Electric bikes riders to wear helmets under law

LookAtVietnam – People on electric bicycles will have to wear helmets from July 1 under a new road rule.

“An electric bicycle’s speed can reach about 30km per hour, so it is quite fast. If the driver wears a helmet, he or she may avoid injury in case of an accident”.

The new regulation, which supplements the road traffic law, was aimed at protecting all commuters on the streets, even though electric bicycles were considered as very basic vehicles, said Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung at a meeting held in Ha Noi last Tuesday to introduce the new road traffic law.

Le Hieu Dang, deputy chairman of the HCM City’s Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee, said the regulation was designed with the interests of people’s safety in mind.

“An electric bicycle’s speed can reach about 30km per hour, so it is quite fast. If the driver wears a helmet, he or she may avoid injury in case of an accident,” said Dang.

“It will be simpler if the helmet regulation are applied for both motorbikes and electric bicycles.”

Tran Nam Son, the owner of a bicycle shop on Ba Trieu Street, said that while the new regulation was needed to increase safety on the streets, it might have a negative impact on sales of electric bikes, with people opting to buy normal bicycles instead of electrical ones so that they do not have to wear helmets.

“There is little difference in the danger when driving a bicycle or an electric bicycle. In many foreign countries, laws requiring helmets for bicycle riders took effect a long time ago and the rules were adopted strictly by local people,” said Son.

Cyclist Pham Thu Trang from Thang Long school said that while wearing a helmet on an electric bicycle would be safer, it was more inconvenient.

“If the regulation takes effect, I will go to school on a normal bicycle in stead of an electric bike,” said Trang.

The amendment and supplement to the traffic law also regulate that pedestrians and primitive vehicles, motorised vehicles and motorbikes with a designed speed lower than 70km per hour will be banned from highways.

According to the new regulation, in addition to motor and automobile registration and driving licences, all drivers must carry road worthiness certificates for the vehicle they are using as well as insurance certificates.

The regulation also bans specialised automobile and motorbike drivers from drinking alcohol.

“The draft regulation received support from a majority of people,” said minister Dung.

Under the new regulation, transport vehicles will be installed with a specialised device - a kind of ‘black box’ - to supervise their operational route.

Relevant ministries and agencies were building related documents to guide the implementation of the new regulation, he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News