On Monday, the Senate may debate a legislative proposal to amend the Criminal Code, which would require drunk or unlicensed drivers who cause fatal road accidents to face prison terms.

The legislative proposal, initiated by PSD Senator Robert Kazanchuk and adopted by a group of PNL and PSD parliamentarians, was reintroduced to parliament in November 2022 after being rejected by parliament in 2019.

According to the motivational part of the regulatory act, in 2021, Romania took first place in Europe in terms of the number of people killed in road accidents.

Senator Kazanchuk believes that the decision-making chamber rejected this initiative “for absurd political reasons and against the general interests of society to really protect life and put an end to the carnage on the roads of Romania, including through very severe penalties that have a deeply deterrent preventive role.” .

According to a November 2022 Facebook post, Kazanchuk mentions that data provided by the Romanian police and the Ministry of Justice show that 20,000 people are taken to court each year for driving without a license, under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

According to the 2021 activity report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, cited in the motivational statement, the number of people brought to court for fatal traffic accidents increased (473) compared to 396 in 2020.

“Manslaughter accounts for a significant proportion of fatal road traffic accidents, which compete with the offense of driving without a license or driving under the influence of alcohol. It is the practice of courts to decide such cases by verdicts. the final and irreversible suspension of the execution of the sentence under supervision, have attracted the attention of the public, the general opinion is that the applied sanction is considered too soft in relation to (…) social relations regarding the right to life”, the proposal also states legislatively.

Sen. Robert Kazanchuk said in a Facebook post in November that “he is dedicating this legislative initiative to the memory of Anastasia, a girl who was hit by an unlicensed driver in 2022, on Children’s Day, when she was just 4 years old. , in a mad rush through the city.”