Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, presented draft laws elaborated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs "On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses" and "On Amendments to the Law of Georgia on Road Traffic" at the plenary session of the Parliament.
Members of the Georgian Parliament discussed the mentioned bills in the first reading, voted and supported them.
As the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs stated, the goal of the legislative changes is to improve the quality of traffic safety and prevent traffic accidents.
According to Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the Ministry of Internal Affairs developed legislative changes taking into account already identified challenges.
The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs also spoke about statistic data and noted that, unfortunately, Georgia remains a country with a high rate of road deaths in Europe, which is a significant challenge and requires effective measures from the state.
Aleksandre Darakhvelidze also spoke about the main causes of death on roads and noted that reason of deaths is mainly speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol.
The Deputy Minister reviewed the reasons for revising the existing legal norms on traffic safety and explained in detail the mechanisms for implementing the scheduled changes.
The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs provided answers to the questions raised by members of the Parliament.
According to the changes:
• the so-called Drifting becomes punishable under the law, which refers to the intentional sliding of the vehicle and/or the implementation of circular rotation by sliding. A fine in the amount of 300 GEL and a reduction of 30 points on the driver's license are imposed as a sanction.
It is an aggravating circumstance if the so-called drifting will result in a damage. This will result in a fine of 500 GEL and a reduction of 35 points on the driver's license.
• It is punishable to drive a vehicle removed from registration as a result of decommission. For the mentioned violation, a fine of 2,000 GEL and 30 points of the driver's license will be imposed on violator.
• Sanction for driving on the road with an oversized vehicle without prior agreement with the relevant authorized body and/or with a vehicle of special equipment and color specified by law, was defined in the amount of 1,000 GEL, and if the mentioned offense resulted in damage, the fine has become 2,000 GEL instead of 250 GEL.
• Exceeding the set speed limit by a vehicle driver at a speed of more than 40 km/h will result in a fine of 300 GEL instead of 150 GEL.
• Driving a vehicle with tinted windows in violation of the rules established by the legislation will result in a fine of 500 GEL instead of 50 GEL.
• It is punishable to drive a vehicle, the level of noise generated during its operation exceeds the established norms. As a sanction, a fine in the amount of 100 GEL and a reduction of 10 points on the driver's license will be applied. At the first stage, the legal framework will be adjusted, and noise measurement equipment will be purchased later.
In addition to the mentioned, problems related to administrative proceedings will be eliminated, including the rule of publication of the resolution adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the case of an administrative offense, thereby reducing cases of failure to hand over the resolution adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Amendments are also implemented in the Law of Georgia "On Traffic Movement", in particular, a reduction in the number of points assigned to the driver's license is provided for various offenses.
