Fines for motorists will change | Drive

“From now on, in the event of a speeding violation, the case management system that processes the violation will determine the amount of the administrative fine based on the measured speed,” ORFK answered Vezess’ question.

With a sentence that at first seemed a little tight-lipped, the police made our information official that from May 1 there is no longer the previous allowance for the speed posted by the traffic police. More specifically: from here on, speeders will be fined after reaching a lower speed.

By changing the practice it has followed for decades, the police will act in accordance with the current legislation from now on. According to the paragraph “on the use of certified measuring devices” of the relevant chapter of the Act on Metrology, “a certified measuring device – until proven otherwise – must be considered as having no errors affecting the measurement result.”.

Nevertheless, the system has long been “adding” something to the speed data posted by the traffic police, so drivers speeding on the highway did not receive a fine even at a speed of 150 (despite the 130 speed limit), because, for example, the instrument was set to 154, as the writer of these lines personally experienced sitting in a police car. Most motorists know that for example 65 can “still fit” on a 60 license plate, and 98 on a 90 license plate.

This situation will change from here on, the ORFK confirmed this in response to our question. “The value given by the measuring device is to be taken into account without further correction,” they wrote, referring to the quoted part of the law. Moreover, according to the police, “it is also necessary to emphasize that this position is confirmed in judicial practice, and the practice related to the use of breathalyzers, which are among the mandatory certified measuring devices, also strengthens this legal basis.”

The up-to-date discretionary practice has certainly served to reduce the number of cases challenging fines. The question is whether there will really be less debate in favor of tighter fines.

What does the lawyer say?

“This can mean nothing more than an administrative fine for those driving at a speed of 51 km/h at the 50 sign,” Ádám Janklovics, a lawyer specializing in traffic matters, told us. At the same time, according to him, the breathalyzer analogy is lame, because there the driver is asked whether he accepts the result shown by the instrument after blowing into it. If not, there is a second round with a urine sample and a blood test.

According to Janklovics, the digital instruments of increasingly modern vehicles show their drivers a more accurate number than before, but he pointed out that the average age of the passenger car fleet in Hungary is 15 years, that is, there are a lot of people older than 15-20-25 on the road. However, according to him, it is reasonable to assume that while driving these cars, the indicator shows 50 km/h in vain, that is, the driver is driving according to the rules to the best of his knowledge, but it may still happen that the traffic police measure him at 51-52-53 km/h.

“In this case, the system is quite one-sided, as the driver would have to prove against the police data that he was driving at a speed of 50. However, he cannot prove this. In addition, he cannot know for sure that the traffipax really measured 51-52-53, because he does not have access to the instrument,” says the lawyer.

New traffipax are coming and Trafiboxes are set up all over the country

It is not known whether the change in practice can be related to the fact that the police recently received their latest traffic police. “4iG Nyrt. will deliver the devices in May 2023,” ORFK answered a few weeks ago when we asked when the 40 new speedometers, which can also be measured while moving, will be used.

The arrival of the devices purchased for HUF 296 million net now “provides an opportunity to get to know the operation of the devices, to train additional operators, and to carry out any possible modifications and repairs”. In other words, they are preparing full steam ahead for the commissioning of 40 new traffipax.

At the same time, the so-called Trafiboxes are being installed across the country at the request of local governments, which is an innovative and effective tool to slow down traffic and catch speeders, based on the idea of ​​a police officer. A few days ago, Vezess was the first to announce the exact address of the 46 existing devices, as well as the address of the 48 new Trafiboxes that will be installed across the country by the end of 2023, including in Budapest. You can see them and read what makes them so tricky here.

So far, the police have caught 1,700 speeders a day, and even more may be caught from here

Since time immemorial, speeding has been cited as the main cause of accidents by ORFK statistics, the police – and also the municipalities that order Trafiboxes – use speedometers to improve traffic safety. At the same time, the opinion voiced by many is that the state mostly expects the tens of billions in fines from the police, but there is no doubt that there is much to improve on the roads.

Last year, there were a total of 14,679 traffic accidents involving personal injuries in the country (that is, an average of 40 per day), while a total of 621,637 speeding tickets were recorded with the previous traffic tickets, in addition to the use of the allowance (which is an average of 1,703 fines per day).

The question is whether, and to what extent, stricter fines and new speedometers will improve traffic safety. It seems certain: it will be easier to get punished in the second half of the year.

Of course, if you don’t want to get a speeding ticket, here are 10 tips for avoiding traffic tickets.