The Government is to introduce a points system for drivers to replace the current system of fines and licence suspension for traffic law infringement.
The Secretary of State for Home Affairs, João Almeida, announced that the bill for the establishment of a points system for drivers will be presented to parliament before the end of March.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs declined to forward details of the proposed changeover but the decision to replace the current system is covered in the National Road Safety Strategy and will bring Portugal in line with other EU member countries.
The National Road Safety Strategy 2008-2015 looks mainly at measures to reduce the number of deaths on Portugal’s roads but also recommended the introduction of a points-based system with each traffic infringement earning a set number of penalty points.
The points system is justified in the document as “it should increase the degree of awareness and accountability of drivers for their behaviour.”
Such a system also may prove to be easier to understand than the current, rather baffling scheme.
Spain switched to a penalty points system in 2007, Ireland 2002 and Germany in 1974.
