Driver Fined Heavily for Obscuring License Plate with 'Funeral Car' Sign

In Hung Yen Province, Vietnam, traffic police (CSGT) have apprehended a driver who was using a sign reading 'funeral car' to obscure his vehicle's license plate. The 16-seater vehicle was found with the display placed over its official license plate, intentionally hiding the vehicle's identification information. This act is considered a violation of obscuring the characters and numbers on the license plate. The driver faces a fine ranging from VND 20-26 million (approximately $800-$1000 USD) and a deduction of 6 points from his driver's license. Authorities typically impose a penalty around the middle of this range, approximately VND 23 million. The CSGT emphasized that license plates serve as a vehicle's legal identification and any act of obscuring, blurring, altering, or using other objects to cover the plate is a violation of the law. They strongly urged drivers to comply with regulations and refrain from attempting to evade surveillance and violation processing by law enforcement. Funeral processions are categorized among the last priority vehicle groups. They are permitted to proceed ahead of other non-priority vehicles at intersections. However, they do not possess the same privileges as other priority vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks, police, military, dike protection, or disaster relief vehicles, which include exemptions from speed limits, traffic signals, and the ability to travel in the wrong direction. In a similar incident in Hanoi in January, a driver was fined VND 23 million and had 6 points deducted from his license for operating a car with a rear license plate obscured by mud and dirt, making it illegible. The driver explained that the mud splashed onto the plate during a drive in the rain and he hadn't had time to wash it. However, authorities determined that the driver was aware of the obscured plate and continued to operate the vehicle, leading to the penalty. A representative from the CSGT stated that temporary obscuring of license plates due to dirt or mud from objective conditions, such as driving through a muddy road, may not be penalized. However, if a driver is aware that the plate is obscured and had the opportunity to clean it but intentionally continued to drive, they will be strictly penalized according to regulations.