No immunity for motorists fined abroad or while driving a vehicle with a foreign registration plate. In recent days, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement to punish those who commit traffic offenses in a country other than their country of residence. The aim is to prevent reckless driving abroad with an updated rules, which will expand the list of traffic offenses committed by non-resident drivers. To date, recalls the European Parliament in a note, around 40% of so-called transnational offenses remain unpunished. With the agreement reached recently by the European institutions, we are trying to remedy this problem, by effectively updating the 2015 directive on the exchange of information between national authorities.
The agreement on the revision of the directive is for the moment only political. This means that before entering into force, the new text will have to be approved by the Parliament and the Council. In addition to speeding, driving while intoxicated or failing to stop at a red light, the new rules mean that motorists will be responsible for offenses such as parking in prohibited areas, dangerous overtaking, failure to rescue, entry into restricted traffic areas. “A foreign registration plate cannot be a driving license with impunity,” commented Polish conservative MEP Kosma Zlotowski, rapporteur of the measure. “The updated rules – he added – will facilitate the exchange of information on road offenses between Member States, while guaranteeing drivers easy access to the necessary information via digital communication channels. »
Cover photo: ANSA/Michele Galvan | A radar on a road in Polesine
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