Discussing at the National Assembly hall about the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety on the afternoon of November 24, arguing with many delegates who suggested considering the regulation of an absolute ban on alcohol concentration when driving, delegate Pham Van Thinh (Bac Giang delegation) said that it should be absolutely banned as in the draft law.
Mr. Thinh gave 4 reasons. Accordingly, he said that the harm caused by traffic participants having alcohol concentration is very large. "According to data from the authorities, among traffic accidents from serious level and above, more than 50% of the cases have drivers causing the accident with alcohol concentration in blood and breath," said Mr. Thinh.
He also believes that legal regulations should be clear, making it easy for people to comply and to be able to evaluate and verify for themselves whether there is a violation or not.
From there, the delegate recognized that between the choice of having a threshold or banning alcohol consumption, the ban option would be clear, making it easier for citizens to comply, and they themselves could assess whether they were violating or not. This is also a requirement for building any legal regulation.
Delegate Pham Van Thinh, Bac Giang delegation (Photo: Quochoi.vn).
On the contrary, Mr. Thinh said that allowing alcohol consumption below a certain threshold will create space to promote violations.
"In terms of behavioral psychology, if you have had a glass of wine, the possibility of drinking more will be higher than if you definitely do not drink alcohol or beer from the beginning. Secondly, because the drinker himself does not know whether he has reached the threshold or not, and the alcohol concentration changes over time from the time he drinks alcohol or beer, the regulation with an alcohol concentration threshold invisibly promotes the occurrence of violations by drivers," Mr. Thinh analyzed.
Giving another reason, the delegate said that our society's awareness of obeying the law in general and traffic safety law in particular is still not high. Therefore, a ban would be more appropriate in such a social awareness condition.
“The regulation in the draft is not new, but this regulation was passed by the 14th National Assembly in the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm, effective from January 1, 2020, and has only been strongly implemented since 2022 and is showing very good results in curbing traffic accidents, so changing it at this time is unreasonable,” Mr. Thinh said.
Delegate Le Hoang Anh, Gia Lai delegation (Photo: Quochoi.vn).
Raising a debate board, delegate Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai delegation) said that the National Assembly's decisions on issues must be based on scientific evidence and scientific conclusions of competent authorities, not on emotions.
According to the delegate, the Government also affirmed in the draft law that it will research and have a scientific basis for this issue. "That means at this time there is no scientific basis," said Mr. Hoang Anh.
The delegate said that he had reviewed the draft Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol Harm, but there were no documents from competent authorities confirming scientific evidence of this.
He believes that the ban should not affect the cultural beauty of humanity.
The Gia Lai delegation also suggested that the ban should not affect or restrict industries that the State is encouraging, such as traditional medicine. "For example, if we use 5-10 ml of medicinal wine to treat diseases, we can immediately violate the law," said Mr. Hoang Anh.
From there, the delegate proposed that in order for the National Assembly and National Assembly delegates to be able to make a decision, there needs to be scientific evidence on this issue. "I propose that the Government direct the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology to officially respond to the National Assembly with scientific basis and scientific evidence to stipulate an absolute ban as in the draft," said Mr. Hoang Anh .
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