HoP member Magazinovic: Reckless driving defined for the first time in BiH legislation

“For years in this country, we have been witnessing the same thing: reckless driving through residential areas, running red lights, street racing, and then after someone dies, everyone says that ‘something must change.’ But nothing changed, because our law never even recognized what citizens see on the roads every day: reckless driving as a conscious endangerment of other people’s lives. That is why we proposed this law. And today it has finally been adopted. For the first time in our legislation, reckless driving is clearly defined – driving in gross violation of traffic rules and behavior that directly endangers the safety of others,” Magazinovic said, who is the bill’s proposer.

He specified that reckless driving includes running a red light two or more times within 20 minutes, exceeding the speed limit by more than 40 km/h in urban areas and 60 km/h outside urban areas, overtaking a queue across a solid line, and driving with more than 1.5 g/kg of alcohol in the blood or under the influence of drugs.

He emphasized that penalties will no longer be symbolic.

“High fines, penalty points, suspension of driving licenses, and the possibility of temporary or permanent confiscation of vehicles for the most serious and repeated offenses are being introduced. It will no longer be possible to avoid responsibility by refusing drug tests. When I proposed this law, I thought about how dangerously accustomed we have all become to news about young people dying. As if tragedies have become a normal part of everyday life. They must not be. Because a state that does not protect people on the streets and roads quickly stops inspiring trust anywhere else,” Magazinovic said.