Lane speed limits make it difficult for cars to overtake vehicles that stick to the left lane?

The fact that many highways in Vietnam only have regulations on maximum speed limits for each lane, but no minimum speed limit, leads to many people driving in the left lane - the lane with the highest speed, but driving much slower than cars in the adjacent lane with a lower speed limit.

That reality forces vehicles wanting to overtake to use the lower speed lane, making it easier to get caught speeding.

Giới hạn tốc độ theo làn gây khó cho ô tô muốn vượt xe chạy bám làn trái? - 1 — Many opinions suggest that there should be a regulation that the leftmost lane is only for vehicles that want to overtake, to avoid the situation of slow-moving vehicles sticking to the left lane, causing traffic obstruction (Illustration: Nhat Minh).

Even when there is a regulation limiting the minimum speed for each lane, like on the Do Son - Hai Phong highway, if a vehicle drives in the left lane and maintains a minimum speed of 80km/h, it is not against the law, but it can still cause obstacles for vehicles that want to go faster (100-120km/h) or vehicles that want to overtake.

If a car is driving on the left lane at 80km/h and refuses to give way, the driver behind will tend to choose to overtake in the right lane, where the minimum speed limit is 60km/h and the maximum is 100km/h. While overtaking, the car behind can easily exceed the maximum speed limit of this lane and be fined.

Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP, stipulates the fine for speeding in cars as follows:

- Fine of 800,000-1,000,000 VND for drivers exceeding the speed limit from 5km/h to under 10km/h.

- A fine of 4,000,000-6,000,000 VND shall be imposed on drivers exceeding the speed limit by 10km/h to 20km/h. In addition, the driver who commits the violation shall have his/her driving license revoked for 1 to 3 months;

- A fine of 6,000,000-8,000,000 VND shall be imposed on drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 20km/h to 35km/h. In addition, the driver who commits the violation will have his/her driving license revoked for 2 to 4 months.

- A fine of 10,000,000-12,000,000 VND shall be imposed on drivers who exceed the speed limit by more than 35km/h. In addition, the driver who commits the violation will have his/her driving license revoked for 2 to 4 months.

Meanwhile, according to current regulations in Vietnam, drivers driving slowly in the leftmost lane will be fined in two cases: not giving way to vehicles behind them to overtake, and driving at a lower speed than vehicles traveling in the same direction without moving to the right side of the road (except in cases where other vehicles traveling in the same direction are exceeding the speed limit).

Specifically, Article 5 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP (amended and supplemented by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP) stipulates a fine of 2-3 million VND and a suspension of the driver's license for 1 to 3 months for the act of driving a car without giving way to a vehicle requesting to overtake when safety conditions are met.

For the act of driving a car at a lower speed than the vehicle going in the same direction without staying on the right side of the road, the current fine is 400,000-600,000 VND.

This fine is considered too low, combined with the fact that authorities have not paid attention to handling the act of not giving way to vehicles behind when overtaking on the highway, making it difficult to help change the traffic habits of many people.

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