Is it legal for a blue-plate car to honk its horn to pick up family members at the airport?

On the morning of February 7, a clip and image of a blue-plate car with license plate 38A-066.88 entering Vinh airport (Nghe An) to pick up passengers appeared on social media, the car turned on its lights and horn to let other vehicles give way. The incident caused public outrage.

Xe biển xanh bật còi ưu tiên đón người nhà ở sân bay có đúng quy định?- Ảnh 1. — The blue-plate car of the Women's Union of Ha Tinh province stopped in front of Vinh airport lobby. (Photo courtesy)

According to the reporter's investigation, the above car is managed and used by the Women's Union of Ha Tinh province. During the process of picking up guests at the airport, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Ha, President of the Women's Union of Ha Tinh province, was sitting in the car.

Responding to the press, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Ha said that on the afternoon of February 2, after visiting senior women's union officials in Nghe An province to wish them a happy new year, she used her official car to pick up her daughter from Vinh airport to go home.

The official car of the Women's Union of Ha Tinh province uses priority lights and sirens to pick up relatives. (video by CTV)

"Because my daughter was pregnant, I informed the agency to pick her up at Vinh airport. Because the plane landed late, the car waited a long time. When she came out, the car was crowded, so the driver turned on the lights to speed up," said Ms. Ha.

Ms. Ha admitted that using an official car to pick up her child at the airport was wrong. She also said that when she first started working at the Women's Union of Ha Tinh province (more than a year ago), she saw that the unit's car had priority lights and an air horn installed, and she reminded the driver many times to remove them, but he had not done so.

Responding to the press, the leader of Ha Tinh province said that he had assigned the Provincial Women's Union to report, from which the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee will seriously review.

"Regarding the installation of sirens and priority lights on official vehicles, the province is assigning the police to review. Any departments, agencies, or localities that use them will have them recalled and rectified," said a leader of Ha Tinh province.

According to current regulations, vehicles equipped with sirens and priority lights include: fire trucks, military vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances, dyke protection vehicles, vehicles on duty to deal with natural disasters, epidemics or vehicles on duty in emergency situations. Cars illegally equipped with priority signal lights can be fined 2-3 million VND, have their equipment confiscated, and their driver's license revoked for 1-3 months.

Decree 63/2019 stipulates that the use of public vehicles for personal purposes or for work for positions that do not meet standards without approval from competent authorities will be subject to a fine of 10-20 million VND.

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