Drafting of the new Law on Traffic Safety and measures against arrogant drivers caused heated controversy

ANNOUNCED novelties in the Law on Traffic Safety, whose drafting is in progress, long before the public debate, caused heated polemics. The solution of permanently confiscating vehicles and driver’s licenses for the most serious traffic offenses and returnees was in the public’s focus.

According to the Ministry of Interior, this will most likely be a sanction for criminal acts of causing traffic accidents with serious bodily injuries or fatalities. The law will introduce stricter penalties for not wearing a seat belt, inadequate transportation of children, driving under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, and additional medical and psychological examinations for negligent drivers will be considered.

Drafting of the new regulation, which can be expected next year, runs parallel to the changes to the Criminal Code, which will also increase penalties for serious crimes against traffic safety. Instead of two to 12 years in prison, when it comes to violent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or opiates, the Association of Parents of Children Killed in Traffic demanded a sentence of five to 15 years, while the president of the state advocated five to 20, as well as a permanent ban. of driving a vehicle that causes serious injury or death of a child.

Those who criticize the announced solutions refer to the Constitution, which guarantees the inviolability of private property. Those who defend it refer to other regulations, which already enable confiscation of property, such as Law on Confiscation of Property Acquired by Crime.

– Any sanction that contains the term “permanent”, or where the possibility of its review is not prescribed, is a bad solution – believes lawyer Viktor Gostiljac, former president of the Bar Association of Serbia. – I am a strong opponent of attacking citizens’ personal property that was not acquired through criminal acts, but was acquired legally. Therefore, the Law on Confiscation of Property cannot serve as a basis, because it is not about property resulting from a criminal offense.

Gostiljac believes that only the increase in fines and their consistent application force citizens to respect the norms, which has already been demonstrated by the introduction of the obligation to fasten seat belts and keep the lights on in daytime conditions.

– In contrast, we have an example of speeding, for which the fines are 2,500 or 5,000 dinars. For that money, many drivers of more expensive vehicles will knowingly agree to drive too fast. Therefore, education, strengthening traffic culture from a young age, strict financial punishment and elimination of police corruption can lead to a reduction in traffic accidents. Otherwise, we will have the same perpetrators, only in other people’s cars – says Gostiljac.

Damir Okanović from the Committee for Traffic Safety claims that the announced measure is not contrary to the Constitution and says that the highest legal act primarily guarantees the right to life and bodily integrity, i.e. health. So, to begin with, it is unconstitutional to take someone’s health or life by violent driving and repeating serious violations.

– The Constitution also guarantees private property, but it suffers from limitations and can be confiscated in criminal proceedings – adds Okanović and cites the Law on Misdemeanors, according to which the court can confiscate an object if it represents a means of committing a misdemeanor. Also, according to the Passenger Transport Act of 2006, it is possible to permanently confiscate the vehicles of illegal taxi drivers. In Belgrade alone, according to that regulation, 115 vehicles were confiscated.

Photo: Tanjug

– The proposed provision is in accordance with the Constitution and does not represent a draconian punishment, but an appropriate one – adds Okanović. – When they say “take away driver’s licenses, not vehicles”, I answer that it is not the license that kills, but the vehicle, that is, the person in it. It is true that, when you take away his car, he can take the car from someone else, but it is not realistic for someone else to knowingly lend a vehicle to a braggart or a driver under the influence of alcohol. The previous practice of the MUP showed that the largest number of temporarily confiscated vehicles were taken from those who already have a driving ban or were driving without a license!

By the way, Serbia has set a goal to halve the number of traffic fatalities by 2030 compared to 2019, when there were 534, and to have zero child fatalities. As for the previous temporary seizure of vehicles, according to the Ministry of Interior, it is mostly passenger cars, but there are also six motorcycles, nine bicycles, three trucks, one tractor and one cart.