment.

C. admitted to drinking rice wine the night before and said he began driving at 5:30 am to take the 45 passengers on a contract tour to Madagui, a tourist area in Lam Dong Province.

Authorities emphasized the importance of intensified highway patrols to deter violations such as speeding, wrong-way driving, illegal stopping and parking, drunk driving, and phone use while driving, aiming to improve public awareness and promote traffic safety.

In Vietnam, the legal limit for alcohol consumption while driving is zero.

Under the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, passed in mid-2024 and effective January 1 this year, the country imposes an absolute ban on drivers with any level of blood or breath alcohol content.