Proposal to deduct driving license points to force drivers to be more aware

Recently, when giving opinions on the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order (drafted by the Ministry of Public Security), many National Assembly deputies proposed adding regulations on calculating points for driving licenses.

In the review report, the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee said that many opinions suggested continuing to regulate points and deducting points from driving licenses.

These opinions believe that in the context of the development of the digital economy, digital society, and increasingly developed science and technology, the application of digital technology in handling traffic violations is inevitable, including calculating and deducting points from driving licenses as some countries (China, Germany) are doing.

Regulations on points and deductions from driving licenses are a civilized and modern state management measure to manage the entire process of law compliance of drivers, instead of managing each individual behavior.

At the same time, it is recommended to study how to deduct points appropriately for each subject and behavior and ensure feasibility; drivers must retake driving lessons and retake the driving license test when a certain number of points have been deducted.

However, there are opinions that adding a form of deducting points from driving licenses will create administrative procedures, additional forms of handling violations, causing inconvenience and pressure for those granted driving licenses.

Delegate Nguyen Tien Nam (Quang Binh) said that deducting points from a driver's license is a state management measure, not a form of administrative punishment. Therefore, the delegate proposed that the draft Law supplement the provisions on calculating points for driver's licenses. Because in reality, there are many people who repeatedly violate traffic laws in a short period of time, but the sanctions are not strong enough.

He cited many countries that are currently applying this measure as a way to evaluate drivers' attitudes towards violations, forcing them to be more aware so as not to have their driving licenses revoked and have to retake the course and retake the test to be re-issued a driving license.

Sharing this view, delegate Trinh Xuan An, a full-time member of the National Defense and Security Committee, also proposed to include a regulation on calculating driving license points for drivers in this bill. In particular, it is possible to set a level of 16 or 20 points. If a driver violates the law and is deducted up to a certain maximum number of points, the license will be revoked and the driver will have to retake the test to be granted a new license.

contract car image 1.jpg — Many opinions propose to deduct points from the driver's license if the driver violates the law. (Illustration photo)

"We used to punch holes in driver's licenses but then stopped, but now we should deduct points. However, not all violations will result in points being deducted. Serious violations such as speeding and causing consequences will result in specific points being deducted," said Mr. An.

Talking to VietNamNet reporter about the above proposal, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of Vietnam Automobile Transport Association expressed his agreement with the policy and orientation.

According to Mr. Quyen, calculating points on driving licenses is a solution that has been applied by some developed countries in the world. To implement this, it must be based on a database that fully monitors drivers and violators.

“How can we be open and transparent so that traffic participants can see where they are and make timely adjustments?

At the same time, the handling of violations must also be transparent. All violations must be monitored and handled promptly and strictly, then the calculation of driving license points will be effective," said Mr. Quyen.

Also supporting this proposal, Mr. Khuong Kim Tao, former Deputy Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that this idea can be implemented immediately, because this is an effective educational solution for drivers, overcoming the disadvantages of the previous penalty measures of punching holes and confiscating driving licenses.

“In some countries, each driving license will be assigned a specific number of points, for example 16 - 18 points/year. Each point deducted corresponds to the specified errors (running a red light, driving in the wrong lane, speeding...).

After a period of time, if the driver does not re-offend, the points will be restored to their original number. If the driver continues to re-offend with greater frequency, severity, or danger, all points may be deducted and the driver's license will be revoked.

From the experience of other countries, I think we should add this content to the draft Law," Mr. Tao suggested.

Another traffic expert emphasized that the deduction of driving license points will be stored in a common database, helping to overcome the situation where violators respond by reporting the loss of their license and requesting a new one to clear up the violation first.

To do this, the database on handling violations must be connected nationwide, making it easy to check and compare...

Thus, the storage infrastructure system will be very large and require investment capital so that local authorities can look up, store, and deduct points from drivers who violate the law. This is an issue that authorities must consider if they plan to include this content in the draft Law.

National Assembly Delegate: Driver's license points should be deducted for traffic violations . National Assembly Delegate proposed adding regulations on calculating driver's license points, this is a management measure, not an administrative penalty.

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