Vietnam traffic fines for motorbikes in 2026: what tourists actually get stopped for
Riding without a licence: 2-4m₫ up to 125cc. No helmet 400-600k₫, red light 4-6m₫. Decree 168/2024, every fine cited to its exact article.
Fact-checked: August 17, 2026
Live rental prices, and every bike shows whether it needs a licence
Browse bikesThe fine that matters most: riding without a valid licence
Under Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, Article 18, riding a motorbike up to 125cc (or an electric bike up to 11kW) without a valid licence costs 2,000,000-4,000,000₫. Over 125cc, it is 6,000,000-8,000,000₫. The vehicle can also be impounded. This is the one figure most tourist blogs get vaguely right and most rental sites quietly round up - we cover what actually counts as a valid licence separately, in the licence and insurance guide.
The fine you avoid by checking one line
The biggest fine on this page is for riding without the right licence. Every card below states which licence that bike needs, so the question is settled before you are stopped rather than after.
No helmet, or an unfastened one
Article 7, clause 2(h): 400,000-600,000₫, for the driver. A passenger without a helmet costs the driver the same fine again - it is the person in control of the bike who is fined for both seats, with narrow exceptions (children under 6, medical emergencies).
Running a red light
Article 7, clause 7(c): 4,000,000-6,000,000₫. If the violation causes an accident, it rises to 10,000,000-14,000,000₫, plus a licence-point deduction (4 points normally, 10 if there was an accident). This is one of the steepest jumps in the whole decree relative to what it used to cost - worth knowing before you follow a local rider through on a scooter.
Holding a phone while riding
Article 7, clause 4(đ): 800,000-1,000,000₫, rising to 10,000,000-14,000,000₫ if it causes an accident. The distinction that matters: a phone mounted on the handlebars for navigation, which you are not holding or operating with your hands, is not the violation. Holding it to check a message at a red light is.
Alcohol - the fine depends entirely on the reading
This is tiered, and the first tier is lower than most tourists expect. Up to 50mg/100ml of blood (or 0.25mg/l of breath): 2,000,000-3,000,000₫, 4 licence points, and your licence suspended for 10-12 months. From 50-80mg/100ml: 6,000,000-8,000,000₫. Over 80mg/100ml: 8,000,000-10,000,000₫. There is no "just under the limit is fine" tier here - the first tier starts near zero.
What we deliberately do not list here
Other sites publish lists of "65 violations" with a number next to each. Four of the six figures above we checked against two independent official or legal-database references. The two upper alcohol tiers we have so far only traced to the decree text itself, and we say so rather than rounding it up to six. Fines for wrong-way riding, tiered speeding, riding without carrying your registration card, illegal U-turns, sidewalk riding and passenger overload also exist in the decree, but we have not yet cross-checked each of them against a second source, so we are not printing numbers we cannot stand behind. We would rather show you six figures you can trace than sixty you cannot.
The August 2026 update, and why it does not change the above
Decree 238/2026/NĐ-CP took effect on 15 August 2026, amending 168/2024. If you see conflicting dates online, this is why. We checked what it actually changes: tracking devices for commercial passenger transport, child car-seat rules, and fine authority for local officials. It does not touch Article 18 or Article 7 - the licence, helmet, red-light, phone and alcohol figures above are unaffected by it.
Every bike on EastRide shows whether it needs a licence.
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