2024-08-14 07:38:46
Up to two months will have to be paid
Impunity for offenses committed abroad by European drivers is coming to an end. EU member states have agreed to exchange more and more information.
Up until now, committing an offense abroad had virtually no consequences. It is true that many Bulgarians receive fines by mail from many Western countries such as Germany and Spain for recorded violations (mostly speeding), but the payment of the fines is more voluntary. Because
there is no mechanism for a Bulgarian to bear the corresponding sanction if he does not pay it, unless he is stopped for inspection
in the same country and the police see that there is a deed or payment slip.
Because few European countries had concluded an agreement on the exchange of information. Of course, since 2015 there has been a directive on the cross-border exchange of information on offending drivers. But until now, this rule was rarely enforced because the procedures for recovering drivers who refused to pay were cumbersome and expensive.
The result is that 40% of traffic violations committed abroad go unpunished, according to data from the European Parliament.
“Almost all the violations for which the offenders refused to pay the financial sanctions have remained without action, the actually implemented sanctions are mainly based on voluntary payments”, officially recognized by the European Commission.
MEPs decided to tighten controls and strengthen cooperation between member states around this road safety issue. Because impunity naturally
encourages drivers to violate again and again
traffic rules.
From now on, the new rules, which will be implemented within a maximum period of 30 months, will require national authorities whose nationals are affected by a crime committed in another EU country to respond to requests immediately or within two months of sending the information.
This rule was adopted by the European Parliament with a very large majority.
European Parliament rapporteur Kosma Zlotovski pointed out that in order to increase road safety, EU countries must cooperate and have effective tools to punish violators of foreign traffic laws.
Violators will no longer have an excuse as the term will be strict,
and their native language will be used to notify them of the violation
Europe will handle sending and collecting the fines itself and will not use private companies to avoid cases of data leakage and fraud.
Parliament also took the opportunity to expand the list of crimes to be prosecuted. Until now, only speeding, drunk driving and running a red light were punished.
Deputies also added failure to maintain a safe distance, dangerous overtaking, improper parking, crossing a continuous line, driving in the wrong direction and lane, using the emergency lane and driving with an overloaded vehicle.