Public Debate on Traffic Safety Organised in Parliament

During the public debate on traffic safety in Parliament, held on Friday, several proposals were presented before MPs, including ones for drug tests on the spot, taking away of vehicles for persons driving without having a licence, criminalisation of severe traffic offences, and a stricter penal policy.

Considering police have registered over the past years 30,000 cases of people driving without having a licence, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said, when the system doesn’t punish, generations are being produced that think they can do whatever they want without facing consequences.

In his view, the best solution is digitalisation, that is, eliminating the human factor. As the Minister stated, if punishment measures remain on paper, they don’t mean anything.

“We have to break this system of compromises and half-justice, that is, if you ask me, complete injustice. We need a system that will enable effective control and strong sanctions”, Toskovski stated.

Justice Minister Igor Filkov’s stand is that current laws must be analysed. Also, he stated that it had to be ensured that the punishment made drivers comply with traffic rules.

When it comes to the expertise to determine the speed suspect 20-year-old Vasil Jovanov was going at during the 29 January traffic accident in which 22-year-old pedestrian Frosina Kulakova was killed, it’s still underway.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, during the accident, Jovanov, who doesn’t have a driving license, was speeding, under the influence of alcohol, and ran a red light.