The case of a young man who got behind the wheel under the influence of drugs and caused the tragedy on May 2, in which two students died, brings to the fore the image of a phenomenon that is gaining momentum in Romania.

According to the official statistics of the Romanian police, a driver is caught driving under the influence of drugs every three hours. The number of drivers under the influence of psychoactive substances increased by 3% in 8 months of this year compared to the corresponding period last year. In total, over the past 20 months, almost 5,000 drivers have been caught in a drunken state.

In 2022, 2,866 such facts were discovered. According to the police, from January 1 to August 20, 2023, at the national level, the police detected 1,938 (+3% to the corresponding period of 2022 – 1,880) offenses for driving vehicles while in a state of psychoactive substances.

• The driver who killed two young people on May 2 was caught by the police with drugs in the car and released an hour before the accident / They only tested for alcohol

Over the past 20 months, almost 15,000 drivers have been caught driving under the influence.

For the period from January 1 to August 20, 2023, 5,375 offenses related to driving under the influence of alcohol were detected at the national level, while for the same period in 2022 – 5,948 such acts. alcohol

Several cases of traffic accidents are due to the fault of drivers under the influence of drugs

In February, two police officers arrived at the hospital after a drunk and drugged driver, who failed to stop at police signals, crashed into a special vehicle during a car chase through the streets of Bucharest.

Also in February, the traffic police chased a drunk and drugged driver on the streets of sector 4 of the capital, he was caught shortly after hitting another car.

In March, a 24-year-old drugged driver injured a woman and her 6-year-old daughter while they were walking in a crosswalk on a street in the municipality of Ploiesti.

In June, a 24-year-old driver from Prahov, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, injured an 18-year-old pedestrian, after which he disappeared from the scene of the accident. A few hours later, the victim fainted in the hospital.

Anastasia’s Law: Life in prison for drunk or drunk drivers who cause fatal crashes

Courts will no longer be able to suspend the execution of a supervised sentence in the context of a traffic accident that resulted in the death of the victim, if the accident occurred due to the fault of the person who committed the crime of “driving a vehicle”. a vehicle without a driver’s license” or “driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other intoxication”.

The Criminal Code was amended in this sense by a law promulgated in July known as “Anastasia’s Law”.

Former Minister of Justice Robert Kazanchuk initiated the law after a little girl named Anastasia was smashed in front of her house by a woman without rights.

“The data provided by the Romanian police and the Ministry of Justice show a terrible reality: 20,000 people appear in court every year for driving without a license, under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Every year, around 500 people are killed or seriously injured in accidents caused by drunk or drugged drivers. In the capital, at least in July, more drugged than drunk drivers were found behind the wheel,” explained Robert Kazanchuk, announcing the project.

• The tragedy of May 2 and the new failure of the Romanian police. What levers did the police have to check a drug-addicted youth even without a drug test / Unanswered questions
• “I have a business that is worth more money than yours if you starve yourself with pate all your life.” New photos of the drugged driver who killed two young people on May 2
• Tragedy on May 2: The Judicial Inspectorate announced inspections of court materials related to drug possession
• “Can someone from the police give me an answer?”. What the father of the girl killed on May 2 says