Koković on the traffic accident in New Belgrade: "This is the last straw; we must toughen the penalties"

He also pointed out that the accident is a clear signal that stricter penalties for drivers are needed.

Koković stated that the traffic accident that occurred during the night between Saturday and Sunday in New Belgrade is “the straw that broke the camel’s back” when it comes to reckless drivers, and emphasized that this incident should influence the content of the new Road Safety Law.

“The driver had a blood alcohol level of 1.17‰ and was also under the influence of psychoactive substances. Talking with friends and acquaintances, and even now as we speak, it evokes a kind of anger in me, because a moment of carelessness, arrogance, and drunkenness extinguished an entire family. Choosing to get behind the wheel in such a state is not a mistake; it is a conscious decision to harm others as well as yourself. This is not an accident, it is not a mishap, it is simply a crime on the road,” Koković said on TV Prva.

He pointed out that under current law, the driver faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and added that with good behavior, this driver could be back on the streets in 10 years and continue his life.

Koković cited the example of a new law recently enacted in Greece, under which driving under the influence of alcohol carries a fine of €4,000, a 10-year driving ban, and five years in prison, while in the case of a traffic accident with a fatal outcome caused by driving under the influence, the driver faces up to 40 years in prison.

He believes that stricter penalties would impact drivers’ awareness.

“When we consider our mentality and what has been happening over the past few years, what contributes to increased road safety is both repression and prevention. Repression must be significantly stronger and stricter, and the law we expect soon must be much different if we want to drastically reduce the number of fatalities on our roads,” Koković said.

He noted that last year the Ministry of Internal Affairs sanctioned 1.5 million drivers, of whom 50,000 were penalized for driving under the influence of alcohol, and 10,000 were detained for sobriety testing.

“That means they had much higher levels of alcohol in their system than the driver in New Belgrade. In other words, more than 1.2‰ – that’s 10,000 potential killers,” Koković said.

He added that a new law is currently being drafted, with ABS being one of the members of the working group, and he expects that the new law will be adopted next year following a public debate.