According to the Law on the Basics of Road Traffic Safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the system of penalty points is a mechanism for recording and sanctioning drivers who, in a certain period of time, commit multiple traffic violations for which penalty points are awarded.
The revocation of a driver’s license does not depend only on one violation, but on the total number of accumulated points in a certain period of time.
Penalty points are awarded for violations prescribed by law, which is defined in Article 225 in different paragraphs, and their number can be one or two, depending on the severity of the violation. They are recorded only after a valid misdemeanor order or court decision.
The key threshold for revoking a driver’s license is 10 penalty points. If the driver accumulates at least ten points within one year, the competent authority issues a decision to revoke the driver’s license for a period of 30 days. In addition to the driving ban itself, in that case the driver must be directed to check his knowledge of traffic regulations.
The law states that a driver who is invited or referred to lectures and who approaches the traffic regulations test shall bear the costs of the lectures or tests in the amount determined by the competent authority.
It is important to emphasize that the driver’s license will not be automatically returned after the expiration of the specified period. The driver must first prove that he has successfully passed the knowledge test, which is expressly prescribed in Article 225, paragraph 9. Without this, the return of the license is not possible.
The law provides for a stricter regime for repeat offenders. If the driver collects at least ten penalty points again within two years, the driver’s license is revoked for a longer period – 60 days. In this case as well, the return of the permit is conditional on successfully passing the knowledge test.
Before the driver’s license is revoked, the law also introduces a preventive measure. A driver who accumulates seven penalty points in one year is invited to mandatory lectures on traffic safety. If he does not respond to this call, his driver’s license may be temporarily revoked until he fulfills this obligation.
The method of conducting lectures and testing knowledge is additionally regulated by by-laws, which is defined in Article 225, paragraph 15, where it is prescribed that the minister determines the program and the method of taking exams by regulation.
Penalty points for an individual violation are deleted from the records after 12 months from the day they were determined, and for drivers who were imposed measures from Article 225, para. 8 and 10 of this law with the presentation of evidence that he passed the test of knowledge of road traffic safety regulations.
Therefore, drivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have their driver’s license revoked when they accumulate 10 penalty points in one year. However, the real consequence is wider than the driving ban itself, and includes a mandatory knowledge test, without which the return of the license is not possible. The system is set up so that it does not only punish one-off violations, but also specifically sanctions continuous non-compliance with traffic rules, it says. Lukavici.
