Reading Hanoi Parking Signs and Painted Kerbs Before You Leave the Bike

A gap along a Hanoi kerb does not show whether a motorbike may stay there. This article reads Law 36/2024/QH15 and Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, two Hanoi government portal pages, a Ho Chi Minh City police page and four news reports for what they say about no-parking signs, painted kerb lines and “P” signs. Several concern cars or other provinces, so “What the pages leave out” lists what still needs checking on the spot.

Stopping, parking and places barred without a sign

Article 18 of Law 36/2024/QH15 defines stopping as a temporary standstill for people to get on or off, loading, a vehicle check or another activity, and parking as a standstill with no time limit. Clause 4 bars both in many places that do not depend on a sign, among them the left side of a one-way road, intersections and the 5 metres from their edge, pedestrian crossings, pick-up and drop-off points, the front of an agency gate with a vehicle lane and 5 metres either side, spots hiding a road sign or traffic light, and beside another vehicle already stopped or parked. Clause 6 allows stopping or parking on city streets only close to the kerb on the right in the direction of travel, with the nearest wheel no more than 0.25 metres from it.

Blue signs: one diagonal or two

The Ho Chi Minh City traffic police page of 11 September 2024 names sign P.130 “Cấm dừng xe và đỗ xe” (no stopping and no parking) and signs P.131 (a, b, c) “Cấm đỗ xe”. It says P.131a bans motor vehicles from parking on the side of the road with the sign, P.131b does so on odd dates and P.131c on even dates.

Thanh Niên (13 June 2026) describes the blue sign with one red diagonal as no parking and the one with two as no stopping and no parking, matching the sign names above; no page pairs the P codes with the diagonals, so that match is by name. It reports that some riders think such signs apply only to cars; the signs, it says, apply to every vehicle, motorbikes included, and traffic police recommend looking closely at them before stopping or parking. No page gives a number of minutes at which standing at a one-diagonal sign becomes parking.

Painted kerbs: broken and solid yellow lines

VnExpress (20 July 2022), writing about the 2019 signalling regulation, describes two lines. Line 6.1, a broken yellow line painted on the kerb at the road edge on the side where parking is banned, means no parking; with no kerb it is painted on the road 30 cm from the edge, 15 cm wide. Line 6.2, solid yellow in the same positions, means no stopping and no parking. A supplementary sign can state the times and extent of the ban and what it applies to. VnExpress adds that few places in Vietnam use these lines and that, usually, the authorities only put a sign at the start of each stretch where a ban is needed.

Báo Hà Tĩnh (11 July 2026) calls a solid yellow line at a roundabout in Hà Tĩnh province line 6.2 under QCVN 41:2024/BGTVT, meaning no stopping and no parking; that is another province, so no evidence about a Hanoi kerb. Article 11 of the law ranks road signals from the top: traffic controller, traffic lights, road signs, then road lines and other road-surface marks.

A “P” sign beside a no-parking sign

Hà Nội Mới (15 July 2024) reports that streets in Cầu Giấy district carried both no-stopping-or-parking signs and signs for car-parking operators, and that some people could not tell which was valid. A Hanoi Department of Transport official said a no-parking sign and a “P” sign (parking place) on one street is consistent with the rules, and pointed to the rule that where a stopping or parking place has been built or designated, vehicles must use it. He cited the 2008 Road Traffic Law (No. 23/2008/QH12), which Article 88 of Law 36/2024/QH15 ends from 1 January 2025 apart from listed exceptions. The report concerns cars; no page says how a rider should read the pair.

Hanoi enforcement and the row of parked bikes

The Hanoi legal-information portal (19 October 2026) reports AI-camera patrols by Road Traffic Police Team No. 1 in the Old Quarter: between 15 and 19 October, 38 cases handled directly and nearly 50 more recorded for later processing. The patrols target cars and coaches. A vehicle left stopped or parked for long, obstructing traffic, with no driver present or reachable will be checked and, where needed, towed; all parking-lot owners in the area signed a pledge not to place vehicles beyond the painted limit lines.

A Hanoi Department of Construction plan (portal page of 13 November 2025, running to the end of 2025, with a peak period around Tết 2026) lists what inspectors check at temporarily licensed parking points: location, area, signs, lot boundary, price board, staff card and hotline number. It also calls for removing “P” signs and painted lines at spontaneous stopping points. No page says that a row of parked bikes shows a spot is allowed. For paid parking, see Hanoi Motorbike Parking: Tickets, Payment and Collection Checklist; for a bike boxed into a row, see Retrieving Your Scooter From a Packed Hanoi Parking Row: Mirrors, Spacing and Asking for Help.

Each cue against the pages

The only ranking of signs against road-surface lines that the pages give is Article 11’s: signs come first. A gap or a row of other vehicles is not in it.

What a misread costs, and where the figures differ

Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP of 26 December 2024, Article 7, clause 2, sets VND 400,000 to VND 600,000 for riders who, among other acts, stop on the roadway obstructing traffic, park on a roadway or pavement without authority, stop where a “Cấm dừng xe và đỗ xe” sign stands, or park where a “Cấm đỗ xe” or “Cấm dừng xe và đỗ xe” sign stands. Stopping or parking on a bridge is in a higher band, VND 600,000 to VND 800,000 (clause 3). Clause 1(a), VND 200,000 to VND 400,000, covers ignoring a sign or road line in general, except acts listed elsewhere, such as the sign and stopping offences in clause 2 above; the decree text does not mention painted kerb lines.

Thanh Niên and Báo Hà Tĩnh (both 2026) give the same 400,000 to 600,000 range for a motorbike. The Ho Chi Minh City police page of 2024, citing Decrees 100/2019/NĐ-CP and 123/2021/NĐ-CP, gives VND 300,000 to VND 400,000 for parking at the same signs. The pages cite different decrees and none explains the gap, so confirm a figure on an official page.

What the pages leave out

• How long standing at a one-diagonal sign counts as stopping, and how far along a street each sign or line reaches.
• What a particular supplementary sign says on a given street; the text of QCVN 41:2024/BGTVT is not among the pages read, so line 6.1 under the 2024 text is unconfirmed.
• Which Hanoi streets have painted kerb lines, no-parking signs or “P” points for motorbikes; the portal ties its Old Quarter patrols to cars and coaches.
• Which pavements or roadways are licensed for motorbikes, and whether the inspection plan went on after its Tết 2026 peak period, or the October 2026 patrols continue; these details change, so confirm them on an official Hanoi page or with the authorities before leaving a bike.
• Motorbike parking fees (Hà Nội Mới gives a car charge only), later amendments to Decree 168/2024, and anything about rental bikes or who pays a fine; the shop can be asked.

Sources checked

• Legal database: Law 36/2024/QH15
• Legal database: Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP
• Hanoi legal portal: Old Quarter patrols, 19 Oct 2026
• Hanoi legal portal: inspection plan, 13 Nov 2025
• HCMC traffic police: signs, 11 Sep 2024
• Thanh Niên: no-stopping signs, 13 Jun 2026
• VnExpress: kerb lines, 20 Jul 2022
• Báo Hà Tĩnh: yellow line, 11 Jul 2026
• Hà Nội Mới: conflicting signs, 15 Jul 2024

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