In Vietnam, motorbikes remain the major means of transport, accounting for 90 percent of total means of transport.

Tran Huu Minh, chief secretariat of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest ratio of motorbike owners and users in the world. There were 77 million unregistered motorbikes as of September 2024, and the ratio of motorbike owners to every 1,000 people was 770.

Currently, motorbikes are not subject to mandatory technical safety inspection (emission inspection will be required in the time to come), therefore, a high number of old, dilapidated motorbikes are still rolling on the streets.

The motorbike emission testing program implemented recently in some large cities found that motorbikes used for more than five years tend to have higher emissions than permitted. 

In Hanoi, the number of motorbikes that don’t meet TCVN 6438:2018 standard (Level 1) was 54.2 percent, and the figure was 60.65 percent for Level 2.

In Hanoi, the number of old dilapidated motorbikes accounted for 40 percent.

Meanwhile, a survey by the Institute for Transport Development and Strategies under the Ministry of Transport, found that motorbikes and cars generate 70 percent of toxic gases discharged to the air.

Minh, at a recent workshop, said the solutions to solve challenges in ensuring traffic safety for motorbike must be a high priority under the programs on ensuring traffic safety in the time to come.

Experts have called to immediately implement the emission testing program applied to motorbikes. The Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, expected to take effect on January 1, 2025, has stipulations on ensuring technical safety and environmental protection for vehicles.

However, the Vietnam Register (VR) said motorbike emission testing cannot be implemented from January 1, 2025. The work will be done in accordance with the Law on Environmental Protection, and the testing will be carried out at emission testing centers that can satisfy national technical standards.

Hoang Duong Tung, chair of the Vietnam Clean Air Network, said emission control has been applied in many countries for a long time and this has brought positive results. Therefore, Vietnam needs to do the same as soon as possible with a reasonable roadmap.

The Ministry of Transport is drafting the Prime Minister’s decision on the roadmap for emission standard requirements on imported and domestically manufactured vehicles, which will call for higher required emission standards.

Tuan Nguyen