Those who think they can still avoid paying driving fines incurred while holidaying abroad are in for a surprise if a proposal submitted by the European Commission is approved by EU member states.
Commission vice president Jacques Barrot, responsible for road safety, has tabled a proposal so that all the 27 EU member states will have an efficient database system making it easier to track down driving offenders even if their car is registered abroad.
The proposed directive will facilitate the cross-border prosecution of traffic offences through technical and legal instruments put in place in all 27 member states. This will enable EU drivers to be identified and prosecuted for offences committed in a member state other than the one where their vehicles are registered.
According to the Commission, the new system will make an appreciable difference to road safety in Europe by bringing about a positive change of behaviour in both non-resident and resident drivers. It will also end the unequal treatment which often exists between the two groups of road users.
As things stand today, a driver committing an offence under the highway code in a car registered in an EU country where he is not resident evades prosecution, with very few exceptions, because of difficulty in identifying the offender or in checking the address where the vehicle is registered.
Mr Barrot said, that to remedy this situation, the Commission would like to see a system that will make it easier to deal across national borders with offences that are frequently the cause of accidents.
"A European network for the electronic exchange of data will make it possible to send notices of offences to other countries.
Although this will require member states to set up appropriate administrative instruments, it will result in a simpler procedure when compared to today's manual approach," he said.
The proposed directive will cover four types of road traffic offences: speeding, drink-driving, not wearing a seat belt and failing to stop at a red light.
According to the EU executive, the four offences are the leading causes of accidents and road deaths and are cited as causes in almost 75 per cent of all road deaths.
Since 2001, the EU's goal in road safety has been to halve the number of victims of fatal accidents in 10 years. In 2001, 54,000 people were killed on the roads in the 27 EU member states. The number of road deaths was last year cut to 43,000, equivalent to five medium-sized passenger aircraft crashing in Europe every week. This still makes the 2001 EU target way off the mark.
Malta is considered to have the lowest number of fatal accidents on a per capita basis in the EU.