Our political parties never cease to amaze us. On Thursday they voted through a bill proposal that would increase the number of penalty points needed for the suspension of someone’s licence from the current 12 to 16. This idiotic change of the law will come into effect from February 1, so any driver who has accumulated 12 penalty points before then will have their licence temporarily taken away from them.
It is astonishing that in a year in which the number of road deaths are on the rise compared to the previous year, the political parties have decided to change the penalty point system, allowing drivers to commit more traffic offences before they have their licences suspended. By weakening the main deterrent against violations of traffic rules, deputies are in effect encouraging more reckless driving and, in a way, putting lives at risk.
Yet the bill, submitted by Diko deputy Chrysanthos Savvides, was backed by 40 deputies and only a single member voted against it – independent MP Alexandra Attalides who made the obvious point. “Given the current, high rates of road fatalities and frequent speeding violations, parliament should not send a message of leniency on road safety.” Had this obvious point not occurred to any other deputy?
Common sense is suspended in the legislature when a law proposal is considered popular. No deputy dares to vote against a measure that is a voter-pleaser. A similar measure is the annual vote for the two-month extension of the deadline for paying road tax. They all back this even though it makes no sense, given that everyone knows a year in advance when the payment is due. At least this demonstration of laxness does not put lives at risk in the way the raising of the number of penalty points does.
Savvides, justifying his law proposal, said the change was necessary because of the many traffic enforcement methods that have been introduced and lead to the accumulation of points on driving licences. The traffic cameras were recording large numbers of offences causing the amassing of penalty points, something which frustrated driver, he said. Does the Diko deputy not realise that traffic cameras were introduced to make roads safer by clamping down on traffic violations and speeding?
The risk of a licence suspension is the only thing that would force people to drive more carefully and obey the traffic rules but have decided to make such a suspension more difficult by increasing the penalty points. The Diko deputy, also said that when the penalty points system was introduced, there was no alcohol or drug testing of drivers which meant the accumulation of points was slower. For this reason, drivers will be allowed to break the law more times before they lose their licence.
The next step, by this reasoning, would be abolish traffic cameras completely so that they do not frustrate law-breaking drivers. Perhaps the police should also consider stopping alcohol and drug testing of drivers to slow down the accumulation of points. In the end, in order to keep drivers that systematically violate traffic rules happy, deputies are willing to make our roads less safe.
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