DỪNG ĐÈN ĐỎ CÓ DÙNG ĐIỆN THOẠI ĐƯỢC KHÔNG? / IS USING A MOBILE PHONE WHILE STOPPING AT A RED LIGHT P

Legal situation: Hello Lawyer, I was riding a motorbike to the supermarket with my son. While stopping at a red light, I took out my mobile phone and used it. I would like to know whether using my phone in such a situation could be recorded by traffic surveillance cameras and result in an administrative penalty. Thank you for your advice.

FDVN’s Opinion: Thank you for your trust in and for submitting your inquiry to FDVN Law Firm (“FDVN”). Based on our review of the relevant legal provisions, FDVN provides the following legal opinion:

According to Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 18 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024, the provisions on stopping and parking vehicles are stipulated as follows:

“Article 18. Stopping, parking

1. Stopping means a temporarily motionless state of a vehicle in a necessary period of time to allow people to get on, get off, load goods, perform technical inspection, or conduct other activities. When stopping, vehicle operators must not shut down the engine and leave driving position except when closing, opening doors, loading goods, performing technical inspections in which case the vehicle operators must engage parking brake ỏ adopt other safety measures.

2. Parking means a motionless state of a vehicle in an indefinite period of time. When parking, vehicle operators may only exit the vehicles after engaging the parking brake or adopting other safety measures. Where a vehicle is parked on a sloped road, the front wheels must turn towards the curb and must be wedged.”

In addition, Clause 6 Article 9 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024 stipulates one of the prohibited acts as follows: “6. Holding and using mobile phones or other electronic devices while operating vehicles in road traffic.”

From the above provisions, stopping at a red light is considered stopping a vehicle, which means the vehicle is temporarily stationary for a certain period and not moving on the road. Therefore, using a mobile phone while stopping at a red light is not prohibited by law. However, when stopping a vehicle, the driver must apply the parking brake or other safety measures, must not turn off the engine, and must not leave the driving position.

The above is FDVN’s legal opinion regarding your inquiry based on the review of relevant legal regulations. We hope this advice will be helpful to you.

Lê Công Anh Tuấn – FDVN Law Firm