During the Hour of Questions to the Government in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Vyhivskyi, reiterated his call for MPs to increase fines for speeding. According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, current sanctions essentially fail to perform their deterrent function: he described the fine amount as "the cost of two or three cups of coffee" and emphasized that such a sum is not an effective tool for ensuring road safety.
Failed Bill and 'One Vote' Short
Vyhivskyi reminded the assembly that about two months ago, in September, the Verkhovna Rada failed to support Bill No. 15348, which provided for a significant increase in fines for drivers exceeding the speed limit. The minister pointed out that the document was defeated due to a shortage of just one vote and urged lawmakers "not to postpone the issue of road safety." Thus, the issue of revising sanction policy in traffic management has remained open for months.
What Bill No. 15348 Proposed
According to the text of the failed document, speeding fines were supposed to range from 680 hryvnias for minor violations to 17,000 hryvnias for the most serious cases. The authors intended this differentiated scale to create a real financial incentive to obey traffic rules and reduce the number of accidents caused by speeding.
Road Accident Statistics as an Argument
To justify his position, Vyhivskyi cited data showing that speeding is the leading cause of road accidents resulting in deaths and injuries. The minister pointed to a series of high-profile fatal crashes that occurred over recent months in Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts. According to him, in most of these cases, drivers had repeatedly been held accountable for traffic violations shortly before the tragedies, demonstrating the insufficient effectiveness of current penalties.
Context: Why the Issue Remains Unresolved
Vyhivskyi's appeal to parliament comes amid persistent criticism from law enforcement agencies regarding the current fine system, which the agency considers merely formalistic. For the Minister of Internal Affairs, increasing fines is not an isolated initiative, but a systemic position promoted as part of a broader strategy to reduce road accidents. However, political will in the Rada, as the September failure showed, is still insufficient to adopt the necessary legislative amendments.
