Driver fined nearly 15 hours after using phone on highway

A coach driver in Vietnam was fined nearly 15 hours after he used a phone while driving, after traffic police reviewed footage from a camera inside the vehicle’s cabin.

Traffic police stopped the coach at 11:10 p.m. on September 3 at Long Phuoc toll station on the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. The vehicle was driven by a 50-year-old man identified as N.H.T.L from Ho Chi Minh City.

The cabin-camera footage showed that he had held and used a phone at 8:12 a.m. the same day while driving on the expressway. Although officers did not directly see the violation when it occurred, they used the recorded images as the basis for issuing a report and imposing a penalty.

Police reported a similar case on the morning of September 7. At 10:30 a.m., they stopped a tractor-trailer at the same toll station. Footage showed that its 37-year-old driver, identified as B.Q.Đ from Dong Nai, had used a phone at 9:35 a.m., about an hour before the stop.

Traffic police said cabin-camera checks have helped them identify many cases of phone use on expressways. Under Decree 168/2024, drivers who hold and use a phone or another electronic device while driving face a fine of 4 million to 6 million dong and the loss of four license points. If the violation causes a traffic accident, the fine rises to 20 million to 22 million dong and 10 points. Police warned that phone use reduces drivers’ attention and ability to respond, a risk that is greater on high-speed roads.