Exchange of information on registered vehicles in the Slovak republic for traffic offenses abroad

Abstract

Improving road safety is a prime objective of the European Union's transport policy. An important element of that policy is the consistent enforcement of sanctions for road traffic offences committed in the Union which considerably jeopardise road safety. In order to improve road safety throughout the Union and to ensure equal treatment of drivers, namely resident and non-resident offenders, enforcement should be facilitated irrespective of the Member State of registration of the vehicle. To this end, a system of cross-border exchange of information should be used for certain identified road-safety-related traffic offences, regardless of their administrative or criminal nature under the law of the Member State concerned, granting the Member State of the offence to access the vehicle registration data (VRD) of the Member State of registration. A more efficient cross-border exchange of VRD, which should facilitate the identification of persons suspected of committing a road-safety-related traffic offence, might increase the deterrent effect and induce more cautious behaviour by the driver of a vehicle that is registered in a Member State other than the Member State of the offence, thereby preventing casualties due to road traffic accidents.