New Proposal: Drive Drunk, Lose Your Ride

In an effort to improve road safety in Vietnam, the country’s National Traffic Safety Committee has proposed that those found to be drinking and driving have their vehicles confiscated by police.

The proposal seems to be gaining steam with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asking the Ministries of Transport, Public Security, and Justice to offer their opinions on what has become a controversial topic in recent days, according to Tuoi Tre.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s request comes as many in the public have called into question the legal grounds for confiscating vehicles.

Confiscations would be on the table for car or motorbike drivers who register alcohol levels of over 0.4 mg per liter of breath or over 80 mg per 100 ml of blood.

In addition to losing their vehicle, rather than having it impounded per current regulations (no detail of how long the confiscation would last were released), drunk drivers would have their licenses revoked for two years.

In addition to being a major public health concern, drunk driving in Vietnam is also an economic one. According to Nguyen Hoang Hiep, deputy chairman of the committee, the country lost 2.6 percent of its GDP, or US$3.5 billion, to traffic accidents related to drinking and driving in 2012 and is the cause of 70 percent of traffic accidents.

[Photo via Zing]