Suspension of license for non-payment of fines: forced accountability or “gateway” for late drivers?

Suspension of the license for non-payment of fines could lead to drivers being held responsible, believes Sorin Ene, defensive driving expert. On the other hand, there are also drivers who wonder if this measure is an opportunity: they remain stranded for several days, but escape the fine.

PHOTO Dan Claudiu Buzdugan

What the measure provides

The measure, included by the government in the administration package, states that drivers who do not pay their fines within 90 days will have their licenses suspended. Every unpaid 50 lei will turn into a day without a permit.

“It is a very clear mechanism established together with colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and with colleagues from Justice, so that, after the passage of certain periods of time very well defined by the ordinance, if the traffic fine is not paid, the local authority is notified. (…) The local authority issues a summons to pay in which it warns the driver's license holder that there is a possibility of suspension if he does not pay the traffic fine and if at the end of this last period happens, then the system comes into force on a digital platform interconnected between local authorities and the Ministry of the Interior”, said Cseke Atilla, Minister of Development.

The measure would enter into force in six months, after all the mechanisms are in place. The permit would be suspended automatically, 105 days after issuing the minutes.

Prime Minister Bolojan says that at the moment only 40% of the sanctions are paid.

“Just like in other countries where there are complementary measures for non-payment of fines, which means that, as you are late, either the value of the amount you have to pay increases, or other measures come, we must tell the citizens as clearly as possible that we have a situation where only approximately 40% of traffic fines are paid in Romania, which is a very small percentage compared to what happens in other European countries. It was necessary to tighten this mechanism in such a way that, on the one hand, these fines are collected, it is an aspect of equity for all citizens and, finally, to strengthen a certain discipline in the area of ​​road traffic and, as I told you, to achieve this”. declared Ilie Bolojan.

The reaction of a driver: “I'm without a license for 20 days, I go by bus and I don't pay the fine of 1,000 lei anymore.” Business”

After the measure was announced, discussions began among the drivers. After reading the text of the Ordinance, some interpreted that the suspension of the license cancels the obligation to pay the fine.

“I understand that, for example, I get a lot of fines and don't pay them; they are suing me and giving me 90 days to pay. I'll drive relatively OK for the first 80 days (I won't pay the fines) and then I'll mess up – I drive at high speed, do stupid things, because I don't care if I end up without a license, because ANAF suspends my right to drive on public roads during the same period anyway. And basically, I'm just serving a sentence, right? (..) That is, I don't drive for another period and escape, because both periods of suspension overlap, they do not accumulate.

Another thing I'm thinking about is that if I have a small fine and I organize myself OK, I save money on the fine, stay without a license for 20 days and go by bus instead; look, I don't pay the fine of 1,000 lei anymore. Business”one man wrote on the Reddit platform.

Is such a variant possible?

The governors contradict the driver. Cseke Atilla stated that, in order to regain their right to drive, drivers will be required to pay all their traffic fines. Drivers will have to make the payment to the local authority, which will be required to enter the data into the Home Office's future digital platform within two days at most.

“All this time, the citizen did not have to go to the local authority, to the traffic police, he did not have to do anything. The state works on this mechanism”, said the Minister of Development.

Sorin Ene: ,,It is possible to somehow make the drivers responsible”

Defensive driving expert Sorin Ene commented, for “Adevărul”, the measure:

“It is possible to somehow make drivers responsible, to be more careful and produce fewer contraventions or less and less contraventions. It's a good measure, I say, from that point of view. But it would be gratifying if all this money that would be collected in the budget was further used for the infrastructure and its rehabilitation.”

On the other hand, the national drift champion also says that,there are many other things to be done, from my point of view, related to road safety until we get to compel drivers to pay their fines by law. There are many other things to do here.”

Sorin Ene points primarily to driver training:

“In terms of infrastructure, we are no longer as bad as four or five years ago. One problem is regarding the training of the future driver, the schooling part. There are drivers who are very poorly trained. We need a better evaluation of them, because the car is a means of moving safely and comfortably, but we must know how to drive it”.