A new set of national standards on traffic signs effective from Tuesday will change commuters’ experience on Viet Nam’s roads.

Traffic signs introduced in Viet Nam's new national standards

The new standards, issued by the Viet Nam Ministry of Transport in April, retain the current prohibition of ‘overtaking from the right’ for vehicles travelling on two-way streets that have only one lane on each way.

On multi-laned one-way streets, overtaking from the right is considered ‘driving faster than vehicles from other lanes’, and is permitted as long as drivers still follow the speed limit.

A nighttime speed limit sign (P.127a)

A new nighttime speed limit sign (code-numbered P.127a) has also been added, featuring a black-background with a red circle around white numbers, indicating the speed limit in kilometers per hour, while the effective hours of the sign are specified underneath.

If a regular white-background, red-circled speed limit sign (P.127) is encountered within the effective range of a nighttime speed limit sign, drivers are to obey the former.

For example, if you are driving at 65 km/h after passing a P.127a sign as above, at your first encounter with the following P.127 sign, you are to lower your speed to under 20 km/h.

Two new danger signs featuring yellow triangles with a red-border and black symbols have been added to warn drivers of a dangerous bend that may overturn their vehicles.

A regular speed limit sign (P.127) that says drivers are allowed to drive at no more than 20 kilometers per hour throughout the day. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The new standards also allow drivers to make a U-turn where ‘No Left Turn’ signs are in effect, contrary to previous standards that dictated otherwise.

Danger signs warning drivers of a dangerous left (L) and right (R) bend respectively that may overturn their vehicles.

Intersections that allow neither U-turns nor left turns will be installed with a new sign featuring a combination of the ‘No U-Turn’ and ‘No Left Turn’ signs.

Approximately 1,147 new signs will be installed in Ho Chi Minh City starting on Tuesday, according to the head of the municipal road traffic infrastructure management authority Ngo Hai Duong.

A sign on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City that forbids drivers from making either a left turn or a U-turn from 6 am until 11 pm. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Commuters will not be pulled over for violations of the new standards unless new traffic signs have been installed where the violation occurs, the road and railway traffic department of Ho Chi Minh City Police said.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)