Three opposition MPs have requested changes to the Albanian Highway Code including the lowering of fines and increasing of speed limits, despite the country’s struggle with road-based fatalities.
In the first nine months of 2021, 151 people died in Albania due to car accidents, a significant number considering the population of 2.7 million and the fact it has the lowest car ownership in Europe. According to data from the authorities at the end of 2021, just 20% of the population own a vehicle. The leading cause of deadly accidents is speeding and careless driving.
But three Democratic Party Deputies filed a bill in parliament requesting the maximum speed on certain roads be increased to 120km/h in line with international standards, up from the 110 km/h currently. They also requested fines be slashed by half considering the low level of the average salary.
“This change was also considered due to the level of the average salary in our country, where currently the maximum limit of fines is almost four times the minimum salary,” the draft states.
Currently, fines are 200,000 lek (€1,701), with MPs wanting them to be reduced to €850. The average salary is around €500 per month in Tirana.
They also proposed citizens should be able to avoid having their license suspended by paying a fine double the regular amount for such an infringement, similar to the penalty for foreign drivers that commit an offence on Albanian roads.
Also proposed were changes to the time frame during which fines must be paid, extending them to ten days to ensure citizens have more time to pay them without being penalised further.
Lastly, they said driving licenses should be issued indefinitely until someone is over 55, and then they should be issued every five years.
Meanwhile, in 2021, the number of car accidents and fatalities increased by over 13%. So far in 2022, numbers have registered a slight decline, but there were still134 people killed or injured in September alone. Again, the main cause was driver behaviour.
For the whole of 2022 so far, 1,257 people have been injured or killed on Albania’s roads.
A plan for zero victims of road accidents by 2050 was announced by the government in October. It was reported that police would be asked to focus on apprehending citizens who use mobiles and drive, those who do not wear seat belts, those who abuse alcohol and narcotics, and those who ride bicycles in violation of the rules.
