Circular No. 10/2003/TT-BCA guiding the implementation of certain provisions of Government Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP dated February 19, 2003 on administrative penalties for traffic violations on roads

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Certain Provisions of Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CPdated February 19, 2003

of the Government on Administrative Sanctions for Violations of Road Traffic RegulationsOn February 19, 2003, the Government issued Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP on administrative sanctions for violations of road traffic regulations to unify implementation, the Ministry of Public Security provides detailed guidelines for implementing certain specific contents as follows:

________________________________

1. Regarding marking the number of violations of road traffic laws on driving licenses:

a) The marking of the number of violations on driving licenses shall only be applied to acts specified in Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP that require such marking, and shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance provided in Circular Joint No. 03/2003/TTLB-CA-GTVT dated January 27, 2003 of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transport on guiding the marking of the number of traffic law violations on driving licenses;

b) When marking the second violation on a driving license, the traffic police agency must notify in writing the violator and the driving license marked with the second violation to the driving license management agency for their knowledge and implementation according to the provisions;

c) In cases where the authority responsible for imposing administrative sanctions for traffic violations is not a traffic police officer, if they discover a violation that, in addition to being subject to a fine, also requires marking the number of violations on the driving license, they shall not issue a decision on the fine but must prepare a record and transfer the entire case file to the competent traffic police agency to issue a decision on the fine and mark the number of violations on the driving license according to the provisions.

2. Regarding the act of exceeding the prescribed speed limit:

The act of "exceeding the prescribed speed limit up to 20%" stipulated in Point a Clause 6 Article 90 and Point a Clause 5 Article 10 of Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP is understood as exceeding the speed limit from over 0% to 20% compared to the prescribed speed limit for motor vehicles on roads, for example: on a road where the maximum speed limit for trucks is 50 km/h; if this vehicle runs from over 50 km/h to 60 km/h, it is considered to exceed the prescribed speed limit up to 20%.

3. Regarding the act of violating the regulations on loading goods onto transportation means:

a) Overloading of trucks beyond the permitted size limits (Point a Clause 3 Article 29) is understood as trucks carrying goods that extend more than 10% of the total length of the truck in front of or behind the cargo bed; extending beyond the width of the cargo bed, or exceeding the height limit allowed for each type of vehicle as prescribed by the competent authority;

b) Overloading of passenger vehicles beyond the external dimensions of the vehicle (Point e Clause 4 Article 28) is understood as passenger vehicles carrying goods or luggage protruding beyond the outer surface of the vehicle body or exceeding the height, width, and length limits of the luggage rack on top of the vehicle (if the vehicle has a luggage rack on top);

c) Motorcycles or motorbikes carrying bulky items (Point e Clause 1 Article 10) is understood as motorcycles or motorbikes carrying goods or luggage that extend more than 0.3 meters on either side of the load, exceeding 2 meters in height from the ground, or extending more than 0.50 meters behind the load;

d) Non-motorized vehicles loading goods without ensuring safety, obstructing traffic, or blocking the view of the driver (Point n Clause 1 Article 12) and loading goods beyond the prescribed limits (Point a Clause 3 Article 14) is understood as non-motorized vehicles loading goods that extend more than one-third of the length of the vehicle body in front of or behind, or extending beyond the width of the vehicle body. Specifically, for handcarts (bicycle carts), carrying goods that extend more than 0.4 meters on either side of the wheels, or extending more than 1 meter in front of or behind.

4. Regarding the act of obstructing, opposing, or resisting public officials in the performance of their duties:

The act of obstructing, opposing, or resisting public officials performing their duties stipulated in Clause 9 Article 9; Clause 9 Article 10; Clause 2 Article 38; Point a Clause 4 Article 38; Point a Clause 1 Article 39 is understood as the behavior of the violator when discovered or being processed but refusing to comply with the requests of the public official regarding: presenting documents, being required to go to the office for resolution, leaving the violating vehicle to another place without permission, or having behaviors threatening the mental health, physical health, or life of the public official, or verbally insulting, defaming the reputation of the public official, inciting, encouraging others to create difficulties, obstructing inspection and supervision, or other acts opposing public officials.

5. Regarding the act of operating motorcycles or motorbikes without rearview mirrors:

The act of operating motorcycles or motorbikes without rearview mirrors stipulated in Point a Clause 1 Article 21 is the situation where there is no left-side rearview mirror or no rearview mirrors at all.

