New traffic edict is Vietnamese communists’ ‘mission civilisatrice’

A commentary by David Hutt

As one theory goes, as a country becomes wealthier, its streets should become more orderly and safe. Or to use the favored word of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the roads need to become more “civilized.” Any visitor to Hanoi or Saigon, however, cannot help but notice that economic development hasn’t been coupled with vehicular orderliness. At least, that was until the authorities introduced a new edict at the beginning of January. Traffic fines have since risen tenfold, with the biggest tickets over US$1,500. Cars that don’t stop at red lights can be fined US$780, up from US$230 last year. Fines have also been increased for drunk drivers, those who park on the pavement, those speeding, etc, etc. According to local media, opening a car door in an unsafe manner will now result in a penalty of US$860, up from US$23.

One question is how to tell whether the latest traffic edict has been a success or not. By the reduction in traffic-related accidents or deaths? By the severity of the fines imposed? A danger is that it becomes a numbers game. On the other hand, there’s a risk that conformity with the law only lasts for as long as the police keep issuing crippling penalties, which may not be for too long. I hear the police in Ho Chi Minh City are again allowing motorists to turn right at red lights at some intersections. When, in 2007, the government introduced a regulation requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets, most responded with ironic obedience—they wore cheap, light-weight baseball-cap headgear that were in keeping with the letter of the law but not the spirit.

No country’s police can enforce traffic regulations alone; it requires a majority of drivers to accept that laws about speeding or stopping at traffic lights or parking only in parking zones are more beneficial for the whole than the informal codes that regarded these as suggestions to be ignored when convenient. As has always been the case in Vietnam, any lasting change will have to come from the bottom up.

David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of Ij-Reportika.