In Romania, as in most European countries, cars have the steering wheel on the left side. And traffic is conducted so that drivers have maximum visibility in the event of an overtaking. Under these conditions, is it legal to drive a right-hand drive car on Romanian roads?
For many years, there has been discussion about banning right-hand drive vehicles in Romania.
These are considered dangerous because the driver does not have adequate visibility. In addition, the lights are oriented to the left side of the road. Which means it risks blinding oncoming traffic.
Right-hand drive cars, prohibited in Romania
A draft law was adopted last year by the Romanian Senate. It prohibits the circulation of right-hand drive cars on public roads in Romania.
“From the date of entry into force of this law, the circulation of motor vehicles registered or registered in Romania with the driver’s seat located on the right side in relation to the median longitudinal plane of the motor vehicle is prohibited on public roads”, it is specified in the proposal to change the road legislation.
According to the project, the owners of these cars have 6 months to modify the car. That is to move the driving position to the left side.
The government opposes a ban on right-hand drive cars
In an answer sent to the Chamber of Deputies, the Government issued a negative point of view regarding this legislative project.
The executive specified that these provisions would violate European legislation and “would disrupt bilateral cooperation with the UK”.
After receiving this point of view, the legislative initiative remained, for more than a year, in the debate of the Chamber of Deputies. This is the decision-making forum, which can adopt or reject the amendment to the traffic law.
RARE: Right-hand drive cars are no longer registered
According to the homologation legislation in Romania, vehicles must have the driving position located on the left side. The exception was vehicles from Great Britain, which was an EU member state.
But, with the exit of the UK from the European Union, the Romanian Auto Registry (RAR) no longer approves the registration of right-hand drive cars from this state.
„In order to be able to issue the CIV, vehicles where the driving position is located on the right side must be mandatorily equipped with headlights that emit an asymmetric light beam, oriented to the right side of the road. In the case of UK-made cars, the driving position must be moved from right to left, as well as the light beam”, said RAR spokesperson Roxana Dima for ProMotor.
The only way to register a right-hand drive car is for it to be registered in an EU state. The only European countries where cars have right-hand drive are Cyprus, Malta and Ireland.
Also, if the UK right-hand drive vehicle was registered in an EU state before 01.01.2021, it can be re-registered in Romania without the need to change the driving position.
By 2022, over 120,000 right-hand drive vehicles will be registered in Romania.
Is it legal to drive a right hand drive car in Romania?
Currently, it is not forbidden to drive a right-hand drive car in Romania.
But, the headlights must be adapted to match the driver’s seat on the left side.
Which means that the asymmetric light beam must be directed towards the right side of the road, so as not to dazzle oncoming drivers.
If a vehicle is discovered in traffic by the authorities to have its lights turned to the left, as in Great Britain, the registration certificate will be withheld and the driver may receive a fine of over 1,300 lei.
Source: www.promotor.ro
