Highway traffic disruptions set to carry a heavy price
Drivers or companies deemed responsible for blocking traffic on a national highway will be penalized with fines that could reach up to 1 million euros, according to new rules introduced by the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
The new rules in a draft law tabled in Parliament stipulate that if traffic is blocked on any part of a primary or secondary road network for over an hour, then any party that has contributed to the situation with their actions or omissions shall be penalized.
Within three days of the incident, the infrastructure and transport minister will commission an investigative committee (consisting of two officials from the Infrastructure Ministry and one from that of Citizens’ Protection) to identify the causes.
The committee will have to deliver its findings within 20 days.
If the findings of the committee point to acts or omissions by the companies that have undertaken the operation and maintenance of parts of the national road network, public legal entities or even drivers (“infrastructure users”), then the minister reserves the right to impose fines of between 500,000 and 1 million euros.
