New system of sanctioning for violation of traffic regulations as of March 1

New system of sanctioning for violation of traffic regulations as of March 1

Drunk and arrogant drivers caught by the police while violating traffic regulations, shall be immediately taken to a judge and sanctioned.

As of Saturday, March 1 if 1.2 per mille or more of alcohol are found in a driver’s blood, that driver shall be taken to the police to get sober. Immediately after that he/she shall be taken to a magistrate judge. If ruled prison sentence, the ruling shall be executed immediately. This is provided by the New Law on Traffic Rules Violation.

Damir Okanovic, the Traffic Committee Director explains for the Blic the procedure that shall be applied in the case of a drunk driver.

- A driver shall first have twelve hours to get sober. After that the traffic police shall measure again the alcohol percentage in blood. When the instrument shows zero, a driver leaves custody and is taken to a magistrate judge. The judge rules a sentence immediately. This means immediate taking away a driving license, ruling a fine and entering penalty points – Okanovic says.

The President of the Magistrate Court in Belgrade Milan Marinovic says that drivers shall have the right to file a complaint, but that however shall not postpone immediate sanctioning.

So a driver to whom a prison sentence has been ruled shall wait for the results of the filed complaint in prison.

Other cases of violation of traffic regulations apart from alcohol, are over speeding, violent driving, crossing railways when ramps are down and running away from the police.

Zoran Kovacevic, Professor of...