The Senate’s judicial committee gave a favorable report to a legislative proposal that lowers the fines for cyclists.

The bill, which was proposed by the opposition party Save Romania Union (USR), aims to amend the Traffic Code so as to reduce the fines from the current RON 870 - 1,160 (EUR 189 – 252) to RON 290 – 435 (EUR 63 – 94), reports local News.ro.

The USR lawmakers say that bicycles should be included in the same class of sanctions as mopeds or animal-powered vehicles. “The social danger of not complying with the legal provisions is reasonably close for all the above-mentioned groups. Despite the unitary approach of these categories, their treatment in terms of sanctions applied is differentiated, […] the level of fines (e.n for cyclists) being three times higher,” reads the explanatory statement of the legislative proposal.

According to the initiators, the police officers avoid sanctioning the cyclists who violate traffic rules because of the high fines. Moreover, many people think twice before choosing to travel by bike because of the big sanctions.

The Senate is the first chamber of the Parliament notified in this sense, with the Chamber of Deputies having the final say.

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Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com