Cyprus motorists committing traffic offences are to pay heftier fines as MPs are set to vote in a new law next month that increases penalties for bad drivers.
The House Transport Committee has reviewed a government proposal, which introduces bigger increases in fines for offending drivers and prepared its own proposals.
MPs have essentially decided to introduce a “second chance” for offending motorists before they are hit with the hefty fines proposed by the government.
The first fine will be milder but if the driver commits repeats the offence within 12 months, then he will be hit with the heftier fine proposed by the government.
Parliament has suggested the following:
- Mobile phone use: The existing fine stands at €85 and will increase to €150 but if there is a second offence committed within a period of one year, then the offender will have to pay a fine of €300.
- Not wearing a seat belt: The current penalty is €85 and will be increased to €150 for the first offence and then increased to €300 if repeated.
- Not wearing a crash helmet whilst driving a motorbike: The current penalty is €85 and will become €200 for a first offence and increased to €300 for a second offence.
- Parking in a spot reserved for disabled drivers: The current penalty is €85 it will increase € Here MPs decided to show no tolerance.
- Double yellow line parking: The current penalty is €85 and will increase to €
MPs are undecided when it comes to fines regarding speeding. The government’s bill wants speeding fines significantly increased by five-fold.
This would see speedsters fined €5 instead of €1 for every km/h over the speed limit.
MPs seem to be in agreement that as far as the 100 Km/h speed limit is concerned, police officers should ignore drivers travelling under 120 Km/h.
According to the government’s proposal, penalties regarding drink driving are to go up according to the driver’s alcohol intake.
Fines will begin from €125 (up from €100) if the driver is tested with results indicating 22μg / 100ml – 35μg / 100ml.
If the case goes to court, then the penalty imposed increases from €1,000 to €1,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment, while the driver will be penalised with 3-4 penalty points from 0-2.
Maximum fines could reach €5,000 with the driver jailed for up to a year.
