Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada did not support bill No. 15348, which provided for a significant increase in fines for drivers who exceed the speed limit. This was reported by People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, as RBC-Ukraine notes. According to him, the document received 225 votes out of the required 226 — it was literally one vote short of passing in the first reading. Thus, the key initiative to tighten liability for one of the most dangerous traffic violations remained unimplemented.
What the bills provided for
The main text of document No. 15348 proposed introducing fines of 680 to 3,400 hryvnias for speeding, and up to 17,000 hryvnias for repeat offenses. The bill also established a graduated scale of penalties depending on the magnitude of the violation and stricter sanctions for repeat-offender drivers, up to temporary suspension or revocation of the driving license. The alternative bill No. 15348-1 also failed to reach the required number of votes, receiving support from only 198 deputies. In particular, it provided for the abolition of the so-called "threshold of impunity" of 20 km/h, which in practice allows minor speeding to go unpunished.
Reaction of officials
The voting results were commented on by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Igor Klymenko. In his words, it is regrettable that road safety is "still not timely," however, work on solutions that directly affect people's lives and health will continue, on the President's instruction, jointly with the relevant authorities and civil society. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhovsky emphasized that speeding is the main cause of traffic accidents with fatalities and injuries, and noted that today's decision "once again postponed" the necessary legislative changes, but does not stop the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police.
Context: road safety
The Ministry of Internal Affairs points out that only in the past few months several high-profile fatal traffic accidents have occurred in Kyiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, and in most of these cases the drivers had repeatedly been held liable for traffic violations shortly before the accident. Against this backdrop, the department considers the need for legislative changes, rather than merely operational measures at the police level, to be urgent. It was planned that strengthening liability for systematic violations would become a systemic tool for reducing the accident rate.
What's next
As stated by the NSDC and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Rada's rejection does not mean the topic is closed: the parties intend to continue working on alternative solutions and to engage with civil society. For drivers, in the near term the rules and the amount of fines for speeding remain the same, since neither of the two bills considered was adopted. The issue, in essence, returns to square one and will most likely be put to a parliamentary vote again.
