Traffic police officers examine the blood alcohol content of a motorcyclist (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA)- People who are found to be drunk while driving would have their drivinglicences revoked permanently under a new proposal by the Ministry ofPublic Security, said a senior police officer.
Speaking at a pressconference in Hanoi on June 26, Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang, Chief ofOffice and spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, said transport enterprises which employ peopleguilty of drink driving would have their business licences revoked, addingthat the proposal would be submitted to the Government soon.
The move is aimedto enhance compliance with the Law on Alcohol Harm Prevention whichwas recently approved by the National Assembly, Quang said.
To put the regulationinto practice, there must be cooperation from different agencies and the wholesociety, he said.
Alcohol isconsumed in Vietnam at an alarmingly high rate and it hasbeen increasing over the years, according to experts.
Data provided by theWorld Health Organisation Office in Vietnam showed that the countryranked third in Asia and 64th in the world with regard to beer and liquorconsumption in 2016.
The averageVietnamese adult drank approximately 8.3 litres of pure alcohol or more than470 bottles of beer a year.
Excessive alcoholconsumption resulted in 79,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of peoplehospitalised for the treatment of alcohol-related diseases including stroke andhypertension in 2016 alone.
The latest statisticsfrom the National Committee for Traffic Safety revealed that 15,000 peopledie every year due to traffic accidents in Vietnam, of which 4,800 cases arerelated to drunkenness.-VNA
