Riding into oncoming traffic — the wrong way up a one-way street, or against the permitted direction on a divided road — carries a 4,000,000–6,000,000 VND fine for motorbikes under Article 7(7) of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP. That is the same band as running a red light, and the law treats it as equally serious for a reason.

The rule and the fine

Article 10 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (No. 36/2024/QH15) requires every road user to travel on the right in the direction of travel. Article 7(7) of the decree puts the penalty at 4–6 million VND for a motorbike rider who rides against it, deducts licence points, and raises the consequences sharply when the manoeuvre causes an accident — the 10,000,000–14,000,000 VND band applies to violations that cause a crash, and criminal liability can follow where someone is injured.

Why the fine is that high

Counterflow riding is not a shortcut; it is a head-on closing speed. A wrong-way rider meets oncoming bikes at combined speeds that leave no reaction time in Hanoi traffic, on streets where the oncoming lane is already full. The behaviour is common enough that police treat it as a priority violation, and checkpoints at one-way exits in the Old Quarter catch riders regularly.

Where visitors get caught

Two situations trap foreigners. The first is navigation: when a route leads against a one-way arrow, the correct answer is to loop around, not to ride 50 metres up the wrong side. The second is dodging a queue: filtering around stopped traffic into the opposite lane to reach a junction sooner. Both are the same offence in law.

On a rental, the fine lands on the rider holding the handlebars. For the shop’s deposit and the rider’s day, the detour around a one-way block is always the cheaper option.

Article 7(7) groups wrong-way riding with red-light running and riding on the sidewalk — three ways of ignoring where the traffic is supposed to be. All three cost 4–6 million VND for a motorbike, and all three are checked at ordinary urban checkpoints rather than only on highways.

Information, not legal advice. Verified against Law 36/2024/QH15 and Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP on 2026-09-22.