Underage motorbike riders: Crime parents can no longer ignore
Welcome to Words on the Street, where we dive into everyday dilemmas. In Vietnam, a mother was recently sentenced to six months in prison for allowing her juvenile child to drive and cause a serious accident. This ruling sets a tough but necessary precedent: parents can no longer ignore their legal responsibilities.
THE HANOI TIMES — A six-month jail sentence for a mother in the northern province of Hai Duong has sent shockwaves through Vietnamese society. Is it her crime?
While some see the verdict as overly punitive, others believe it a long overdue wake-up call. One thing is for sure, this case is a watershed. For far too long, underage riding has been treated as a minor offense. Now parents are facing a real deterrent, and rightly so. This is not just about convenience or tradition, but about responsibility, safety, and the rule of law.
The facts of the case are both straightforward and chilling. In June 2024, Le Thi L. purchased an electric motorbike for her 15-year-old son.
In August, the same vehicle was involved in a collision that left a father and his 9-year-old son with devastating injuries, a combined body damage of 127%. Because the driver is a minor, the court found the person who made the crime possible guilty: the mother. Under Article 264 of the Penal Code, which punishes anyone who allows an unqualified person to drive a vehicle, she was sentenced to six months in prison.
