New rules from October 1: mercy for speeders

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‘Via Sicura’ – safe route – is the name of the package of measures that came into effect about ten years ago. Politicians made Swiss roads safer and reduced the number of injuries and deaths. That was necessary. Numerous serious accidents occurred in the early 1990s.

It was a time when car manufacturers were installing more and more powerful engines in their vehicles. Anyone who wanted could suddenly have access to no less than 400 hp. And thanks to leasing, virtually everyone was suddenly able to finance previously unaffordable luxury cars.

One of the strictest regulations in the world

With these measures, parliament has also tightened the Road Traffic Act (SVG) and created a new speeding penalty. Since 2013, anyone who exceeds certain speed limits, overtakes recklessly or participates in an unauthorized car race is considered a speeding offender. The penalties are high. Anyone caught faces a minimum prison sentence of one year. Speeding offenders lose their driver’s license for two years.

This means that Switzerland has some of the strictest regulations in the world. That was too draconian for Parliament. Although the effectiveness of the new laws has been proven: in 2019 there were fewer than 200 road deaths for the first time. Ten years earlier there were 349 and in 2000 there were 592.

Parliament withdrew

Nevertheless: at the beginning of 2022, the National Council and the Council of States decided to remove the minimum penalty from the law and reduce the driving license suspension to twelve months. It was said that not everyone who drives too fast is a speeder. The other side spoke of a victory for the car lobby and that this would put an end to speeding.

The Roadcross Foundation, which advocates for accident victims, threatened to hold a referendum if the minimum sentence was abolished. With success: almost a year later, Parliament returned. The minimum penalty remains, but from October 1, courts can also impose milder penalties, for example only imposing a (suspended) fine. The condition is that the suspect has acted from ‘respectable motives’ or has not previously committed a criminal offense in traffic.

For Roadcross it is clear: “The judiciary has assured us that it is by no means a matter of less harsh penalties for speeding in the future. But if, contrary to these guarantees, lax judgments become more and more common and exceptions become the rule, we will defend ourselves against this with political initiatives.”

Source:Blick