In the six months since the Anastasia Act came into force, the number of drunk driving offences has decreased, but the number of traffic offences has risen.

The law's initiator, Senator Robert Cazanciuc, said that unfortunately people still get behind the wheel drunk and called for awareness.

A call to respect traffic rules to reduce accidents also came from the Romanian police, who presented a report on the matter.

The Anastasia law, enacted last summer, stipulates that the commission of manslaughter by a driver who has driven without a licence, under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, is punishable by imprisonment, without the court being able to order a suspended sentence under supervision.

The law is named after the little girl who died in 2022 because of an unlicensed driver.

The initiator of the initiative, PSD Senator Robert Cazanciuc, said in a televised intervention that the level of irresponsibility and recklessness behind the wheel is still very high.

Robert Cazanciuc: The idea was not to send someone to prison at any cost. The idea was to protect, by criminal means, life. That is the intention, not to send people to prison, because any man sent to prison is a lost cause.

The Road Safety Bulletin, published by the Romanian Police, shows a slight decrease in the number of serious road accidents in 2022, 200 fewer than in 2021.

Failure to adapt speed to road conditions and jaywalking remained the two most frequent causes of serious road accidents. Statistics show that pedestrians accounted for the highest number of fatalities - 50% of those killed in road accidents.

Translated by Radu Matei

SOURCE: Radio România Actualități