ZAGREB, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatian government proposed on Thursday to adopt much stricter traffic laws in a bid to enhance road safety.
Amendments to the existing laws were addressed to the regular procedure in the Croatian Parliament and are expected to be adopted in the shortest possible time.
Most of the penalities have been doubled or tripled, so the ones for the eight most serious violations will be increased from the current 5,000 to 15,000 kunas (about 760 to 2,290 U.S. dollars) to 10,000 to 20,000 kuna (about 1,520 to 3,550 U.S. dollars).
Under the Croatian law, the toughest penalties are for driving in the opposite direction on the highway, speeding by over 50km/h over the limit, running the red light intentionally, refusing alcohol and drug testing, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, driving without passing a driving test and driving when the driver's license is temporarily seized.
Penalties for not using the seat belt will be increased from 500 kuna (about 76 U.S. dollars) to 1,000 kuna (about 150 U.S. dollars), while using cell phones while driving will be fined 1,500 kuna (about 228 U.S. dollars).
In addition to financial punishment, there are also negative points and temporary driving bans. For drivers who persistently repeat the most severe misdemeanors, police will be able to confiscate their cars for a while.
According to Croatian Statistics Bureau, there were 2.19 million registered vehicles by the end of 2018, 1.66 million of which are private cars.
Last year, the southeastern European country recorded 10,450 road traffic accidents and 317 people were killed, which is about four percent less than in 2017.
