Heavy penalties
In the current penal code, a level 3 sentence is provided for anyone causes a deadly traffic accident. It can go up to five years in prison and a fine of 10,000 euros and applies whatever the reason for the accident (an inattention, driving in a state of drunkenness or under influence of drugs, etc.).
The text of Minister Verlinden stipulates that the driver responsible for a fatal accident would now be prosecuted for homicide in the context of traffic. The bill provides heavier penalties in certain cases, in particular in the event of conduct under the influence of alcohol or without a license, or in the event of non-compliance with a red light. The maximum sentence will then be considerably weighed down, up to ten years in prison and a fine of 16,000 euros.
Adapt the penal vocabulary
“Using terms such as” regrettable accident “in the event of death on the road is no longer compatible with the severity of dangerous behavior on the road, and even less with its possible consequences”justifies Annelies Verlinden which wants to raise awareness of such homicide (potential) (potential).
It is also a question of adapting the vocabulary of criminal law to feelings and the reality experienced by relatives of the victims of the road during the legal proceedings which follow a drama on the road, she adds.
Breakers in the Highway Code will be sanctioned more quickly and more severely, in particular recurrences who commit serious offenses in Belgium, there are 40,000 victims of the road each year, of which nearly 500 lose their lives. “This figure must imperatively drop,” she adds.
Does road homicide are about to enter Belgian law?
Romane’s parents’ fight
The criminal concept of homicide in the context of traffic already exists abroad. In England, Wales, the Netherlands and most states in the United States, causing death as an automobilist constitutes a specific offense. In France, the concept of road homicide has just been introduced into the law, in particular following the initiative of victims associations.
In Belgium, the parents of Romane Pontello, mortally mowed by a driver on September 16, 2023, waged the same fight. The 24 -year -old woman returned home to an electric scooter when she was struck by an soaked driver who had 1.9 g/l of alcohol in the blood. On April 29, his father and mother had delivered a poignant testimony before the Justice Commission of the Chamber.
Full crimes
“It is not an accident. It is not an unfortunate coincidence. It is a drama that stems from a conscious choice: that of driving under influence, with total contempt for the lives of others”said Rinaldo Pontello. The victim, who had just won his master’s degree in law, had been dragged over 30 meters. The driver, who had 1.9 gr/l of alcohol in the blood had fled on foot after the shock.
The change of the penal code aims to recognize the severity of these dramas as full -fledged crimes. It will not be worth for the driver’s trial which killed Romane, which should still take place this year.
The author made a month of preventive detention before being released, under electronic bracelet at first. He risks 5 years in prison maximum.
No to the establishment of a “road homicide”: the law is not there to satisfy popular vindictive