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Ukrainian motorists are likely to face significant changes in traffic regulations, as the Verkhovna Rada returns to consideration of a long-discussed bill on the introduction of a penalty point system. The initiative, which is once again being discussed in the corridors of parliament, involves a radical change in the approach to punishing systematic traffic violations, drawing on the long-standing and successful experience of European Union countries. As explained by Vladimir Kreidenko, deputy head of the relevant committee on transport and infrastructure, the philosophy behind the innovation is to create an effective mechanism to influence those drivers who perceive one-off fines as a one-off payment for the opportunity to constantly break the rules. According to him, the new system will take into account a wide range of violations — from speeding and illegal parking to causing accidents — assigning a certain number of points for each such incident, the cumulative effect of which could lead to the temporary revocation of a driver's licence.
This bill is particularly relevant in light of the ongoing problem of so-called ‘untouchable’ drivers, who have been demonstrating disregard for traffic rules for years, remaining virtually unpunished due to the imperfection of the current legislation. Kreidenko pointed out the existence of a category of car owners who accumulate dozens of fines every day for speeding, aggressive driving and other violations, but continue to drive freely, posing a real threat to the life and health of other road users. The current administrative code does not provide for any escalation of liability for such persons, limiting itself to standard monetary penalties, which do not represent a significant financial burden for wealthy citizens, turning into a kind of subscription fee for the right to ignore established safety standards and requirements.
The history of this issue has deep roots in Ukraine, as the first attempt to introduce a similar mechanism was made back in 2015, when each driver was annually credited with a symbolic reserve of 150 points, which was reduced by 50 points for each violation recorded by automatic photo and video recording devices. However, the system, which existed until 2020, was never properly fine-tuned and integrated into general traffic enforcement practice, remaining in the memories of motorists as a kind of half-baked experiment that created more problems than it brought real benefits. Many experts at the time pointed to the lack of a clear methodology for calculating points for different types of violations, poor technical equipment and numerous bureaucratic delays, which ultimately determined its failure.
The revived bill, number 6502, registered back in early 2022 but long forgotten against the backdrop of Russia's full-scale invasion, is now being finalised in a parliamentary committee, taking into account both past mistakes and current realities. Deputies will have to resolve a whole range of complex issues, including determining the scale of points accumulation for various categories of violations, developing a mechanism for their gradual write-off for accident-free driving, and creating a unified database that is resistant to possible external influences. The public and the expert community have certain hopes that, in the current conditions of building a constitutional state, the new system will become an effective tool for educating disciplined road users, rather than just another way to replenish the budget. The success of this initiative will depend directly on how well thought out and technologically advanced its final implementation will be, capable of withstanding both corruption risks and the usual human factor, which often negates even the most progressive legislative initiatives.