Driver monitoring cameras not mandatory: traffic police

In a draft revised law on road traffic order and safety, the ministry said car owners should install the driver attention monitor on their cars, even when the vehicles are used only for personal purposes.

The ministry is gathering feedback from related ministries and departments and will submit the bill to parliament for approval next month.

Speaking to VnExpress, a representative of the Department of Traffic Police said many car owners have already equipped their vehicles with driver monitoring cameras to record images and incidents that might occur along the trip.

"However, this is not mandatory and the bill only aims at encouraging car owners to equip the cameras to protect themselves in unsafe traffic situations," the representative said.

When installing the cameras, drivers can provide their own evidence in unexpected situations.

"Police will not collect data from the monitoring device, but only ask people to cooperate and provide information when an incident occurs," he added.

Since July, it has been regulated that all autos used for transport businesses must have cruise control system and driver monitoring cameras.

Data collected from those devices will be transmitted to the Ministry of Transport's Department for Roads of Vietnam for better management.

Vietnam currently has around 4 million private cars.