Short answer: the lights themselves are simple — green means go, yellow means stop unless you are already past the line, red is absolute — and the fine for getting it wrong is one of the heaviest ordinary riding penalties on the books: 4–6 million VND. What trips visitors up is not the colours but the details: the stop line, the pedestrian duty on green, and who wins when a police officer’s hand signal disagrees with the lamp.
What each colour actually requires
Article 11 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (No. 36/2024/QH15) defines the three-colour system and what each signal demands. Green means go — but if a pedestrian or a wheelchair user is crossing on the carriageway, the rider must slow or stop and let them finish, even on green. Yellow means stop before the stop line; if you are already on or past the line when it turns yellow, you may continue. A flashing yellow light means proceed with care — slow down, watch for people crossing, and give way where needed. Red prohibits movement outright.
The stop line is part of the rule. The duty is to be behind the line, not merely to have entered the junction before the opposite traffic starts. Riders who creep forward over the line while waiting have technically placed themselves where the yellow rule says they may continue — riders who roll a slow red by a bike-length have not.
The priority order riders forget
Article 11(2) sets a strict hierarchy when signals conflict: a traffic officer’s hand signals outrank the lights, which outrank road signs, which outrank road markings. When a junction is being hand-controlled during rush hour in Hanoi, the officer’s gestures govern — even if the lamp is green against you. Riding on the green while ignoring the officer’s stop signal is the same disobedience band as running a red.
What running one costs
Failing to obey a traffic signal is a violation under Article 7(7)(c) of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP: 4,000,000–6,000,000 VND for a motorbike rider, plus a four-point deduction from the twelve-point licence under Article 7(13)(b). The same band covers riding against an officer’s direction — the two are grouped as one family of disobedience. Where the manoeuvre causes a crash, the accident band of 10,000,000–14,000,000 VND and possible criminal liability replaces the ordinary fine.
Enforcement is increasingly photographic: Hanoi junctions are camera-covered, and violations recorded at the box are notified by post, payable through the official channels. The rider on a rental should treat a mailed notice the same as a roadside one — the fine follows the plate, and the plate follows to the owner.
The right-turn question
Right turns on red are not automatic in Vietnam. They are allowed only where a police signal, an auxiliary sign or a dedicated lane says so — a separate question covered in its own article. Reading the small sign under the light before rolling is the habit; guessing from the behaviour of the scooter ahead of you is how the 4-million-dong mistakes happen.
Information, not legal advice. Verified against Law 36/2024/QH15 and Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP on 2026-09-22.