Bulgarian Parliament Passes Tougher Driving Under Influence Penalties

Politics » DOMESTIC | July 16, 2014, Wednesday // 12:42
Bulgaria: Bulgarian Parliament Passes Tougher Driving Under Influence Penalties File photo.

Bulgaria's Parliament adopted at first reading amendments to the Criminal Code, for increased penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Wednesday.

The amendments were introduced by the center-right opposition GERB party and were voted in favor by 101 Mps, 3 were "against" and 46 abstained.

Driving with blood alcohol content over 1.2‰ will be penalized with 1 to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of BGN 200 instead of the current one year, Dnevnik informs.

Driving under the influence of drugs or their analogues will now resutl in one to three years imprisonment and a fine of BGN 500 to BGN 1,500 instead of the previous two years in jail. In case of repeated driving after drug use offenders will be punished by 1-5 years in prison and a fine from BGN 500 to BGN 1,500.

Penalties for causing death or injury under the influence of alcohol, drugs and for driving without a valid license have also been increased. Instead of the previous one to five years imprisonment for causing serious or moderate injury, the punishment will now be from one to six years, and in particularly serious cases instead of two to eight years, the penalty will be two to ten years.

Penalties for caused death will now be 3 to 15 years, and in particularly serious cases – 5 to 20 years in prison.

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Tags: Criminal Code, driving under the influence, alcohol, drugs, penalties, imprisonment

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