If road traffic laws are amended, the selection of fines for dangerously or careless drivers may change.
The law’s proposed changes, which were introduced to parliament on Monday ( Nov 11 ), aim to give the prosecution more choice when pursuing errant driver punishment.
What are the important modifications being proposed?
The driving-related sentence making process is being proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ).
1. Required minimum punishments
Through the elimination or reduction of mandatory minimum sanctions, the authorities will have more room to decide what is ideal.
The proposed changes will eliminate the requirement for a first-time offenders to receive a maximum sentence and dismissal period for hazardous or careless driving that result in fatal or grievous harm.
The amended law may reduce the required minimum jail sentences for unsafe driving that causes severe harm from two years to one year and for unsafe driving that causes severe harm from two years to one year.
But, criminals who drive while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or drugs will continue to face the strictest penalties.
These offenses may also receive the same utmost penalties as these.
2. How the criminal is charged
The trial will have more room to pursue a command against the driver that takes into account the victim’s level of harm.
Specifically, prosecution will be able to deal with a cost of causing “hurt” and no “grievous harm”, even if the defendant’s injuries meet the legal description of grievous hurt.
According to Section 320 of the Penal Code, “grievous harm” is defined. When a sufferer is unable to pursue their normal daily activities for at least 20 times, it may also contain fractures or dislocations.
The change may improve and, in addition, make it easier for the trial to consider the severity of the damage and whether other road users are equally responsible for the incident.
3. ” Follow perpetrator” of speeding
There will be fewer definitions for duplicate offenders of speeding offenses.
Now, a car is a duplicate criminal if he or she has been convicted previously , of any one of the following: Hazardous or careless moving, conducting unlawful speed trials, or speeding.
A car will only be regarded as a repeat offender of speeding offenses if the modifications are passed:
- has at least two previous convictions for speeding, including one where the vehicle drove past the speed limit or 40 kilometers per hour.
- Within the previous five years, the driver was currently facing a driving crime because at least two of those convictions had occurred.