There should be limits for allowable alcohol content

By Tri Pham   February 8, 2023 | 11:57 pm PT
There should be limits for allowable alcohol content
A traffic police officer checks the alcohol level of a driver in Hanoi, January 18, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh
I totally agree that those who are too drunk to drive and yet are still on the street should be fined, even heavily.

However, this does not mean that the law should be too strict and that every driver found with a blood alcohol content (BAC) must be punished, because that would make the law unrealistic.

What I want to suggest is that the law should set a safe alcohol level.

This is because alcohol is found not only in beer and wine but also in food and medicine. Some people have to take medicinal herbs soaked in wine for their treatment. Although one taking 10ml to 15ml of a medicinal herbal liquid cannot lose control of a vehicle, they could still be fined by traffic police who ask to test the alcohol level.

And if the driver explains the situation, I believe that the officers should have to wait for 15 to 30 minutes. By then, the alcohol in the blood might have disappeared but it would be a waste of time for the driver.

I know that many countries in the world set a "green" level for BAC. For example, most of the states in the United States stipulate that drivers over 21 years old with an alcohol level below 0.08g per 100 ml of blood will not be punished.

In Vietnam, the authorities should do research to determine a suitable safe alcohol level.

The law is created to modify people's behavior, making them more civilized and humane, and therefore, should be both deterrent and adequate enough.

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