Text file: 1341.txt
author: schimaki
downvotes: 5
end consideration date: 2011-01-14
id: '1341'
number comments: 20
number views: 8814
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: 'Response from the Ministry of Transport

  The epidemic of road traffic injuries has become one of the key problems of transport
  development in recent decades, due to the rapid development of motorisation. Numerous
  studies have shown the predominant role of the human factor in road accidents, which
  is often linked to the intoxication of drivers and other road users. The proportion
  of alcohol-impaired drivers in road accidents is decreasing in Slovenia, but is
  still worrying in terms of value. The highest proportion of alcohol-impaired drivers
  is found in fatal road traffic accidents, and in terms of type of driver, the highest
  proportion of alcohol-impaired drivers among all drivers in the same group is found
  among motorcycle drivers (close to 20%), followed by cyclists (18%), pedestrians
  (17%), tractor drivers (16%), motorcycle drivers (13%) and car drivers (12%). Looking
  at the statistics on the consequences of road accidents by type of road user and
  by type of driver, the situation is as follows. In 2008, 16 cyclists died in road
  accidents (8 of whom caused the accident), 155 cyclists were seriously injured (97
  of them by the driver) and 854 cyclists were slightly injured (391 of them by the
  driver). In 2009, 18 cyclists died in road accidents (11 of them caused the accident),
  175 cyclists were seriously injured (including 105 of them) and 909 cyclists were
  slightly injured (including 408 of them). In 2010, 16 cyclists died in road accidents
  (9 of them caused the accident), 125 cyclists were seriously injured (76 of them
  caused the accident) and 834 cyclists were lightly injured (396 of them caused the
  accident). In Slovenia, one in three fatal and one in four serious injury road accidents
  are caused by alcohol, as shown by a road safety survey carried out last year by
  the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. In the period 2004-2008,
  one in every 2.8 fatal road accidents was caused by a driver with more than 0.5
  g alcohol/kg blood. This means a total of 35.6%. However, if we take into account
  all those who had more than 0.0 g of alcohol/kg of blood, their share among all
  those who caused fatal road accidents in the period 2004-2008 was as high as 48.9%,
  i.e. almost half, or one in two, of all those who caused a fatal road accident had
  some amount of alcohol in their blood. The average amount of alcohol in these 48.9%
  of the fatalities was 1.25 g of alcohol/kg of blood, and only 20% of these 48.9%
  of fatalities had less than 0.25 g of alcohol/kg of blood. In the minds of most
  people, alcohol and driving (whatever the means of transport) are not mutually exclusive,
  and are therefore linked. Such behavioural patterns, rooted in globally entrenched
  social habits, are worrying and we are aware that the road to alcohol-free transport
  is a long one. Foreign examples show that in some countries the proportion of drink-driving
  accidents has been reduced by as much as a third thanks to stricter legislation
  (where penalties did not differ according to whether the road user was a motorist
  or a bicyclist), and the lowering of the blood alcohol limit for drivers and the
  more appropriate treatment of drunk drivers in the context of medical selection
  have also had a positive effect. The reform of road safety legislation in Slovenia
  has also brought a comprehensive approach to tackling the problem of alcohol in
  road traffic. Therefore, if we want to reduce the proportion of alcohol-impaired
  drivers in road traffic accidents in Slovenia and the proportion of alcohol-impaired
  drivers (i.e. all drivers), it is essential that we treat everyone equally (both
  in terms of rehabilitation and in terms of penal policy).'
response date: 2011-02-09
response due date: null
sent date: 2010-12-16
title: Enhanced penalties for drink-driving cyclists.
upvotes: 12
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/1341
