Got the first step #porunaleyjusta. Congress passes the law that redoubles the punishment of the perpetrators of abuses

All groups vote in favor of the reform of the Penal Code proposed by the victim of a cyclist

According to the EFE agency, the reform of the Penal Code driven Anna González, the widow of the cyclist Óscar Bautista, has taken this Wednesday the first step to become a reality, by being admitted to process unanimously for the plenum of the Deputies.

Fleeing from the accident site and having a disaster with alcohol, drugs or speeding will be considered crimes, while the abuse of a group of cyclists or pedestrians can lead to up to nine years in prison.

As recognized by Anna, who collected 200.000 signatures in her campaign #byunaleyjust, the road is still long. The proposed law, presented by the PP, has yet to go through the justice commission and then return to the full. During these procedures it is possible that the reform looks more like an original proposal, according to those said by the spokespersons of the PSOE, United We Can and Citizens.

“There is a lot to change. It is a law taken on the run. We will have to work hard so that the law is the 'Anna González law', and even go further, ”said Irene Rivera, deputy for Ciudadanos.

New crime

On the flight from the scene of the accident there will be no discussion. The proposition creates a new crime,  punished with between six months and four years in prison to drivers involved in traffic accidents resulting in death that they escape from the place of events.

In current legislation, escapes are sanctioned in theory by the so-called crime of omission of the duty to help, but when the death of the victim is instantaneous, the escape goes unpunished because the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court has established that there is no obligation to assist a victim has once died. That's what happened to the truck driver who hit Oscar. He went unpunished despite leaving the victim lying in the gutter.

The point that generates discrepancies is the proposal to recover minor offenses in the Penal Code for reckless driving. The reform falls short because only when the culprit of the accident drives under the influence of drugs, alcohol or speeding established as crimes in the Penal Code, will it be considered that he has committed serious negligence resulting in death and for both liable to be punished with up to four years in prison, but slight negligence would continue without being penalized criminally.

Protect the victims

The spokesman of the PP, Pablo Matos, has been open to negotiate improvements but has warned that recovering the faults would only serve so that the victims could have a "criminal process", which is "more agile, safe, cheap and garantista", that the civil to which they are now doomed. For that, Matos assured, he will have to do what is to ensure that the civil process meets these requirements.

González, who has attended the debate "satisfied" with the admission for processing and has been optimistic that the issue of minor offenses is also included in the reform after listening to the rest of the parliamentary groups.