Road traffic safety law or will be overhauled

"Point deduction" and "distracted driving" are planned to be included in the scope of severe punishment

□ Our reporter Zhao Chenxi

  A law that concerns all drivers may usher in a major overhaul.

  Recently, the Road Traffic Safety Law (Revision Proposal) drafted by the Ministry of Public Security is soliciting public opinions.

  my country’s current road traffic safety law came into effect on May 1, 2004, and has played an important role in promoting the continuous and stable improvement of the traffic safety situation and enhancing the traffic safety awareness and civilized quality of the general public. However, with the rapid economic and social development, There have been many new situations in road traffic safety and management, and many new problems have been encountered in the practice of law enforcement, which put forward higher requirements for improving relevant laws and regulations and managing road traffic in accordance with the law.

  The Road Traffic Safety Law was amended twice in 2007 and 2011.

The Road Traffic Safety Law (Revised Proposal Draft) has a total of 162 articles, from creating a modern road traffic governance pattern, strengthening the supervision of vehicles and drivers at the source, improving convenient services, improving road traffic conditions and traffic regulations, improving traffic accident handling regulations, and scientific Starting with the allocation of six aspects of legal liability, a total of 124 articles were revised, of which 84 articles were revised, 39 articles were added, and 1 article was deleted.

 Combining education and discipline

  In the eyes of some drivers, they are more concerned about the "fines" part of the Road Traffic Safety Law. After all, as long as the law is violated, punishment is waiting for them.

  “The fine is only to improve the driver’s safety awareness and prevent them from making mistakes again. It is not the only method.” Li Weitao, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Jiaotong University, said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that the revised draft is consistent with the current road Compared with the traffic safety law, one of the biggest bright spots is to focus on the function of education and guidance. First offenders or accidental offenders of some illegal acts can be given warnings and punishments, and those who voluntarily participate in traffic safety public welfare activities can be exempted from punishment.

  The second paragraph of Article 97 of the proposed revised draft stipulates that the road traffic safety laws and regulations that are implemented for the first time within one year do not provide for confiscation of illegal income, confiscation of illegal property, temporary seizure or revocation of motor vehicle driving licenses, and detention of road traffic safety violations Those who violate the law may voluntarily participate in road traffic safety public welfare activities and road traffic safety laws and regulations education organized by the traffic management department of the public security organs, and they may be exempted from punishment.

  For repeat offenders, the revised draft proposes aggravating penalties. After being punished for the same road traffic safety violation three times within a year, those who commit the same road traffic safety violation again can be fined according to the fine range specified in this law and the provinces and autonomous regions. , The municipality directly under the Central Government shall impose a fine of not less than two times but not more than five times in accordance with the specific fine standards determined by Article 159 of this law.

  According to Yu Lingyun, a professor at Tsinghua University Law School, this adjustment is in line with the principle of "light and heavy" in the current administrative punishment, that is, lighter penalties for minor violations and heavier penalties for serious violations.

  “Punishment is not the goal. It is the ultimate goal to improve the driver’s safe driving awareness and to promote road traffic safety.” Li Weitao pointed out that while cracking down on illegal acts, it also strengthens the mitigation of the first offender and encourages compliance with the law. It is a manifestation of the humanization of law and can achieve the effect of combining education and punishment.

The whole chain combats "point deduction"

  A driver who often drives on the road has a joke, "I would rather fine more money than deduct more points."

The reason is simple. If the driver's license has been deducted 12 points, he will have to re-enter the training, and he needs to pass the driver's license test before he can go on the road.

  Article 24 of the Road Traffic Safety Law stipulates that a cumulative scoring system shall be implemented for motor vehicle drivers.

Since the implementation of this system, it has played an important role in warning and educating illegal motor vehicle drivers, restraining and correcting their driving behavior.

  However, some lawbreakers have seen business opportunities from this, and seek economic benefits by substituting the actual drivers for illegal penalties and scoring in the name of others, and even spawned "illegal intermediaries" that buy and sell traffic scoring violations.

  The reporter noticed that in the current road traffic safety law, there are no relevant provisions on the penalty of "deduction of points", and only a few local regulations regulate it.

For example, the second paragraph of Article 25 of the "Shanghai Road Traffic Management Regulations" revised in 2017 stipulates that it is forbidden to substitute scores for others, to substitute others for scores, and to introduce alternative scores; Article 74, paragraph 5, stipulates that, If the score is replaced by another person, the public security organ shall impose a fine of not less than 500 yuan but not more than 2,000 yuan; if the score is replaced by another person, the public security organ shall impose a fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 5,000 yuan. If the circumstances are serious, the public security organ shall impose a temporary detention for more than one month. Motor vehicle driving licenses under three months, and illegal gains confiscated at the same time.

