Experts suggested licensing electric bikes with number plates to foster management

Even though there's a lack of official statistics about electric bikes in Vietnam, it’s obvious that there's been a sharp increase in the number of these bikes, lately, on the streets of major cities.

Young people make up the bulk of riders and typically they don’t strictly comply with traffic safety rules, but rather, drive carelessly, adding to traffic chaos.

An anonymous traffic expert said the fact that these bikes are uncontrollable makes the work of traffic police, who are busy regulating the current traffic “matrix”, even harder. It’s necessary to tighten controls over such vehicles and also figure out what to do with their discarded batteries.

Under current regulations, these vehicles are classified into two groups: electric bikes and electric motorbikes.

However, an owner of an electric bike store in Hanoi’s Ton Duc Thang Street, said there's a lack of regulations covering such vehicles. “Currently they are  distinguished only by their appearance, with the bigger ones being classified as electric motorbikes and the smaller ones as electric bikes.”

Dinh Thanh Thao, from Hanoi Traffic Police, said that it’s really important to define a vehicle’s technical codes to know what the punishment should be  for violations.

Khuat Viet Hung, Director of the Ministry of Transport’s Transportation Department, said they are aware of the situation and have suggested that relevant agencies amend the Road Traffic Law so as to better manage such vehicles.

According to Hung, the ministry is compiling regulations and standards for electric bikes and will soon issue rules to cover the registration of electric motorbikes.

However, several experts said the separation of electric bikes and electric motorbikes into 2 groups is a big mistake. They suggested classifying them as one group to make management more practical.

Nguyen Xuan Thuy, a traffic expert, said the number of electric bikes will increase sharply in the near future because they have several advantages, including, affordable price, acceptable speed and they're environmentally friendly.

“The Ministry of Transport should combine electric bikes and electric motorbikes into one group and apply  regulations that are similar to those for  motorbikes,” she added.