The case of a group of “speed demons” who killed a person waiting at a red light in Hanoi has shocked the public because many parents today still carelessly hand over their vehicles to their children who are not old enough to drive. It is worth mentioning that there have been previous cases where parents have faced jail time for simply handing over their vehicles to their children who are not old enough to drive.

A typical case occurred in May, Hue City Police (Thua Thien Hue Province) prosecuted and banned Ms. HTKL (46 years old, residing in Hue City) from leaving her place of residence for giving her underage son the vehicle to drive without a driver's license, causing a serious accident.

Specifically, in 2023, Ms. L.'s son took the motorbike registered in Ms. L.'s name and crashed into the motorbike going in the opposite direction. The accident resulted in 1 death. Ms. L.'s son himself suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to be hospitalized for emergency treatment.

In 2024, another mother in Gia Lai was also prosecuted for letting her son drive a car, causing an accident that killed many people. At the trial, the mother choked up and said that she never expected that one day she would have to suffer the loss of her son and face a prison sentence.

According to this mother, in 2022 she had spinal stenosis so she gave her motorbike to her 17-year-old son to drive to work and "around the village".
In October 2023, after drinking with friends, her son drove two friends home on a motorbike. While the three were driving on the inter-commune road, they collided with a young man riding a motorbike in the opposite direction. As a result, all four people on the motorbike died.

Parents could face jail time

According to statistic from the National Traffic Safety Committee, motorbikes are still the main transportation vehicle, accounting for 95% of vehicles in circulation in our country. Worryingly, 3/5 of deaths due to road traffic accidents are still related to motorbikes.

Mr. Tran Huu Minh, Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that currently, the 16-18 age group still lacks of knowledge and especially lacks of driving skills. The phenomenon of people under 16 years old driving two-wheeled vehicles and getting into traffic accidents is still complicated.

A serious traffic accident killed 4 people in Gia Lai in 2023.

Returning to the recent incident of a group of "speed demons" fatally hitting a pedestrian in Hanoi, speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Dr. and lawyer Dang Van Cuong (Hanoi Bar Association) said that most of the people participating in the race were very young./-strong/-heart:>:o:-((:-h “What is more blameworthy is that parents do not manage their children, leading to minors engaging in illegal racing, causing disorder in society and endangering the lives of others.

Therefore, in addition to the subjects participating in organizing illegal racing and racing having to bear criminal responsibility, the issue of compensation for the victims' families will also be raised.

Accordingly, parents will be jointly responsible for compensating for damages according to the law when a person under 18 years old causes damage," lawyer Dang Van Cuong informed.

In addition, vehicle owners who hand over their vehicles to people under 18 years of age to drive and cause traffic accidents may also be criminally prosecuted for handing over vehicles to people who are not qualified to drive according to the law.

The 2015 Penal Code clearly stipulates the crime of handing over a vehicle to a person who is not qualified to drive a vehicle on the road. In particular, parents who hand over a vehicle to their children or grandchildren who are not old enough to drive, causing injury or harm to the health of others, property damage or death... can be sentenced to up to 7 years in prison.

Handing over a vehicle to someone who is not qualified to drive will also result in a fine of VND800,000 to VND2 million for motorbikes and VND4-6 million for cars./.