Chương I Luật Giao thông đường bộ 2001: Những quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Regulation scope

This Law prescribes land road traffic rules and land road traffic safety conditions of infrastructure, means and people joining in land road traffic as well as land road transport activities.

Article 2.- Application objects

This Law applies to agencies, organizations and individuals that operate and live on the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; where international treaties which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to contain provisions different from those of this Law, the provisions of such international treaties shall apply.

Article 3.- Term interpretation

In this Law, the terms below shall be construed as follows:

1. Land roads include roads, land bridges, land tunnels, land ferries.

2. Land road works include roads, car stops and parks on roads, water drainage systems, signal lights; marker posts, road signs, median strips and other support constructions and equipment.

3. Road land means a land section on which land road works are constructed.

4. Land road safety corridor means land strips along both sides of a road to ensure traffic safety and protect land road works.

5. Motorways mean the land road sections used for passage by traffic means.

6. Road lanes means sections of motorways divided lengthwise, being wide enough for safe movement of vehicles.

7. Limited size of land road means the space with limited sizes in height, width of roads, bridges, road tunnels so that vehicles, including cargoes loaded thereon, safely run through.

8. Street thoroughfares mean roads inside urban areas, which include road beds and pavements.

9. Median strips are road parts that divide road surface for vehicles to run along two separate opposite directions or divide the motorized vehicle way from the rudimentary vehicle way. The median strips are classified into fixed and mobile types.

10. Expressways mean roads reserved only for high-speed vehicles, with median strips dividing roads for vehicles to run along two opposite directions and without crosscutting other roads on the same level.

11. The land-road maintenance means carrying out the work of maintenance and repairs in order to maintain the technical criteria of roads being under exploitation.

12. Land-road traffic means include motorized land-road traffic means and rudimentary land-road traffic means.

13. Motorized land-road traffic means (hereinafter called the motorized vehicles) include automobiles, tractors, motorized two-wheelers, motorized three-wheelers, mopeds and the like, including motorized vehicles for the disabled.

14. Rudimentary land-road traffic means (hereinafter called rudimentary vehicles) include non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles, cyclos, animal-drawn carts and the like.

15. Special-use vehicles and machines include construction vehicles and machines farming vehicles and machines, forestry vehicles and machines, which join in land-road traffic.

16. Means joining in land-road traffic include land-road traffic means and special-use vehicles and machines.

17. People, joining in land-road traffic include operators and users of means in land-road traffic; persons handling or leading animals and pedestrians on land roads.

18. Operators of means in traffic include operators of motorized vehicles, rudimentary vehicles or special-use vehicles and machines, which join in land-road traffic.

19. Vehicle drivers mean operators of motorized vehicles.

20. Traffic conductors means traffic police or persons tasked to conduct traffic at places where construction is underway, or traffic is congested, at ferries and at land bridges on which railways also run.

21. Dangerous cargoes mean those which, when carried on roads, may cause harms to human lives, health, environment, safety and national security.

Article 4.- The principles of ensuring land-road traffic safety

1. To ensure land-road traffic safety is the responsibility of agencies, organizations, individuals and the entire society.

2. People joining in traffic must strictly observe the traffic rules and ensure safety of their own as well as of others. The means owners and operators shall be held responsible before law for ensuring the safety conditions of means joining in traffic.

3. The maintenance of land-road traffic order and safety must be effected synchronously with the techniques and safety of land-road traffic infrastructures, land-road traffic means, the law observance sense of people in traffic and other domains related to land-road traffic safety.

4. All acts of violating the land-road traffic legislation must be handled in a strict, just, prompt and lawful manner.

5. Those who violate the land-road traffic legislation and cause accidents shall be accountable for their acts of violation; if causing damage to other persons, they must pay compensation therefor according to law provisions.

Article 5.- Policies of developing land-road traffic

1. The State prioritizes the development of land-road traffic infrastructures in mountain regions, deep-lying, remote, border, island regions, ethnic minority regions, key economic regions.

2. The State adopts the policy of prioritizing the development of mass transit and restricting the use of personal communications means in big cities.

3. The State encourages and creates conditions for domestic agencies, organizations and individuals as well as foreign organizations and individuals to invest in and apply advanced sciences and technologies to the field of land-road traffic.

Article 6.- Propagation, dissemination and education of land-road traffic legislation

1. Information and propaganda agencies shall have to organize the propagation and dissemination of land-road traffic legislation constantly and widely to the entire population.

2. Agencies, organizations and families have the responsibility to propagate and educate people under their respective management with the land-road traffic legislation.

3. Agencies exercising the State management over education and training have the responsibility to include the land-road traffic legislation in the teaching programs at schools and other educational establishments, suitable to each branch and each level of study.

Article 7.- Responsibility of Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations

Vietnam Fatherland Front and its members organizations shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, have to organize and coordinate with functional bodies in organizing the propagation and mobilization of people to strictly abide by the land-road traffic legislation; supervise the observance of land-road traffic legislation by agencies, organizations and individuals.

Article 8.- Prohibited acts

1. Destroying land-road works.

2. Illegally digging, drilling and/or cutting roads; illegally placing or erecting hurdles on roads; illegally opening passages; grabbing and occupying land-road safety corridor; illegally dismantling, removing or falsifying road sign works.

3. Illegally using road beds, pavements.

4. Putting motorized vehicles which fail to satisfy the technical safety criteria into operation on roads.

5. Changing the general structure, components and/or accessories of motorized vehicles in order to temporarily achieve their technical criteria when they are put to inspection.

6. Taking part in or organizing illegal vehicle races.

7. Using narcotics by vehicle drivers.

8. Using alcohol by drivers while operating vehicles on roads, who are found as having the alcoholic strength of over 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of their blood or 40 milligrams/1 litter of their breath or other stimulants banned from use by law.

9. Operating motorized vehicles without driving licenses as prescribed.

10. Operating motorized vehicles beyond the prescribed speeds.

11. Blowing horns and stepping on the accelerator continuously; blowing horns within the time from 22.00 hrs to 05.00 hrs, blowing hooters and/or using distant flash lights in urban and populous areas, except for priority vehicles being on duty as provided for by this Law.

12. Illegally transporting dangerous cargoes or failing to fully abide by the regulations on transportation of dangerous cargoes.

13. Employing transshipment or other tricks to evade detection of overload and/or oversize transportation.

14. Fleeing the scene after causing accidents in order to shirk responsibility.

15. Deliberately refusing to rescue victims of traffic accidents when having conditions to do so.

16. Taking advantage of traffic accidents to assault, intimidate, pressure, foment disorder or obstruct the handling.

17. Abusing positions, powers or profession to breach the Land Road Traffic Law.

18. Other acts which cause danger to people and means joining in land-road traffic.