Government legal experts have cast doubt on whether traffic authorities can sell vehicles confiscated because of a breach in alcohol laws or misuse of designated roadways.

A passenger bus pulled over

Tran The Quan, deputy head of the Department of Legal and Administrative Reform, has problems with a National Traffic Safety Committee proposal to sell confiscated vehicles of drunken drivers, or motorbikes and bicycles using expressways that prohibit their access.

Quan said the plan needs more thought, particularly as violators may be using transport borrowed from another person.

"This proposal is not very fair," Quan said. "If a crime is committed using a stolen of borrowed vehicle, the vehicle is returned to the rightful owner. And even in the event of a driver being drunk, or driving a motorbike illegally on an expressway, no actual crime has been committed, but rather a traffic violation."

Quan suggested stiffer fines, set at the value of the vehicle, might be a better option.

The National Traffic Safety Committee has proposed confiscation of vehicles where the driver fails a blood-alcohol test and exceeds a measure of 0.08, equivalent to six beers consumed in the space of one hour. Motorbikes and bicycles using expressways should also be confiscated, rather than merely impounded.

The proposal would see confiscated vehicles sold at auction and the proceeds given to the poor.