If an alternative score is introduced, the public security organ shall impose a fine of not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan.

  "It is precisely because the current law does not clearly stipulate the basis and standard of punishment for this illegal act, it has led to different punishment standards for this behavior in various places, and it is difficult to effectively combat it." Li Weitao said.

  The revised draft proposal clarifies the punishment for the “deduction of points” behavior.

Article 117 stipulates that those who organize others to accept penalties and scores for traffic violations on behalf of actual motor vehicle drivers in order to obtain economic benefits shall have their illegal gains confiscated, detained for not more than 15 days, and punished by more than five times the illegal gains. Fines below times.

  Where the actual motor vehicle driver accepts punishments and scores for traffic violations and seeks economic benefits, the traffic management department of the public security organ shall revoke the original administrative penalty decision, impose a detention for less than 15 days, and impose a fine of more than one time and less than five times the illegal income.

Those with a motor vehicle driving license shall have their motor vehicle driving license revoked and shall not apply for a motor vehicle driving license within five years.

  When accepting the handling of traffic violations recorded by traffic technology monitoring equipment, if the actual motor vehicle driver asks others to accept punishments and score points and pay economic benefits on their behalf, the traffic management department of the public security organ shall impose penalties and score points on the original traffic violations in accordance with the law. Acts of others accepting punishments and scoring points and paying economic benefits on their behalf shall be fined not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 5,000 yuan, and a three-month motor vehicle driving license shall be temporarily detained.

  Li Weitao pointed out that the newly added regulations range from the organizer who organizes others to "deduct points" to the participants who actually "deduct points" for others, to the actual offenders who ask others to sell points on their behalf. Cracking down on the entire chain of the illegal act of "deduction of points" provides a clear legal basis for future law enforcement practices and helps intensify the crackdown on this act.

Is it necessary for "distracted driving" to be sentenced

  In addition to the “deduction of points” behavior, the revised draft also adds penalties for “distracted driving” behavior.

  Article 112 of the revised draft stipulates that when driving a motor vehicle, if you make or receive a handheld phone, read or send messages, or other acts that hinder safe driving, causing a traffic accident or other serious consequences, the traffic management department of the public security organ shall A fine of not less than 500 yuan but not more than 2,000 yuan may be imposed, and a three-month motor vehicle driving license may be temporarily detained.

  Previously, the Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law only stipulated that driving a motor vehicle must not make or receive mobile phones, watch TV, and other activities that hinder safe driving, and did not stipulate how to penalize. The "Road Traffic Safety Violation Score Score" issued in 2016 "Value" stipulates that if driving a motor vehicle makes or answers a hand-held phone and other behaviors that hinder safe driving, 2 points will be deducted.

  This has also led to many drivers' lack of awareness of the hazards of this behavior. They believe that as long as they are optimistic about the road conditions in advance and react in a timely manner, there is nothing wrong with looking at the phone.

  A traffic police team has done an experiment. If a car reaches a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, just look down at the phone for 2 seconds, and the car can drive nearly 30 meters, and it is obviously off-track. Even if the performance of the vehicle is good, It takes at least 20 meters to brake, and drivers who are driving and looking at their mobile phones react more slowly, and the probability of accidents will greatly increase.

  Li Weitao believes that the penalties for "distracted driving" in the revised draft proposal not only impose fines, but also add penalties that can temporarily suspend the driver's license, which can greatly increase the importance of drivers to "distracted driving".

  Huang Haibo, secretary-general of the Traffic Management and Transportation Legal Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, has been concerned about the problem of driving "head-down people" all the year round. He found that, in addition to some online car-hailing drivers who take orders, many people still use mobile phones while driving. When scanning WeChat or even watching videos, these behaviors have obvious subjective intentions, and their severity is comparable to drunk driving. They are behaviors that seriously threaten traffic safety and should be severely punished.

  "If the situation is more serious, you can consider imprisonment. After drunk driving is imprisoned, the problem of drunk driving has basically been solved. This has a very positive significance for maintaining road traffic safety and protecting the life and property of unspecified third parties." Huang Haibo It is believed that some serious behaviors of driving and using mobile phones can be considered in the criminal law, and the crimes of dangerous driving can be convicted, and the punishment for this behavior can be improved.

  Peng Xinlin, deputy director of the China Criminal Law Institute of Beijing Normal University, believes that the use of mobile phones in driving should be prudent. This behavior has a certain degree of social harm, but it has not reached a very serious level. The penalty of deducting points and fines is sufficient to achieve Punishment purposes are not recommended.

  Li Weitao also suggested that after the law has increased penalties, it should also strengthen law enforcement and extensive publicity and education to promote the development of civilized driving habits and promote the solution of this problem.