Combat those who do not reduce speed and “budgetists”, who are fined and lose points on their license. Proposal approved by Committee under analysis in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Road and Transport Committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that seeks to bring more safety to the roads. The new proposal introduces punishments for drivers who do not follow certain safety procedures when passing through works or accidents on the roads and does not forget the so-called “budgeters” — those who can’t resist their curiosity and drastically reduce their speed to take a ‘look’ at what happened and, often, calculate how much the arrangement will cost.
The phenomenon (or instinct) of sticking your head out of the car to satisfy your curiosity causes extra and unnecessary traffic jams, and also increases the risk of more accidents, especially chain accidents.
The new amendments to the Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB), determining that the maximum speed in situations of this type is 60 km/h or the maximum limit of the road. It would be necessary to reduce to this speed as soon as drivers notice ambulances, police or maintenance teams on the road.
In addition to the speed reduction, the proposal also indicates that the driver must move to the next lane to move away the shoulder or the location of the incident, if safety and flow allow changing lanes. The idea is to create a kind of isolation cordon to protect employees and rescuers while working.
Inspired by international legislation “Move Over Law“, the proposal also includes punishments for those who do not follow the rules: not reducing the speed to the established level will be considered a serious infraction, resulting in five points on the license and a fine of 195.23 reais (around 31 euros). Those who look at the accident, and therefore do not change lanes or do not follow the minimum lateral distance, will be subject to a medium serious infraction, with four points on the license and a fine of 130.16 reais (around 20 euros).
The text now goes to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) for analysis. After passing through the CCJ, the project will still have to be voted on in the Senate before being sent for presidential sanction and definitively coming into force throughout the national territory.
In Portugal, there is no specific offense in the Highway Code that prohibits this phenomenon, but it is necessary to take into account offenses such as sudden and/or dangerous braking and slowing down, which can lead to fines of up to 300 euros, speeding below the minimum (50km/h) on a motorway, with fines of up to 1500 euros, or traffic obstruction, also with fines of up to 1500 euros, if applicable. with the aim of hindering circulation.
