A new points-based licence system is to be introduced for Portuguese drivers staring next June. The system was approved by the Council of Ministers last Thursday, May 21st.
The president of the Automobile Club of Portugal Carlos Barbosa has praised the new system but says it should have been implemented ages ago.
The scheme gives drivers 12 points to start off with and when they are caught violating traffic rules and regulations, points will be deducted for a prescribed time.
Trouble-free drivers can earn bonus points up to a maximum of 15 but those done for drunk driving will lose between 3 and 5 points depending on how incapable they were when stopped and breathalysed.
Drivers will be able to look up their scores online.
Only when all the points have been lost will a licence be taken away and a two year ban imposed after which the driver will have to attend classes to prepare him or her for safer motoring before getting their licence back.
João Almeida, the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, said that until the new scheme comes into force next June, it’s business as usual on the roads and those thinking that they can start in 2016 with a clean sheet can think again.
This ‘count down’ system is used in some other European countries while others, such as the UK, have an rising points system and far harsher penalties for those caught over the drink-drive limit where a driving ban is the inevitable outcome.
The deadline of June 1st, 2016 gives the ministry one year to get it right.
Many drivers are not hopeful, citing the current huge backlog of new and replacement licenses which has been blamed on 'new technology' which clearly has failed to produce the intended results.
If technology for the new points system involves custom-made computer software, this project has a low probability of starting on time or of working efficiently, during the early months at least.
The thought of an habitually drunk driver being allowed to continue to drive until his or her points tally has been exhausted will send road safety campaigners back to the drawing board.
It does appear that the new scheme will allow drivers with the maximum 15 points to be done three times for drink driving before losing their licence.
Last weekend, the Faro PSP arrested six drivers, five of them for driving with excess alcohol in the blood. The age range for the men was 23 to 48 and the woman was 27.
Under the new scheme these drivers could continue to put lives at risk until caught three times if very drunk, or eight times if at the lower end of the scale and starting off with the maximum - bonus included - 15 points.