Law on confiscation of vehicles from drunk drivers comes in force
The drunk drivers that got caught by the traffic police twice in a year will see their cars confiscated, effective from October 24.
The confiscation will not be enforced, if a drunk driver took the car without its owner's consent, e.g. hijacked it, etc.
The confiscation is possible only in the framework of criminal law, in case of repeated drunk driving within a year. Administrative law is applied against a drunk driver that gets caught for the first time. Meanwhile, the administrative fines have been significantly increased: from 15-35 base fees (Br 6,5 mln) up to 50-100 base fees (Br 13 mln).
Amendments have been included into Article 317 of the Criminal Code - breaking the traffic movement rules or the rules for exploitation of vehicles. In particular, the Article has now two additional parts which concern drunk drivers directly. According to Part 4, a drunk driver who caused a serious bodily injury or death of a person can get 6 months - 7 years of imprisonment. Part 5 prescribes 4-10 years of imprisonment for the death of two or more people in a car accident.
Alongside with that, no alternative forms of punishment for such crimes have been introduced to the Code so far, writes BelaPAN.
