Under the pretext of increasing road safety on public roads, the Ministry of the Interior is planning a series of changes for drivers, but also for traffic policemen. The most painful change concerns the increase in traffic fines, after several years of delays in updating the fine point.
The Highway Code will undergo some significant changes in the next period, as shown in an initiative of the MAI. Among other things, the penalties for those found repeatedly getting behind the wheel while drinking or under the influence of drugs will become significantly tougher. At the same time, all other traffic fines that apply in Romania will increase overnight, being anchored in a fine point that increases from 145 lei at present to 165 lei.
Read also Thousands of traffic fines and loss of driver’s license for Romanian drivers. The Roadpol campaign has turned many into pedestrians
Drug trafficking, more severely punished
After the entry into force of the new legislative changes proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, drug traffickers will no longer be able to obtain suspended sentences under any circumstances. Nor will the process of reducing the penalties be as easy as before. For reference, currently, a trafficker who denounces another trafficker enjoys a halving of the penalty. In addition, a good lawyer can help him get his sentence reduced to a minimum or, at best, never even see the inside of a prison.
Read also Change in road legislation in Romania: These cars will no longer be able to be registered, but also new registration procedures
According to the new legislative proposal, a trafficker will be able to get a reduced sentence only if he denounces another, and as a result of the activities carried out by the police, the same amount of drugs confiscated from him, or the same amount of weapons, is obtained.
Changes to the new Highway Code for drivers
As for the drivers who drive on public roads in Romania, they risk being left without a car, a fact that was previously impossible, according to the new Highway Code. People who use cars as weapons will face this situation. This means that if a driver is repeatedly caught behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol or drugs, they will lose their car.
Warnings can no longer be given in any form for serious contraventions in the sphere of the consumption of narcotic drugs and/or alcoholic beverages. Last but not least, the fine point increases from 145 lei to 165 lei.
As an interesting footnote, all police officers will be required to be drug tested annually, and those entering the Police Academy will be tested upon admission. Those who refuse within the Police will have their employment contract suspended for a fixed period in the first phase and, subsequently, if they continue to refuse, their contract will be suspended for an indefinite period, according to the Observer.
