During a conference held yesterday, Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Infrastructure and the Chief of Police presented several proposals to introduce harsher penalties for the most common traffic violations.
The penalties would include higher fines for drunk driving, alongside suspension of the driver’s licence, as well as a 30% higher fine when driving under the influence between 7 PM and 6 AM. If driving under the influence is found to be the cause of an accident, the penalty would entail revoking the driver’s licence.
Additionally, improper passing would entail 3-5 times higher fines and a repeat offence within the year would entail double the initial fine and suspension of the driver’s licence for a month.
Higher fines would also be introduced for holding, calling, and texting while driving, aggressive behaviour, like flashing lights or violating the safety distance, right of way violations, seatbelt violations, and driving a motorcycle without a helmet.
The Ministry of Interior also proposed that, in case of repeat violations, the police should have the right to demand psychiatric testing, dubbed by Minister Lleshaj “the idiot test.”
