Five drivers were penalized during three months of the coming into force of the legal provisions on aggressive behavior in traffic, four of whom this year. The participants in traffic are urged to denounce these cases as aggressive behavior can generate event accidents with fatal consequences.
The aggressive behavior in traffic is recognized by maneuvers that groundlessly create obstacles to movement and infringe upon the rights of other participants in traffic. It includes successive, illegal movement from one lane to another one in order to bypass vehicles, sudden braking or abusive honking, threats or obscene gestures in traffic and threatening of the driver by excessively approaching the car from the back or laterally repeatedly or continuously. Violation is also considered the repeated use of sound or light signals for making the driver who travels legally in front to unjustifiably free the lane.
Marin Maxian, chief of the National Patrolling Inspectorate, has told IPN that the cases of aggression in traffic are usually signaled by third parties or are identified by patrol inspectors, but are seldom reported by the sides involved in the conflict. It is important that these acts should be denounced so as to discourage those who do so. If the participant in the traffic faces aggressiveness, this should seek help from the police. Evidence is needed to prove the real intentions of the aggressive driver, such as images from car cameras or filming with mobile phone within possibilities. It is important for the denouncer to remember the make of the car, the license number and other details. After an application and the proofs are submitted to the police, the aggressor is identified and questioned and all the circumstances are established.
Marin Maxian also said that in situations of aggressiveness, the eyewitnesses should also not remain indifferent. Civic activism plays an important role. “The greater is the level of involvement by the police in such situations, the more will be the persons with such a behavior discouraged to act like this,” he stated, noting that besides imposing penalties, it is important to ensure proper education and raise awareness.
The amendments to the legislation on aggressive behavior were adopted in the final reading at the start of March 2017, but took effect when all the regulations were adjusted, in December 2018. Under the provisions, aggressive behavior is penalized with a fine of up to 3,000 lei, six penalty points or even 30 days of arrest. Depending on the gravity of consequences, the liability can also be criminal.
