No leniency for drunk drivers who violate driving bans

Poland's Ministry of Justice is pushing for tougher measures against drunk drivers who repeatedly flout court orders, following several high-profile incidents. The proposed amendments to the penal and petty offense codes aim to bolster road safety by ensuring more severe consequences for repeat offenders.

Recent cases highlight the urgency of the issue. On July 16, a man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for causing a fatal accident while driving drunk and with multiple driving bans. Just two days later, another driver was caught with a blood alcohol level of 2.7 per mille, despite having a court-issued ban. Another incident involved a driver under the influence of drugs, who fatally struck a 9-year-old child while driving despite a five-year ban.

The Ministry of Justice acknowledges that despite increasingly strict penalties, the number of cases involving driving under the influence or violating driving bans remains significant. The proposed legislation seeks to reinforce the general prevention function of criminal law, demonstrating that breaking traffic laws carries real and severe consequences. Under the new rules, judges would be compelled to impose non-suspended prison sentences for drivers who violate a driving ban while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. Suspended sentences would be an exception, reserved only for "particularly justified cases."

Currently, suspended sentences are only prohibited for accident perpetrators with at least 1.5 per mille blood alcohol or those driving during a ban. The proposed changes would close this loophole, preventing suspended sentences for those with lower blood alcohol levels or under the influence of drugs, as well as eliminating the possibility of conditional suspension of proceedings for such offenders. This aims to ensure that violations, even if the driver is sober but on a ban, are met with more serious judicial outcomes.

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Despite the successive tightening of criminal sanctions, a significant number of cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating substances, and notorious cases of violating driving bans imposed by the court, persist. It is necessary to introduce appropriate legal provisions that allow for the realization of the function of criminal law – general prevention, which is to deter citizens from committing criminal offenses or traffic violations, by showing through the threat of punishment and the imposition of sentences that breaking the law involves real and severe consequences.