The Traffic Police Department announced this information on 4/8. A 16-seater vehicle had a "funeral car" sign covering its main license plate. The task force determined the driver obscured part of the plate to hide the vehicle's identifying information. The driver was fined for operating a vehicle with obscured characters and numbers on the license plate.

Under Decree 168/2024 on road traffic violations, the driver faces a fine of 20-26 million dong and a deduction of 6 points from their driver's license. Authorities commonly impose a fine of 23 million dong.

The car used a "funeral car" sign to cover its main license plate. Photo: Tuan Kiet

The Traffic Police Department advises that a license plate is the legal identification of a vehicle. Any act of obscuring, blurring, altering, or covering a license plate with another object violates the law and will be handled accordingly. Vehicle operators must comply with regulations and not attempt to evade monitoring and enforcement by authorities.

Funeral convoys are categorized in the lowest tier of priority vehicles. They are allowed to proceed before other non-priority vehicles at intersections from any direction. However, funeral convoys do not have privileges such as unlimited speed, disregarding traffic lights, or driving against traffic. These rights are reserved for other priority vehicles, including ambulances, fire trucks, police, military, dike protection, and rescue vehicles.

In january, a driver in Ha Noi was fined 23 million dong and had 6 points deducted from their driver's license for operating a car with a rear license plate covered in mud, making the characters and numbers illegible. The driver explained that mud had splashed onto the car after a rainy trip, and they had not yet washed it. However, authorities determined the driver knew the license plate was obscured but continued to use the vehicle, leading to the prescribed penalty.

The license plate was dirty at the time of the traffic police inspection. Photo: Screenshot from clip

Following the incident, a representative from the Traffic Police Department stated that authorities do not fine cases where license plates are temporarily obscured by dust or mud due to objective conditions, such as driving through a muddy road. However, if an operator knows their license plate is obscured, has the means to clean it, but deliberately continues to drive, they will be penalized.

Pham Hai