The European Union has made a major move to crackdown on foreign drivers who do not follow the rules ... [+]
Travelers to Europe who get behind the wheel may soon be more accountable when they engage in risky driving. The European Union has made a major move to crackdown on foreign drivers who do not follow the rules of the road.
New regulations approved on Wednesday by a European Parliament vote in Strasbourg, France, aim to ensure that more foreign-registered drivers face justice after committing road traffic offenses outside their home country.
The news was announced by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), a Brussels-based independent non-profit organization.
“Freedom of movement within the EU shouldn’t mean freedom to speed and drink-drive when away from home,” Ellen Townsend, policy director of the European Transport Safety Council, said in a statement.
Current rules on ‘cross-border enforcement’ within European Union member states have helped increase compliance, the safety group said, but in 2019 about 40% of offenses by foreign drivers were not followed up, either because the offender was not identified or because payment of the fine was not enforced.
The updated rules agreed to by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) address these issues by creating new provisions that are designed to improve cooperation between EU countries.
Automated exchange of information between national authorities will continue to assist enforcement, and new mutual assistance procedures will be introduced to identify the offender and enforce fines, the safety group reported.
The most frequent and egregious offenses include speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol, but other offenses, like ‘hit and run’ – when a driver leaves the scene of a crash – will be covered under the new rules.
The legislation will come into force once it is written into the national law of all 27 EU Member States.
“It’s great that the EU is cracking down on this by extending the range of traffic offenses that can be followed up and improving the chances of fines being paid,” Townsend added. “It’s unfortunate that we still don’t have a way of applying penalty points across borders – this is an issue that EU policymakers will have to return to. Nonetheless, this deal is a step forward for road safety.”
Safety on roads abroad is a serious issue for travelers. For example, traffic crashes have been and remain the biggest killer of healthy Americans traveling in other countries, according to the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), a nonprofit advocacy group.
“ASIRT is pleased about the passage of long overdue legislation ensuring that more foreign drivers who commit traffic offenses in host countries will be held accountable,” Rochelle Sobel, ASIRT’s founder, told Forbes, “and that to this end there will be greater cooperation between countries. The knowledge that breaking road rules in other countries can be tracked and those who do so will suffer the consequences is critical.
“ASIRT continues to stress the importance of road users traveling to other countries availing themselves of information about the regulations, road culture, road conditions and penalties in host countries as drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists,” she added.
ASIRT produces comprehensive road safety information in its country-specific Road Safety Reviews (RSR). Road conditions, dangerous highways to avoid, driver behavior and other crucial information for travelers is available for nearly 100 countries.
“We remain deeply concerned,” Sobel said, “that despite the fact that road crashes are the single greatest risk to their safety, many travelers and corporations who send their employees abroad still do not take the initiative to educate themselves and their staff about this potentially life saving information.”
