In December, these people must change their driving licenses or they will be fined.

When using or performing an activity under the management of a competent authority or agency, the person performing the activity must obtain the consent of those agencies and this consent is often expressed through a type of document called a license.

The use and control of vehicles on the road is also under the management of state agencies, so anyone who wants to drive these types of vehicles must have a driver's license. This type of license will be issued to those in need when they have passed the test to test their level and ability to drive a vehicle, which means that the competent authority recognizes that they can use the vehicle to participate in traffic and uses it as one of the tools to manage the driver.

Thus, it can be understood that a driving license is a type of degree or certificate issued by a state agency or competent authority to a specific person allowing that person to operate, circulate, and participate in traffic by motor vehicles of all types such as motorbikes, cars, trucks, buses, passenger cars or other types of vehicles on public roads after they have undergone a competency assessment test.

A driver's license is one of the important certificates that drivers must carry when participating in traffic. Each type of driver's license has a certain validity period and is clearly stipulated in the Law. Using an expired driver's license is a violation of the law and can be subject to administrative penalties.

Article 17 of Circular 12/2017/TT-BGTVT, amended by Circular 01/2021/TT-BGTVT, specifies the validity period of a driving license as follows:

- Driving licenses of class A1, A2, A3 have no expiration date.

- A Class B1 driving license is valid until the driver is 55 years old (female) and 60 years old (male); in case the driver is over 45 years old (female) and over 50 years old (male), the driving license is issued for 10 years from the date of issue.

- A4, B2 driving license is valid for 10 years from the date of issue.

- Driving licenses of classes C, D, E, FB2, FC, FD, FE are valid for 5 years from the date of issue.

The validity period of a driver's license will be written on the driver's license, the user can look at it and know when he or she must apply for a new one.

Driver's licenses with a limited validity period must be reissued. In case of expiration of less than 3 months, the driver's license will be considered for reissuance.

According to Clause 3, Article 36 of this Circular, in case the driving license expires for more than 3 months, people will have to retake the test to be reissued, specifically:

- Driving license expired from 3 months to less than 1 year must retake theory test.

- Driver's license expired for 1 year or more must retake both theory and practice tests.

Thus, according to regulations, people with a driver's license issued until December 2023, 10 years in the past, need to change it to a class A4 or class B2 driver's license issued in December 2013.

In addition, there are 3 groups of people with 5-year driving licenses that need to be renewed in December 2023: those with class C, D, E driving licenses issued in December 2018, by December 2023, it will be exactly 5 years and need to be renewed.

According to the provisions of the Road Traffic Law, when participating in traffic, it is necessary to carry a valid driver's license. Therefore, those who drive a car with an expired driver's license will be punished.

Pursuant to Article 21 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, penalties for driving a car when the driver's license has expired are as follows:

- A fine of 5,000,000 VND to 7,000,000 VND shall be imposed on drivers of cars, tractors and vehicles similar to cars who commit one of the following acts:

- Have a driving license but it has expired for less than 03 months;

- Having an International Driving Permit issued by countries participating in the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (except for International Driving Permits issued by Vietnam) but not carrying a national Driving Permit;

- Using an invalid driving license (The driving license has a blank number printed on the back that does not match the latest blank number issued in the driving license management information system).

- A fine of 10,000,000 VND to 12,000,000 VND shall be imposed on drivers of cars, tractors and vehicles similar to cars who commit one of the following acts:

+ Having a driving license that is not suitable for the type of vehicle being driven or having a driving license that has expired for 03 months or more;

+ No driving license or using a driving license not issued by a competent authority or using an erased driving license.

According to the given basis, the act of using an expired driving license can be fined from 5,000,000 VND to 7,000,000 VND if the license has expired for less than 03 months. Fine from 10,000,000 VND to 12,000,000 VND if the license has expired for 03 months or more.

Minh Hoa (t/h)

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