Proposition 51K1451

Projet de loi modifiant l'article 33 de la loi du 16 mars 1968 relative à la police de la circulation routière.

General information ¶

Authors

Open Vld Guido De Padt, Hilde Vautmans

Submission date

Nov. 22, 2004

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

driving licence highway code road safety traffic regulations road transport

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB

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Discussion ¶

March 8, 2007 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

I would like to refer to the report, which is very well written and summarizes all the discussions. Furthermore, the Commissioners will intervene to recall their views, in particular the author of the proposals concerned.

Thank you for your appreciation for the services.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, colleagues, on Monday next week, during the second State General Meeting on Traffic Safety, an intermediate evaluation of the policy objectives to reduce the number of road traffic casualties will be made. The traffic barometer figures show that the government has managed to reduce the number of road traffic casualties by 33%. This is an achievement we can rightly be proud of.

However, the figures also show that the decrease since mid-2006 seems to have stagnated. Additional measures will be needed to halve the number of road traffic casualties by 2010. Our proposed legislation can contribute to this.

The proposal aims at a more pedagogical approach of persons who commit flight crime in the traffic. Our goal is the following. We think it is inappropriate traffic behavior and we want to better punish that and above all avoid it to the maximum. Flight crime is not just morally repugnant. It brings with it very large costs, not only for the person, but for the whole society. Think of the relatives of victims who have been looking for years to find out how and why and who did it. The rest of their lives they are looking for the perpetrator and especially for justice.

In Belgium there is not only a lack of good figures on the scale of the phenomenon of flight crime. There is also a lack of understanding of the phenomenon. How many cases are there in our country? Is it a marginal phenomenon? No, absolutely not. The figures show that 10,000 flight crimes accidents occur in our country each year. Most likely, that figure still underestimates the actual scale of the phenomenon. Flight crime is not a marginal phenomenon.

An adapted policy is absolutely necessary, both in terms of awareness raising and in terms of detection and prosecution. Foreign studies and an investigation in the police zone of Sint-Truiden-Gingelom-Nieuwerkerken map a number of causes and circumstances of flight crime. Common aspects of flight crimes include: driving without a driving license, driving without a valid insurance and/or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In terms of location, most flight crimes occur on roads with a maximum permitted speed of 70 km/h or less. In many studies, the weekends and night hours were mostly highlighted as peak moments for flight crime.

What motivates people to commit flight crimes? Obvious reasons include the fear of punishment as well as the fear of the heavy financial consequences caused by, among other things, the increase in the insurance premium.

Despite all these reasons, I can’t understand people who drive someone and then drive away. Our starting point was our search for a way to avoid that and for initiatives to bring people to an adapted traffic attitude. We believe that the current punishment options, such as a fine or a prison sentence, absolutely outweigh their purpose.

In order to reduce the number of flight crimes, a mentality change must be sought. We must dare to see that an accident can happen, but that, when a driver drives someone, it is his damn duty to provide the victim with first aid, to notify the emergency services and to assist the victim when it suffers a lot of pain.

Therefore, we are very pleased that both our bill and Mr Van den Bergh’s bill will be voted here today, during the plenary session. Anyone who commits a flight crime after an accident with wounded people will no longer simply be allowed to go on the street again. He will have to have examinations and tests performed and therapy imposed.

I hope that with the bill we will take the first steps to avoid the aforementioned, rejectional behavior in our society. The Open VLD believes that people should always take responsibility, even when it is difficult to admit their mistake. I hope that people will realize that providing first aid to victims is a human duty in the open society, for which the Open VLD stands.