When to stop in the emergency lane on a highway?

In the article “Cars carrying oil spread fire and spread hundreds of meters on Trung Luong highway” It was reported that some cars pulled into the emergency lane, making it difficult for fire engines to approach the fire. Reading the discussion, I got a chill in my spine when I saw that so many people were misled in thinking and understanding about traffic laws.

You see, there are many readers who oppose your comment thecrabvn, and think that it is right for the drivers to run into the emergency lane. Someone even said “this is an emergency situation, if you don’t enter the emergency lane, why stop in the running lane”?

I’d be really surprised if these commenters already have driver’s licenses. They don’t understand the concept of emergency lanes well, and have a fundamental misunderstanding about obeying the law while driving.

I would like to reiterate, according to the Road Traffic Law 2008, when participating in traffic on highways, vehicles are not allowed to drive in the emergency stopping lanes and the curb. Emergency stop lanes are only used in situations “your emergency” such as car breakdown (engine stall, tire explosion, overheating…), the driver has health problems that can’t continue to drive… And in this situation, it’s “other people’s emergency”not yours.

The driver’s job at this time is to go in the right lane, the car in front of him stops, his car stops, stays in the lane, does not jump into the emergency lane. Because this is the time when the emergency lane is most needed for priority vehicles such as fire fighting, emergency, police… to enter.

Decree 100/2019 on sanctioning of administrative violations in traffic stipulates that drivers will be fined 3-5 million dong if they let the car run in the emergency stop lane or the curb on the highway.

In addition, personally, every time I go to the highway, I hate a lot of “smart” drivers. When the road shows signs of slow traffic, these people drive into the emergency lane to go until all three lanes are blocked. I want to raise awareness that drivers with traffic jams should also not enter the emergency lane.

At the same time, it is suggested that the authorities make the fines tighter, especially through photos and videos provided by passersby. Only fines to the place can be expected to change the sense of compliance with traffic laws in Vietnam.

Readers Vu Ngo