#porunaleyjusta The Senate will toughen penalties for drivers who cause casualties on Wednesday
According to Servimedia, the Senate plenary session is expected to give final approval next Wednesday to a reform of the Penal Code that toughens penalties for reckless drivers who cause accidents with deaths or injuries , so that they will face up to nine years in prison if they cause several deaths or up to four years in prison if they leave the scene of the accident , as requested by victims and cyclists.
The initiative stems from a bill presented by the People's Party (PP) in the Congress of Deputies in June 2017, following the 'For a Just Law' campaign, spearheaded by Anna González , who lost her husband after he was hit by a truck while cycling on the shoulder. The truck driver fled the scene, although he was later arrested and subsequently released. He never served any sentence because the cyclist died instantly, and the law does not consider this situation as failure to render aid.
The text includes, as a new feature, the creation of the crime of leaving the scene of an accident, which will be punishable by between six months and four years in prison , and a driving ban of one to four years if the driver flees after causing a fatal accident or one with injuries. This penalty is reduced to three to six months in prison and a driving ban of six months to two years if the flight is accidental.
“ What is being punished in this case is the inherent malice in abandoning someone who knows they are leaving behind someone who may be injured or even dead, the lack of solidarity with the victims, criminally relevant due to the direct involvement in the accident prior to the abandonment, and the legitimate expectations of pedestrians, cyclists or drivers of any motor vehicle or moped, to be attended to in the event of a traffic accident ,” the text, reported by Servimedia, states.
Furthermore, it redefines the categories of serious and less serious negligence while driving. The former includes driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or speeding , and penalties could be increased by one or two degrees if the driver causes death or injury to several people , with the maximum sentence being nine years in prison if the number of fatalities were "very high."
And it is considered less serious recklessness if the judge stipulates that the accident was caused by a serious violation of the traffic rules. Drivers who cause injuries that require medical or surgical treatment will be punished with a fine of three to 12 months.
The parliamentary procedure began with a high degree of consensus in the Congress of Deputies, where numerous experts appeared on the subject. However, Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea voted against in the lower house during a plenary session held last November that 22 witnessed on the rostrum of excyclical guests such as Perico Delgado, winner of the Tour de France at 1988, and Roberto Warden, Paralympic champion in Athens 2004.
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Once in the Senate, the text has once again raised a majority consensus. The reform of the Penal Code exceeded last week the phase of presentation and commission with the majority desire of the senators to keep the document received from the Congress.
Only Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea has submitted amendments, specifically 10, which maintain the plot line of the rejection that showed the purple formation in the Congress.
The amendments, to which Servimedia had access, go in the line of not creating the crime of abandonment of the accident site, but that those cases are judged by administrative, not criminal, in addition to proposing amendments to the Law on Civil Liability and Insurance in the Circulation of Motor Vehicles, and the Insurance Contract Law to benefit the injured against the insurers.
