Today has been published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) the reform of the Penal Code approved by Congress that toughens penalties for reckless driving, including as aggravating the speeding and drug or alcohol use and that it again penalizes the injuries caused by these behaviors, in addition to sanction the abandonment from the place of the accident.
The new regulation comes into force one day after its publication in the BOE.
3 major changes collect the law:
They will be considered serious recklessness and will increase the penalties in these cases
Until now it was the judge who ruled whether or not it was serious imprudence but now there will not be this consideration since directly will be categorized as serious if it meets some of these criteria.
The hardships harden From the maximum 4 years that existed before to 6 if a minimum of 2 deaths or one deceased and one very seriously injured is caused, although the penalty could be increased to 9 years if there are several deceased, but this is left to the discretion of the judge .
The text specifies that if the place of the accident is abandoned, the penalties will go from 6 months to 4 years of imprisonment. This initiative was promoted by Anna González, when her husband died in an accident where the driver ran away. This driver was only sentenced to 2 years in prison
With all these measures the cyclist collective is a bit safer, although mutual respect and following the traffic code will be the best prevention to avoid accidents.
