Saigon drivers try anything to dodge massive DUI inspections

On Monday night, more than 20 traffic police set up a checkpoint to check test drivers' alcohol levels at Phu Nhuan Crossroads in the eponymous central district.

Wielding breathalyzer machines, officers stood at traffic lights to randomly check motorbike and car drivers for drinking and driving.

They stopped one man in his 50s for driving a motorbike unsteadily. When asked to blow into an alcohol meter, he refused to comply at first.

But once the motorist realized there was no way out, the officers were able to test him and found high alcohol concentration in his breath. His driver's license was then suspended for 18 months, he was fined VND7 million, and the offense of "refusing to comply with law enforcement" was added to his permanent record.

A man sits on a sidewalk near Phu Nhuan Intersection in HCMC's Phu Nhuan District, refusing to take the alcohol test as a police officer confronts him, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

This year, the city’s largest-ever annual campaign against drunk driving includes 10 such checkpoints at heavily-trafficked locations across the southern metropolis.

The inspections, launched two weeks ago, aim to curb the wave of drunk driving accidents that accompany every year end as revelers drive from alcohol-soaked parties intoxicated. The campaign will last through the end of the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

On Monday, swathes of desperate inebriated drivers were caught trying to evade the tests by circumventing checkpoints, or trying to trick police by only pretending to blow into breathalyzers.

In one such case, a 31-year-old motorbike driver was stopped by police while approaching Go Vap District from Phu Nhuan.

Pretending to submit to the alcohol test, he held the breathalyzer blow tube in his mouth without breathing into it.

When officers finally persuaded him to blow into the meter, it showed his alcohol level was 0.859 mg/liter, nearly double the maximum 0.4 mg/liter level stated under the law. Motorists violating the levels will be fined VND8 million and have their license suspended for 24 months.

He then told police he had consumed six cans of beer with co-workers after leaving the office.

According to one officer, some motorists stopped and parked their vehicles before they reached checkpoints. Some exited their cars or walked away from their motorbikes, the officer said, while others walked and pushed their bikes. Some switched driving with others they traveled with, the officer added.

A police officer randomly stops drivers in Phu Nhuan to check DUIs, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

But resistance proved mostly futile as after only the first two hours of inspections, police had tested 100 drivers and found dozens of them driving under the influence.

Colonel Nguyen Van Binh, deputy head of the city’s Traffic Police Department, said that every night each checkpoint is manned by at least 20 police officers from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. the next day.

Over the first nine months of 2023, HCMC police recorded 93,507 cases of alcohol level violations while driving. The figure included 421 cars and 93,086 motorbikes. A total of 93,500 people had their licenses suspended.

Vietnamese law dictates that any amount of alcohol found in a person's system while driving will result in his or her losing their license for a period of time. DUI penalties can include a fine of up to VND40 million (US$1,640) fine and a two-year license suspension, while those who cause accidents while intoxicated can face criminal charges.