Penalty points may be introduced for drivers in Ukraine
Oleksiy Biloshitsky, First Deputy Head of the Patrol Police Department, spoke about this in an interview with “Glavred”.
Traffic offences will incur between 1 and 5 penalty points
According to Biloshitsky, as part of the road traffic reform in Ukraine, a model is being considered under which drivers will receive between 1 and 5 penalty points depending on the type of offence. This applies to both serious offences and less dangerous incidents. For example, minor offences may incur just 1–2 points, but in the event of systematic disregard for the rules, these points will accumulate. Once the threshold of 15 points is reached, a driving licence may be temporarily suspended. The patrol police emphasise that the new system is aimed primarily at drivers who regularly pose a danger on the roads, rather than those who have committed a single offence.
“Only if a driver systematically disregards safety and accumulates enough points over the course of a year will their licence be suspended. In other words, this is not a matter of chance, but of deliberate, dangerous behaviour on the road,” explained Biloshitsky.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs says the system will operate automatically
Biloshitsky also commented on concerns regarding a possible increase in the workload for the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ service centres, which are already dealing with queues. According to him, any new initiative initially requires time to fine-tune processes, but in the future the system should operate as usual and not create additional difficulties. He noted that once launched, all procedures are planned to be automated as much as possible.
When might the new system be introduced?
Bill No. 14133, which provides for the introduction of penalty points for drivers, is currently before the Verkhovna Rada. Volodymyr Kreidenko, a Member of Parliament from the “Servant of the People” party, suggested on the “Rada” TV channel that the new system could be approved and launched by the end of this year. According to him, the current penalty system does not always deter drivers who regularly break the rules of the road. He cited examples of situations where some drivers may exceed the speed limit dozens of times a day, pay fines and continue to break the rules. Kreidenko also noted that a similar system is already in place in a number of countries, including the US, Germany, France and Poland. In his view, such an approach could help reduce the number of systematic violations on Ukrainian roads.
Follow us on Telegram
