The Role of the Parliament in Strengthening Road Safety Birutė VĖSAITĖ Chairperson of the Committee on Economics of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania 23 October 2007, Vilnius

The Law on Road Traffic Safety The Law on Road Traffic Safety provides: -Legal bases for road safety in Lithuania, -Duties of public authorities in implementing the road safety policy, -Basic rights and duties of road users, road maintenance agencies and police and customs officers, -Fundamental requirements for roadworthiness, roadworthiness tests and registration of vehicles, -Vehicular and pedestrian traffic conditions.

The proposal has been made to set the formation and implementation principles of the road safety policy, notably: - the state’s duty to ensure safe and uniform traffic conditions for all road users, - the duty of road users to know and comply with the traffic rules established by the state, - the provision that health and lives of road users should have priority over the results of economic activities, - the assessment and coordination of the interests of a person, the public and the state while ensuring road safety;  With a view to implement, in a consistent and complex manner, the road safety policy, the provisions should be made to enable the Seimas to approve the National Road Safety Programme on the recommendation of the Government. The new version of the draft Law on Road Traffic Safety

The draft amendments have been laid down aiming at reducing the number of the injured and killed on roads as provided for by the European Commission Recommendation 2004/345/EC of 21 October 2003 on Enforcement in the Field of Road Safety, which aims at a 50 percent decrease in deaths on roads by The Recommendation identifies the following reasons determining the high accident rate: driving under the influence of alcohol, narcotic, psychotropic or other intoxicating substances, ignoring of the established speed limit and unfastened seatbelts. The draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences (1)

The draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences (2) The fact that the fine as a punishment imposed for the violation of the Road Traffic Rules does not practically solve the problem, the draft amendments propose to provide for the alternative type of punishment– deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle. It is also aimed at differentiating among punishments depending on the relevance of acts to the accident rate: - to mitigate the punishment imposed for violations without direct affect on the accident rate; - to increase the punishment imposed for violations affecting the accident rate. The novelty worth mentioning is the proposal to cancel the liability for the acts in case of violations of the Road Traffic Rules, which result in the damage (partial damage) of vehicles owned by other persons, when the complaint on the damage (partial damage) of vehicles is not filed.

A new development is the increase in the liability for the violation of the Road Traffic Rules causing minor health disorders of other persons, committed under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances. It is provided that persons without a driving licence, who commit this violation, are imposed, as an alternative punishment, an administrative arrest including confiscation of a motor vehicle. The confiscation of a motor vehicle is also provided for the repeated driving of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, narcotic, psychotropic or other intoxicating substances. Also increasing the liability of drivers, who drive a motor vehicle without fastening a seatbelt or transport passengers without seatbelts fastened. The draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences (3)

THANK YOU! Birutė VĖSAITĖ Chairperson of the Committee on Economics of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania