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Roundup: Lithuania should introduce zero alcohol limit for drivers: minister

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lithuanian interior minister suggested on Thursday that the country should introduce zero alcohol promilles ban for drivers in the Baltic country.

"We will have to move this direction, zero promilles to all participants of the traffic, as we can see that to some people it is difficult to identify the limit," Skvernelis said in an interview with the local broadcaster Ziniu Radijas.

At the moment, alcohol content in the blood of most of the drivers should not exceed 0.4 promille.

According to Skvernelis, part of drivers take the risk of getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, failing to properly evaluate their ability to drive and thinking that they are not over the limit.

Some experts insist that any alcohol intake influences the body, its reactions and perception of environment.

As of the beginning of this year, the zero-promille requirement is in place for beginner drivers, taxi and motorbike drivers and also drivers of large vehicles, BNS news agency reported.

Meanwhile, lawmakers at the Seimas, Lithuanian parliament, registered a draft project under which higher penalties for irresponsible drivers are being suggested. Fines for those exceeding the speed limit should be increased, while drunken drivers on whose fault people were killed should face criminal charges, the draft suggested.

According to the draft, drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs who killed a person should face an imprisonment from 7 to 15 years, while in cases with more casualties the penalty should increase from 8 to 20 years in prison.

Back in September, Lithuania was shocked by the incident when a drunken truck driver killed a young police officer on her duty. However, it was one of the many similar cases about deaths on Lithuanian roads fated by the drivers under the influence of alcohol.

Almost a decade of continuing deadly accidents in Lithuanian roads and failed efforts to increase the safety were named after war on roads.

According to the European Commission, Lithuania remains among four member states having the highest road fatality rates in the EU, following Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria.

In 2014, Lithuania was also the fourth among the countries with the highest share of pedestrian deaths, according to the Commission.

According to Lithuanian police, 165 people have been killed on the roads since the start of this year, or 14.9 percent less than during the same period last year. Eleven people under-aged people were killed in traffic accidents within the period. Endit