The crime of abandonment of the place of the accident will be introduced in the penal code and will be punished with up to penalties of 4 years of prison

According to the newspaper 20 minutes, the parliamentary groups in Congress have reached an agreement in principle to toughen even the nine years the maximum prison sentence for reckless homicide when it is the consequence of a serious recklessness at the wheel of a motor vehicle, such as the speeding or alcohol.

So it appears in the blotter with which the paper of the Congress in charge of reform the Penal Code in terms of road safety and which will likely be voted on next Monday. Parliamentary sources have explained that it will have the agreement of the majority of the groups.

In this draft, the groups have agreed to include a new chapter in the Penal Code dedicated to the vial security felony, "for understanding that it is a different and intentional conduct and independent of the previous reckless or fortuitous conduct." "What you want to sanction in this case is the intrinsic evil in the abandonment of who knows that leaves behind someone who could be injured or even deceased, the lack of solidarity with the victims, criminally relevant due to the direct involvement in the accident prior to abandonment, and the legitimate expectations of pedestrians, cyclists or drivers of any motor vehicle or moped, to be cared for in the event of a traffic accident ”, says the document.

The new wording specifies that the abandonment of the accident site, when a recklessness behind the wheel has been committed, it will be sanctioned with penalties of between six months and four years in prison and the withdrawal of the driver's license between one and four years. If it is considered that this omission of relief is "fortuitous", the penalty will be reduced to a maximum of six months, while the withdrawal of the card could be up to two years.

This reform, which was initiated at the request of the previous PP Government following a request from victims 'and cyclists' associations, had as main objectives, as detailed in the explanatory memorandum, clarify the situation of serious and less serious penalties; the increase in the punishment of this type of behavior; and the introduction of the crime of abandonment (omission of the duty of distress) from the place of the accident. Speed, alcohol and drugs Thus, the new text bet to always qualify as serious imprudence driving that threatens the integrity of people in the following three cases: when a crime against road safety is committed speeding, when it is done under the influence of drugs, or under influence of alcohol. Until now, the judge assessed whether the imprudence had been serious, less serious or slight, according to the circumstances concurrent in the event.

With the proposed new regulation, in any of these three cases there will be no room for interpretation and it will be considered serious imprudence in any case. The maximum penalties pass like this from four to nine years. "In this way, the highest penalty is guaranteed for certain particularly serious behaviors resulting in death, particularly when the driver of the motor vehicle or moped drives under the influence of toxic drugs, narcotics, psychotropic substances or alcoholic beverages or excessive speed”, says the draft of the opinion.

This increase in punishment is proposed through two channels (with the drafting of two new articles). One of them allows the judge or court to impose the penalty of up to nine years in prison in case of several deaths, or deaths and serious injuries, caused by imprudence in the driving of motor vehicles. The other gives the possibility of increasing the pain in one degree when there is a plurality of people who suffer injuries that impair their physical integrity, their physical or mental health or the loss or uselessness of an organ, among others. In the same way they increase the penalties of withdrawal of card in these cases. "The intrinsic evil of abandonment"Another of the main reforms that they demanded, in this case the cyclist group, was the introduction of the crime of abandonment of the accident site with an autonomous writing.

Photo: EFE