Is it lawful to pass the yellow light?

Last week, when driving over a crossroad which had the traffic lights and seeing the yellow light, I moved quickly before it turned into red. At that time, a traffic police standing at the crossroad asked me to stop and checked my license. Then, I was punished with a VND 600,000 fine for not complying with the traffic rules. I heard that the yellow right is for preparing to stop, not for stopping. The red light is for stopping. I would like to know if it was right that the traffic police punished me with that fine.

FDVN opinions:

Thank you for your question and for concerning our legal services. We would like to give you our opinions regarding your case:

[1]. Meaning of the amber light in accordance with the law:

It is stipulated in Clause 3, Article 10 of the Law on Road Traffic 2008 on the meaning of the color of traffic lights that:

“3. The traffic light signals are in three colors, each having the following meaning:

a/ A green light means proceed;

b/ A red light means stop;

c/ An amber light means stop behind the stop line, except for road users who have passed the stop line and may keep moving; in case of a flashing amber light signal, road users may proceed but shall slow down and give way to pedestrians;”

There is a similar regulation at point 10.3.2, Article 10 of the National Technical Regulation on road traffic signals: “Amber light is a signal of changing from green to red. When there is an amber light, drivers must stop right behind the stop line. In case there is no stop line, drivers must stop at the signal light in the forward direction. In case the vehicles have approached or moved over the stop line and it is dangerous for the drivers to stop, the drivers must quickly get out of the crossroad”.

Thus, according to the provisions mentioned above, the driver must stop at the stop line when moving on the road. The drivers are allowed to keep going only when they have approached closely to the stop line and it may cause danger to the others if they stop. In your case, you saw the yellow light and you kept moving on to pass it quickly. Thus, it is concluded that you passed the yellow light and broke the regulations on the traffic signals.   

[2]. Regulations on administrative penalties for passing amber lights:

Currently, according to the new provisions of Decree No. 100/2019/ND-CP, there is no specific violation on passing the yellow light and/or red light. It is stipulated at Point f, Clause 4, Article 6 of this Decree that:

“4. A fine ranging from VND 600,000 to VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed upon a vehicle operator who commits any of the following violations:

a) Exceeding the speed limits by 10 km/h - 20 km/h;

b) Stopping or parking at inappropriate positions in a road tunnel;

c) Overtaking in cases where overtaking is prohibited, overtaking on roads erected with signs prohibiting operated vehicles from overtaking, except for violations specified in Point h Clause 3 of this Article;

d) Overtaking in road tunnels in inappropriate places; making u-turn in road tunnels;

dd) Failure to yield to or obstructing emergency vehicles that are sending out emergency signals;

e) Failure to comply with the traffic lights;

g) Failure to obey the orders or instructions of the traffic conductor or traffic guard;

h) Using an umbrella, cell phone, or audio device other than hearing aid devices while operating the vehicle”.

According to the aforementioned regulation, the failure to comply with the traffic lights will be fined at least VND 600,000. That the traffic police fined you VND 600,000 was lawful.

Above is FDVN Law Firm's opinion for your request of a consultant based on studying the relevant legal provisions. Hopefully, FDVN's advice would be helpful to you.

Legal expert: Ngo Thi My Tram

FDVN Law Firm

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