Today, the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted amendments to the Law on the Basics of Traffic Safety, which introduces, among other things, suspended driving as a special offense and heavier sanctions for other violations. Upon publication in the Official Gazette, the law will enter into force.
The law was adopted with 11 votes in favor and three votes against. Delegates from SNSD voted against the law. The proposal to amend the law was proposed by parliamentarians Saša Magazinović and Jasmin Imamović (SDP).
The adopted amendments to the Law defined suspended driving as “the behavior of the driver in gross violation of the traffic rules, during which the driver shows no regard for traffic safety, that is, seriously impairs traffic safety”.
Suspended driving, according to amendments to the Law, is considered to be:
When a driver passes a lighted traffic sign (traffic light) two or more times within a 20-minute interval, when the traffic light prohibits him from passing;
Driving a vehicle in a settlement at a speed greater than 40 kilometers per hour (km/h) above the maximum permitted speed in a populated place or the maximum permitted speed defined by a traffic sign or general speed limit, i.e. outside the settlement at a speed greater than 60 km/h above the maximum permitted speed;
When the driver overtakes a column of vehicles, where his vehicle crosses or moves along the full longitudinal line that separates the traffic lanes of the road;
When the driver drives a vehicle with an alcohol concentration in the body of more than 1.50 per thousand or under the influence of narcotics or other psychoactive substances.
Furthermore, it was adopted that the police have the right to confiscate the vehicle from the driver in the place where the police found the driver in a drunken driving situation, but if it is determined by examining the records that the driver has already been issued a final and enforceable misdemeanor order in the previous two years, i.e. sanctioned by a final court decision for suspended driving.
For driving while suspended, the vehicle may be permanently confiscated or a monetary sanction in the amount of two thousand to three thousand KM may be imposed, as well as a protective measure for driving the vehicle for six months and the imposition of two penalty points.
The proposal for amendments to the Law on the Basics of Road Traffic Safety also contains a part that also refers to the issue of alcohol and narcotics. Namely, the police will now be able to detain a driver until the effects of alcohol or narcotics wear off for a maximum of 12 hours if the driver:
Determine the presence of alcohol or narcotics in the body or if the driver shows signs of impairment caused by the effects of alcohol or narcotics;
Determine the presence of alcohol in an amount greater than 1.5 per thousand or if the driver refuses to be tested for alcohol or drugs and shows signs of impairment caused by alcohol or drugs.
There was also a proposal to tighten the sanctions for those who use a cell phone while driving or do not use a seat belt. Namely, the sanction for using a cell phone should amount to 200 to 400 KM, or from 400 to 2,000 KM if a traffic accident was caused while using a cell phone.
After the adoption of the law, Magazinović said that the law was finally adopted, which makes arrogance behind the wheel expensive.
“For years we have seen the same thing in this country: rampaging through neighborhoods, running red lights, racing through cities and then, after someone is killed, everyone would say that “something has to change”. But nothing has changed, because our law has never even recognized what citizens see every day on the roads: reckless driving as a conscious endangerment of other people’s lives. That is why we proposed this law. And today it was finally adopted. For the first time, reckless driving is clearly defined in our legislation – driving in gross violation of traffic rules and behavior that directly endangers the safety of other people,” Magazinović said, according to reports Klix.
