LookAtVietnam – The Transportation Ministry has submitted to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung a draft decree that allows cars with steering wheels on the right-hand side owned by foreigners.

Under this draft document, foreigners will be permitted to bring right-hand drive cars to Vietnam providing that they meet conditions on registration, technical safety and that the owners have driving licenses. In addition, this type of car will only be allowed to travel in certain areas. The ministry will design sanctions for this type of car.

So far, cars of this kind have come to Vietnam with foreign tourists who enter the country via border gates with Laos. According to research works by the tourism sector, Vietnam is a potential destination for this type of car. A ban on cars with steering wheels on the right-hand side may affect the country’s tourism industry and thus tourism firms have asked the government to allow this kind of car to enter Vietnam to boost tourism. However, once they enter Vietnam, drivers face some problems because all road signs in Vietnam are placed on the right.

Most countries in the world use left-hand drive cars, except for countries in the British Commonwealth, some former British colonies, South Africa, Japan and Thailand.

VietNamNet/GTVT