Renting a Motorbike Under 18 in Vietnam: What the Current Rules Say

Can you rent a motorbike under 18 in Vietnam? The answer has two separate parts that are easily mixed up. The first is the age at which the law allows you to ride each type of vehicle. The second is the shop’s own conditions for renting, which the documents checked for this article do not set on the shop’s behalf. This article separates the two, checks them against legal texts and government pages as they stood on 24 October 2026, and points out where the texts give no answer. Whether a foreign licence is recognised is a separate question, covered in the licence guides linked below.

The ages the law sets for riding

Vietnam’s Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety No. 36/2024/QH15 (in force since 01/01/2025, amended by Law No. 118/2025/QH15 with effect from 01/07/2026) sets the ages in Article 59, clause 1:

A moped is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with a design speed of no more than 50 km/h; with a combustion engine its displacement is no more than 50 cm³, and with an electric motor its power is no more than 04 kW (Article 34, clause 1, point g). A 16- or 17-year-old may therefore ride a moped that fits this definition, but cannot be issued a class A1 or A licence before turning 18. Article 56 of the same law requires riders to hold a licence suited to the vehicle but makes an exception for moped riders: under clause 4 they must know the road traffic rules, have the skill to control the vehicle and meet the age and health requirements of Article 59. How the thresholds apply to electric vehicles is set out in electric scooter licence rules and motor power.

The Traffic Police Department (Cục Cảnh sát giao thông), in an information page published in 2026 in response to claims that riders aged 16 to under 18 are fined whatever kind of “xe máy” they ride, states that people aged 16 and over are entitled to ride mopeds, and that “xe máy” is only an everyday word for a two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle. The same page quotes a fine of 400,000 to 600,000 VND for riders aged 16 to under 18 who ride a motorcycle (xe mô tô) or a similar vehicle. According to the page, Decree 238/2026/NĐ-CP (in force from 15/08/2026) only rewords that provision compared with Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP. The original text of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP reads “motorcycles with a cylinder capacity of 50 cm³ or more, or an electric motor power of 04 kW or more” (Article 18, clause 4, point a). Both wordings refer to motorcycles, not mopeds.

For riders aged 14 to under 16 on a motorcycle, moped or similar vehicle, the original decree sets a warning as the penalty (Article 18, clause 1).

Renting: the texts set no minimum age for signing a rental

None of the documents checked contains a provision setting a minimum age for renting a motorbike. The closest rules are those about the rider. These are two separate questions: are you allowed to ride that type of vehicle, and will the shop agree to rent it to you? The second is a condition set by the shop, so ask the shop directly.

On contracts, a Hanoi legal Q&A page from 2020 quotes the Civil Code: a person aged from 15 to under 18 may enter into and perform civil transactions on their own, except transactions involving real estate, movable property that must be registered and other transactions that, by law, require the consent of their legal representative. Applying this to a motorbike rental contract is an inference that no page checked confirms directly, and the quoted passage has not been re-checked against the code in force today. This article therefore does not conclude who may sign.

What to know about the owner’s liability

Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, Article 32, clause 10, states that an individual owner of a motorcycle, moped or similar vehicle who hands it to, or lets it be ridden by, a person who does not meet the conditions in Article 56, clause 1 is fined 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 VND. Article 56, clause 1 of the law begins by requiring riders to meet the age and health requirements. A local government information page in Ha Tinh (08/09/2026) says this fine is kept under the amending decree, but it is only a secondary source.

This helps explain why a rental shop may ask about your age and licence before handing over a bike. This article only reports the rules, not what the shop actually requires; ask the shop directly.

What happens at a police check

Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, Article 48, clause 1, allows the competent officer to impound a vehicle before a penalty decision for the violations listed in Article 18, which include an under-age rider on a motorcycle. With a rental bike, ask the shop how an impounded bike would be handled. What to carry and how a roadside check usually runs are covered in stopped by traffic police in Hanoi.

Suggestions for young riders and parents

• Identify the vehicle type first. Compare both the design speed and the cylinder capacity or motor power with the definition above; the label “50cc” or a single power figure on its own is not enough to classify a vehicle.
• A class A1 licence comes only at 18. Under 18, you cannot hold a licence for a motorcycle.
• Ask the shop about its rental conditions before booking: the age it accepts, the documents it needs to see and whether a guardian is needed. Do not infer them from this article.
• Parents should understand the rules on motorcycles before agreeing to a rental, especially for vehicles above 50 cm³.

50cc bikes are covered separately in 50cc motorbike rental in Hanoi. The steps and the questions to ask when renting are on the Hanoi motorbike rental requirements page, and what each licence class means for renters is explained in Vietnam licence classes A1 and A.

What the documents checked do not cover

• A minimum age for renting a motorbike.
• Whether the Civil Code applies to a rental contract, and whether the 2020 passage is still current.
• Rules for riders under 14 and for motorised cycles (xe đạp máy).

This is not legal advice. Do not read it as saying that riders aged 16 to under 18 are fined for riding any kind of “xe máy”: the Traffic Police Department calls that claim inaccurate. To find the official legal texts yourself, see finding the official text of Vietnam’s road traffic law.

Sources checked

• Law No. 36/2024/QH15 (consolidated text), Articles 34, 56 and 59: datafiles.chinhphu.vn (in Vietnamese)
• Traffic Police Department, information on riders aged 16 to under 18, 2026: csgt.bocongan.gov.vn (in Vietnamese)
• Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, Articles 18, 32 and 48: xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn (in Vietnamese)
• Ministry of Public Security, new points of the 2024 Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety: bocongan.gov.vn (in Vietnamese)
• Nam Hong Linh information portal (Ha Tinh), road safety for students, 08/09/2026: namhonglinh.hatinh.gov.vn (in Vietnamese)
• Hanoi legal education portal, answer on transactions by people under 18, 07/09/2020: pbgdpl.hanoi.gov.vn (in Vietnamese)

Ask the shop about its rental conditions

Under 18 and planning to ride in Hanoi? Ask Motorbike Nguyen Ha about its conditions before you book: call +84 334 699 969, or message on Zalo or WhatsApp, 09:00–21:00 every day. The shop is at Alley 5 Nguyen Van Cu, Bo De, Long Bien, near Gia Lam Bus Station (open the shop location in Google Maps). The age thresholds are also summarised in the Hanoi scooter rental guide.