6. Temporary detention of relevant documents related to the vehicle and the person operating the vehicle in violation of road traffic regulations:

a) In cases where only a fine is imposed, the authority temporarily detains the driving license, registration certificate, or other necessary documents until the violator complies with the penalty decision. If the violator does not have these documents, the authority may temporarily detain the vehicle. For example, if the operator of the vehicle does not have a driving license, does not have a registration certificate, or uses a certified copy of the registration certificate with a confirmation from a financial institution about using the registration certificate as collateral, which has expired, to operate the vehicle, in this case, it is considered as lacking the necessary documents and the vehicle can be detained;

b) When a driving license or registration certificate is temporarily detained, a record must be prepared and a date set for the violator to come to the competent authority's office to resolve the matter. The driving license or registration certificate will only be returned after the penalty decision has been fully implemented;

c) In cases where, in addition to imposing a fine, the violator is also subject to additional penalties such as revoking the right to use a driving license or marking the number of traffic law violations on the driving license, the driving license will be temporarily detained to compel the violator to comply with the penalty decision and marking the number of violations.

c) In cases where, in addition to imposing a fine, the person who commits the violation also has an additional penalty of having their driver's license revoked or being marked with the number of traffic law violations on their driver's license applied, the driver's license shall be temporarily detained to enforce the penalty form and mark the number of violations.

7. Temporary detention of motor vehicles:

a) The temporary detention of vehicles violating regulations shall only be applied in the following cases:

Violations for which Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP stipulates the temporary detention of vehicles;

To verify circumstances serving as grounds for administrative penalty decisions or to immediately stop administrative violations, such as when checking vehicle documents and there is reasonable suspicion that the documents were not issued by authorized agencies or were issued beyond their authority, have expired, or the vehicle does not have license plates (except for vehicles on the way to registration) or if it has plates but they were not issued by authorized agencies, the license plate number does not match the registration number, or in cases of weaving, swerving, illegal racing, or using motorcycles with engines larger than 175 cm³ (not within the permitted user category), and other situations requiring verification of circumstances serving as grounds for administrative penalty decisions or immediate cessation of administrative violations;

b) The temporary detention of vehicles must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Violation Handling Law regarding authority, procedures, formalities, and the duration of temporary detention of violative vehicles.

8. On types of vehicles with similar structures:

Vehicles with similar structures refer to those with construction, functions, and uses closely resembling motor vehicles, specifically as follows:

a) Vehicles with a structure similar to automobiles are motor vehicles with four or more wheels, not running on rails, and used for carrying passengers or goods;

b) Vehicles with a structure similar to motorcycles are two-wheeled vehicles powered by engines and can be pedaled when the engine is turned off;

c) Vehicles with a structure similar to two-wheeled motorcycles are two-wheeled vehicles powered by engines with cylinder capacity of 50 cm³ or more and total weight not exceeding 400 kilograms;

d) Vehicles with a structure similar to three-wheeled motorcycles are engine-powered vehicles with cylinder capacity of 50 cm³ or more, with a load capacity from 350 kilograms to 500 kilograms.

9. On overloaded vehicles and oversized vehicles for roads and bridges:

a) Overloaded vehicles are those whose total weight including the weight of the vehicle and cargo exceeds the load-bearing capacity of the bridge or whose single axle load exceeds the load-bearing capacity of the road surface;

b) Oversized vehicles are those whose height or width, including cargo, exceeds the safety limit dimensions of the road or bridge.

10. Collection and payment of fines at the scene:

a) To comply with the provisions of the Administrative Violation Handling Law and to strictly manage the collection and payment of fines at the scene, public security units and localities must establish a common fine collection department to receive fines from officers imposing penalties at the scene and pay the fines into the state treasury;

b) The authorized person collecting fines at the scene must return the collected fines along with the penalty decision and receipt to the unit's fine collection department after the work shift ends (including both working hours and overtime). Within two days, the head of the unit must direct the timely deposit of collected fines into the State Treasury according to regulations.

11. Implementation organization:

a) Departments, Corps, subordinate units of the Ministry, provincial and centrally-administered city public security organs must organize the dissemination and implementation of the contents of Decree No. 15/2003/NĐ-CP on administrative penalties for traffic violations on roads and this Circular to every officer, focusing particularly on officers directly implementing administrative penalty enforcement in the Road Traffic Police Force, Public Order Police, and Administrative Management Police Forces, ensuring strict and uniform enforcement of government and ministry regulations;

b) The Highway and Railway Traffic Police Department, Provincial and Centrally-Administered City Public Order Police Departments, and Administrative Management Police Departments must set up mailboxes to receive letters and complaints about traffic violations according to Decision No. 729/1998/QĐ dated November 9, 1998, issued by the Minister of Public Security on implementing democratic practices in the People's Public Security Forces. All citizen complaints must be resolved promptly and responded to in writing in accordance with the law on complaints and denunciations;

The competent authority imposing penalties daily must implement record-keeping, statistics, and reporting on traffic violation penalties according to the Ministry's regulations, while maintaining inspection logs, tracking penalty decision records, and keeping track of traffic violation penalty decision situations;

c) The General Police Department is responsible for monitoring, urging, and inspecting the implementation of this Circular;

d) This Circular takes effect thirty days from the date of signature; Circular No. 02/1999/TT-BCA (C11) dated February 10, 1999, issued by the Ministry of Public Security guiding the implementation of certain government regulations on ensuring traffic order and safety, is hereby abolished;

Any issues encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry (through General Department II) for timely guidance and direction;