The drivers who cause serious accidents while driving under the influence will be deprived of cars and these will be later confiscated. Speeding drivers will also face harsher penalties and will remain with a driver’s license. The proposals formulated by the General Police Inspectorate were discussed in public debates, IPN reports.

Viorel Cernăuțeanu, head of the Inspectorate’s Legal Division, said that 5,851 persons were caught driving inebriated in 2020. The 312 drunk-driving accidents recorded last year resulted in 22 deaths and 179 persons injured. The police suggest introducing harsher penalties, including confiscation of the car, for drunk-driving crashes that result in serious bodily injuries or death.

Those who allow persons without a driver’s license to use the vehicle and these cause accidents will also be held accountable, as will the persons who leave the place of the accident, even if thy cause moderate injuries out of imprudence. Last year, drivers left the place of the accident in 76 cases. In these accidents, 23 persons died or were wounded.

The system of penalty points will also be modified. If the driver accumulates 15 penalty points, this will be banned from driving for 30 days. If this accumulates another 15 penalty points during the next six months of the expiry of the last ban, the driver will be banned from driving for 60 days already. If another 15 points are accumulated during the next 12 months, the license will be withdrawn for 180 days.

The special right to drive will be suspended in case of speeding, with fines ranging from 1,500 lei to 3,750 lei and with five to six penalty points and with driving bans for different periods of time, depending on the speed. 100 persons died and 849 persons were injured in the 742 accidents due to speeding (614 in 2020) reported so far this year.

The police propose that the cyclomotors and electric scooters should be classed as units of transport and the persons driving these should be held accountable if they violate the traffic rules, and suggest making the penalties for drinking alcohol in public places and for appearance in public places while inebriated harsher.