Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Transport proposed a ban ondriving continuously for more than eight hours a day and more than three hoursat night in a bid to raise road safety.

This is one of the contents in the draft Law on Road which is published forpublic comments and will be submitted to the National Assembly in October,expecting approval in May 2024.

The regulation on driving time is applied to drivers of transport vehicles(with yellow registration plates).

Specifically, the draft law’s article 56 regulates that between 10pm of theprevious day and 6am of the next day, the continuous driving time must notexceed three hours and in the daytime hours, the total driving time of thedriver must not exceed eight hours.

The draft also stipulates that the break time between two driving times is atleast five minutes for taxi and bus drivers, and 15 minutes for truck driversand other types of transport.

At night (from 10pm to 6am the next day), the minimum break between two drivesis 30 minutes.

According to the ministry, the regulation on driving hours is to control therisk of traffic accidents caused by tired drivers, especially long-distancetruck drivers.

Explaining this proposal, a member of the drafting committee said, one of thereasons why traffic accidents often occur at night is due to the humancircadian rhythm.

At this time, the patrols to control and handle violations of the functionalforces are often fewer and the roads are deserted so drivers are more likely todisregard traffic safety.

"The tightening of driving time at night will limit the driver's fatigueand overwork, thereby preventing traffic accidents," he said.

In support of this proposal, a transport expert said that in fact, in othercountries, a night-time trip changes drivers every two hours.

The process of changing drivers depends on each business. The change of driversmay be on the car or at transfer points.

The expert also suggested that the draft law needs to clearly stipulate thatthe driver must have enough rest and have someone responsible for supervisingthe process.

However, after the draft law was published, the Vietnam Automobile TransportAssociation has written comments in the direction of opposing the regulation ondriving time.

Nguyen Van Quyen, the association’s president, said that the regulation ondriving time of drivers as in the draft is not appropriate.

"Long-distance drivers often choose to drive at night because the roadsare empty, consuming less fuel and cool weather also helps reduce tirewear," Quyen told dantri.com.vn.

Besides, driving at night also has many benefits such as reducing traffic jams duringthe day, according to Quyen.

If it is regulated that each driver can only drive for a maximum of three hoursat night, long-distance transport businesses will have to hire more drivers toensure the rotation according to regulations.

According to the president, the regulation on driving time without specificpilot studies should not be incorporated into the Law.

If necessary, the drafting agency should let the Government make specificregulations, he said.

Meanwhile, Senior Colonel Pham Viet Cong, deputy chief of the Office of theNational Traffic Safety Committee, said that in order to limit trafficaccidents at night, it was necessary to install more lighting and warningsystems on the road.

The functional forces also needed to strengthen the patrol in the time framethat traffic accidents often occur to raise the people's awareness of obeyingthe traffic law, Cong said.

In addition, it was necessary to evaluate traffic accidents occurring oneach route to determine the cause and have specific solutions to overcome theissue, he said.

According to statistics of the National Traffic Safety Committee, more than11,043 traffic accidents occurred in 2022, 40.33% of which occurred from 4pm to10pm and 18.24% between 10pm and 4am./.