Grim trend: More and more road killers on Hungarian roads
In recent years, the number of road endangerment incidents on Hungarian roads has skyrocketed. But what can explain the jump?
Almost twice as many road hazards in 2022 than in 2020
While in 2020 only 167, in 2022 almost twice as many, 293 road hazards were registered, napi.hu learned from the National Police Headquarters (ORFK). Although in the judicial statistics, road accidents are not recorded according to the date of their occurrence, but according to the date of their entry, i.e. after the investigation has been closed.
Nevertheless, the number of road endangerment cases is increasing at an astonishing rate, which will be confirmed by the statistics for this year and the coming years. According to the portal, serious research is needed to find out the reasons for this increase.
Accident vs endangering
An important distinction between causing a road accident and endangering the safety of a road user is that the former is a reckless offence and the latter is an intentional offence. In the latter case, intentionality means that the perpetrator foresees the consequences of their act and either accepts or even wishes for them.
According to a lawyer interviewed by napi.hu, road endangerment can be any behaviour that endangers the life or physical safety of road users. Even the passenger of the vehicle can be a victim.
Penalty
The ORFK also revealed that the initiation of road endangerment procedures by victims has been particularly facilitated by the proliferation of on-board cameras. Typical behaviours include tailgating, penalty braking, but also conflict between motorist and cyclist.
Road endangerment is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment in the main, but the sentence can be 1-5, 2-8 or 5-10 years, depending on whether the offence causes serious bodily harm, permanent disability, serious impairment of health or mass casualties, or death. In all cases, the court will disqualify the offender from driving.
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That explains the increase in reckless driving ‘endangerment’ in Budapest at least, according to anecdotal reports include driving towards pedestrians (who have the right of way) and/or driving through pedestrian crossings (and cyclists too).
The sooner Bp council gets in red light, pedestrian and speed cameras, there will be better safety and income while looking less like Turkey…..not sure about broader society.