The government is proposing a revamp of the driving-offence penalty points system listed in its new Road Traffic Law bill, which is being reviewed by the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee after the passage of its outline in a plenary session last year, namely a change from a points-deduction system to a points-accumulation system where a driver will have his or her driving licence revoked after accumulating 18 points, lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who chairs the committee, said yesterday.
Lei briefed reporters after the committee held a closed-door meeting yesterday to review the bill, which was attended by government officials, including Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man and Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Kelvin Lam Hin San, at the building of the Legislative Assembly (AL) in Nam Van.
After its outline was passed by lawmakers in a plenary session in April last year, the committee held several meetings to review the bill last year, while yesterday’s meeting was the committee’s first one this year to review the bill.
The bill proposes the setting-up of a new Road Traffic Law to replace the current Road Traffic Law, which was enacted in 2007.
According to Lei, the government submitted a new version of the bill to the committee last week, proposing various changes to its original amendment bill including a revamp of its proposed driving-offence penalty points system.
The bill’s initial version proposed a points system implemented on a points-deduction basis where a driver would be banned from driving for a certain period of time after a certain number of points had been deducted due to committing certain traffic offences.
The originally proposed points-deduction system would have had a total of 12 points for each driver where he or she would be banned from driving for three months after six points or more had been deducted, while he or she would be banned from driving for six months after all 12 points had been deducted.
While the driving-offence points system’s original version only proposed the suspension of driving, i.e., a temporary driving ban, the new version proposes the possibility of revoking a driving licence.
Lei said during yesterday’s media briefing that after studying opinions raised by legislators and those raised by various segments of civil society, the government was now proposing a driving-offence points system to be implemented on a points-accumulation system in reference to the respective systems in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Portugal.
Lei said that according to the newly proposed points-accumulation system, a driver will have zero points on his or her licence at the beginning. The bill’s new version proposes that a driver who has committed certain traffic offences will each time be given a certain number of points based on the severity of their violations, while a driver will have his or her driving licence revoked after accumulating 18 points.
Traffic offences listed in the current Road Traffic Law comprise three types of violations, namely administrative violations which are merely punishable by a fine, criminal offences, and offences the severity of which lies between administrative regulations and crimes. Those committing the third type of violations, such as driving without a licence, speeding, and reversing against the flow of traffic, will face a temporary driving ban, in addition to a fine.
Criminal offences listed in the Road Traffic Law include drunk driving, evading responsibility after a traffic accident, and abandoning the victim of a traffic accident.
According to Lei, the bill’s new version proposes that a driver will get one point after committing certain administrative violations listed in the Road Traffic Law, while he or she will get four or five points after committing criminal traffic offences. A driver will get two or three points after committing the third type of traffic violations.
In Macau, according to the Road Traffic Law, those whose driving licences have been revoked can apply to take a driving test to obtain a driving licence again, but he or she can only take the test at least one year after revocation of his or her driving licence.
Pedestrians cross Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, the city’s main thoroughfare, yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
