The Headache of Getting Fined for Traffic Violations

Do you ever find yourself stressed out about the rising number of fines you receive for traffic violations? You’re not alone. With the installation of surveillance cameras on highways and main roads, many vehicle owners are unknowingly committing multiple traffic violations, such as speeding, changing lanes without signaling, or running red lights.

Accumulated fines of up to millions of Vietnamese dong

Just two weeks before the Lunar New Year, the owner of a 2019 Kia Sedona in Ho Chi Minh City struggled to sell their vehicle for only 300 million Vietnamese dong. This price was significantly lower than the initial purchase price of 1.4 billion dong. The reason behind the difficulty in selling the vehicle at such a bargain price was the accumulated fines for various traffic violations, amounting to a staggering 490 million dong.

“With this amount of fines, the vehicle owner must have committed dozens of violations. Even if they lower the selling price to the minimum and accept the hassle of transferring the fines to the new owner, they would still need a lot of time and effort, possibly even a year, to complete the process,” calculates a used car dealership owner.

Tạ Công Tiên, the owner of an American-style car mart in Ho Chi Minh City, admits that almost every used car dealership struggles with buying vehicles that have incurred fines for traffic violations unknown to the owners. If the vehicle owner receives a fine within Ho Chi Minh City, the dealership can easily handle the payment procedure. However, if the violation occurs in another province or city, it not only requires time and effort but also additional expenses for traveling and accommodation to resolve the traffic violation.

“On average, each vehicle has at least one or two violations, while some have four to five. Considering the average fine of around 5 million dong per violation, it becomes difficult for the dealership to make a profit when they have to cover fines for vehicles with four violations or more. The dealership would only make around 10 million dong per vehicle,” says Tạ Công Tiên.

According to investigations conducted by reporters, if a vehicle receives a fine in a different locality, the vehicle owner or an authorized representative must bring the vehicle registration papers and driver’s license to that locality to complete the process of penalty documentation. Approximately one to two days later, the vehicle owner will receive the specific decision on the traffic violation and must then go to the State Treasury to pay the fine. Afterward, the vehicle owner must wait for the Traffic Police Department to clear the violation before the vehicle can be legally inspected.

Risks of Renting Vehicles

Even car rental apps face challenges when dealing with customers who have been fined for traffic violations in another locality. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to resolve these issues, sometimes resulting in substantial losses for the rental company.

Nguyễn Văn Long, the Director of Sigo Vietnam Co., Ltd., has encountered numerous cases where customers who rented self-driving vehicles were fined for traffic violations. Recently, a foreign customer rented a self-driving car for 11 million dong to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Thuan. After returning the vehicle, the rental company received three penalty decisions for speeding violations, totaling nearly 10 million dong.

To mitigate the financial losses caused by traffic violation fines, self-driving car rental apps now require customers to provide a deposit of 5 to 10 million dong. This deposit is held by the app for 7 to 30 days to cover any fines incurred by the vehicle. However, a more challenging situation arises when the app refunds the deposit to the customer, only to receive immediate notification of a traffic violation. In such cases, the app cannot contact the customer, and there are no regulations requiring the customer to bear responsibility for the violation.

“In many cases, we only receive notification of a traffic violation 3 to 6 months after the incident. By that time, we cannot request the customer to pay the fine,” reveals the owner of a self-driving car rental app.

The Responsibility Falls on Vehicle Owners

According to regulations, drivers are held responsible for traffic violations. However, with the current system of imposing fines for traffic violations, surveillance cameras can only capture and record the license plate number of the offending vehicle, placing the burden of paying the fines on the vehicle owner. Many vehicle owners have had the unfortunate experience of lending their cars to friends or family members, only to later discover that their vehicles have incurred fines.

It is worth noting that a new service has emerged, offering driving licenses for rent at a monthly cost of 1.5 to 3 million dong or a daily cost of 300,000 to 500,000 dong to help vehicle owners address their accumulated fines for traffic violations.

As the number of surveillance cameras increases, it is crucial for vehicle owners and rental companies to be aware of the fines that can accumulate due to traffic violations. It is advisable for vehicle owners to stay informed about their vehicles’ violations and take necessary precautions to avoid such fines.