Sharp turn on points for drivers
The new traffic code will ensure that penalty points accrued by reckless drivers will lead to motorists losing their licenses, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. A draft law is due to be unveiled by the Transport Ministry this fall and it has already been made clear that the bill will include stiffer penalties for drivers flouting the law. However, the lack of a computer system and poor communication between departments means that some 2.5 million drivers who should have lost their licenses over the last four years did not. Therefore, the ministry wants to ensure that the point system, whereby drivers lose their license when they collect 25 penalty points, will operate properly. Once the bill is passed, officials will overhaul the system and any points collected by drivers in the previous two years will go onto their new records. Under the new traffic code, offenses that could cause an accident, such as not stopping at a red light, will garner nine points rather than the current seven points.
