Racers should be punished more severely

It was the first appearance for SVP federal councilor Albert Rösti (55) in his new position in parliament. As the new head of the transport department, he appeared in good spirits before the National Council on Wednesday morning, where he spoke about the updated Swiss road law.

Originally, parliament wanted to give the judge more leeway in punishing speeding offenses and to abolish the minimum penalty. A referendum threat from the Roadcross Foundation convinced parliament to turn around.

The minimum sentence of one year in prison should now be manageable if a motorist has acted “out of respectable motives” or if he or she is not innocent. For example, if someone rushes to the hospital with a pregnant woman in the passenger seat, Rösti said on the council. He is pleased that Roadcross has now announced that it will not hold a referendum, said the SVP Federal Council in the House of Representatives.

At the same time, it should also be possible to shorten the minimum basic period for withdrawing a driving license from two years to twelve months in the event of speeding offences.

Vote pending

In principle, both chambers had already approved the compromise solution before the start of the spring session. The National Council had to consider the matter again because the Council of States had reformulated the text of the law in its winter session to create more clarity in its interpretation.

The approval of the great chamber was expected. This is also because otherwise all other goals of the law reform would have been lost.

With the revision of the Road Traffic Act, the Federal Council is pursuing three goals: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to increase road safety and to enable automated driving. These main points were undisputed in both Councils. The deal is now ready for the final vote. (SDA/h)

Source:Blick