Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa tightens crackdown on motorbike rentals to foreigners

For more than a month, traffic police in Khanh Hoa have worked with local police and relevant agencies to increase patrols, traffic checks and enforcement against foreign nationals violating traffic safety and public order regulations on roads in the Nha Trang area.

Through coordinated inspections, the Traffic Police Division under the Khanh Hoa Police Department identified nine businesses renting motorbikes to foreigners in Nha Trang, mainly in Nha Trang Ward.

Hundreds of foreigners have also been administratively penalized for failing to meet the requirements for renting and riding vehicles themselves, mostly motorbikes.

The number of motorbike rental signs in Nha Trang Ward has dropped significantly compared with around three months ago.

Along Nha Trang's streets popular with foreign tourists, including Tran Phu, Hung Vuong, Nguyen Thien Thuat, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Ton Dan, rental motorbikes are no longer parked in large numbers on sidewalks as they were previously.

T., a resident of Nguyen Thien Thuat Street, said that motorbike rental signs used to be everywhere along the street.

Since the police launched a strict crackdown, the number has dropped significantly, and motorbikes are no longer displayed all over the sidewalks. Instead, businesses now just put up signs and bring the motorbikes out when tourists need them.

Q., who runs a rental business on Hung Vuong Street, said, "Now, rentals require all the necessary paperwork, and we have to check whether customers have valid driver's licenses and other relevant paperwork.

As a result, this service is no longer as common as it used to be. Some businesses have stopped altogether because very few foreign customers meet the requirements for self-driving rentals."

According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dao Xuan Truong, chief of Nha Trang Ward Police, inspections found that many businesses did not have business licenses. Some hotels, motels and boarding houses were also providing accommodation while renting out vehicles.

There have been cases in which both rental businesses and customers failed to comply with regulations. As a result, there have been several traffic collisions caused by foreigners, some of which had serious consequences, Truong said.

Following directions from the Khanh Hoa Police Department, Nha Trang Ward Police have inspected and addressed violations, requiring business owners to sign commitments to strictly comply with regulations on business conditions, driver's licenses, insurance and vehicle safety.

To date, most businesses providing this type of service have basically complied with the regulations, he said.

Previously, traffic police in Khanh Hoa and Ho Chi Minh City dealt with foreign nationals who violated traffic safety and order regulations.

They also witnessed several cases in which foreigners made it difficult for traffic police to carry out their duties, refused to cooperate or behaved inappropriately toward law enforcement officers.

A traffic police officer from the Nha Trang road traffic team said that while some foreigners fail to comply with traffic police instructions after violating traffic laws, many others follow traffic laws and carry valid international driver's licenses.

Meanwhile, a traffic police officer in Ho Chi Minh City said the biggest difficulty in handling traffic violations involving foreigners is the language barrier, while some foreign nationals also do not fully understand local road signs and traffic regulations.