Parliament on Thursday discussed a bill that would deprive a person of their driver’s license for up to two years if that person is found guilty of having caused a road fatality.

The legislative proposal belongs to opposition party Akel.

Akel MP Andreas Pashiourtidis said the proposal envisages allowing a court that convicts a driver for a fatality to deprive that person of their driver’s license for a period up to two years or to deny them the right to obtain a license for the same period of time.

Right now, courts may deprive such a person of their driver’s license for up to three months only.

This is insufficient, Pashiourtidis argued, noting that it is also inconsistent with the legal consequences that apply for other crimes.

He pointed out, for example, that a driver amassing 16 penalty points may be deprived of his or her license for up to six months.

In addition, a court may deprive an individual their driver’s license for up to two years if that person refuses to give a sample for an alcohol test, and up to three years for someone refusing to submit to a drugs test.

The MP said he was pleased with the discussion in parliament where the involved agencies – the attorney-general’s office, the bar association, the ministry of justice and the police – agree with the “philosophy” of the proposed bill.

The House transport committee will be tweaking the bill further.

Responding to a journalist’s observation that people who cause a road fatality are punished with jail time anyway, Pashiourtidis said that sometimes a court may suspend the sentence.