Lower fines for minor traffic offenses, but also mandatory reflective vests for pedestrians. These changes brought by an amendment to the Road Act, which alleviates most of the original regulations.
Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said he is responding to improving the road safety situation. Reducing penalties applies to minor offenses, such as making phone calls while not wearing seat belts or throwing objects out of the car. The maximum rate will be reduced from € 60 to € 50. The principle will also be mitigated three times and enough, which in the event of repeated accidents caused the automatic withdrawal of the driving license, and three accidents occurred within five years.
Most recently, this principle will only apply to fatal or health-related accidents. The Interior Ministry claims that it has so far unnecessarily punished people who have caused minor accidents in which no one has even been injured.
"Let's not look at it as a softening of the law, but rather as taking into account the severity of accidents," says transport analyst Jozef Drahovský, who said it was the right step to fine-tune an otherwise good measure. According to the director of the Slovak auto tourist club Petr Pokorny, three accidents without injury could have accumulated in better drivers for five years. It also adds that the fines are still high even after they have been reduced. "Overall, I think fines are set too high. Even though it was originally intended to reduce the accident rate, it is mainly about making a person aware of his accident," he said.
Starting in January, pedestrians will have to wear reflective elements in the village and not just outside it if they walk along the side of the road. They will be worn on clothing in poor visibility. Especially in villages where there are no sidewalks, people will need to wear a reflective vest or sleeve strap, even if they go from a shop or visit a neighbor. Otherwise, they will be fined 60 euros. "It seems to me quite coercive because a pedestrian, even if he is a traffic participant, usually walks on the sidewalks and when they're not there, it's his own risk. It should be up to every municipality to ensure the safety of its people and it should not be addressed by law," thinks Pokorný of the new measure.
This obligation triggered discussions when it approved in parliament, but the ministry did not want to retreat. He claims that reflective labeling has already proven to be outside the municipality and expands it. This is confirmed by the police, which states that pedestrians caused up to 442 traffic accidents last year, of which 384 were in the village.
However, there are more changes in the law. In addition to returning to the registration numbers of your choice, there are also new rules on psychological confirmation of dependency reviews or the possibility of motorcyclists to park in zones. Although most of the adjustments should take effect only next year, the minor changes required by the European Union have been in force since 7 November.
