If you run away... I'll find you.
No more escapes after infringements: a foreign license plate is not a license for impunity.
Europe is breaking down borders for traffic fines and, with long overdue anticipation, is opening up to strengthened cooperation between the municipal police forces of the Twenty-seven.
Hijackers who roam the continent breaking limits and regulations, in addition to being sanctioned, will be forced to pay the money due into the coffers of the municipalities where they were caught red-handed.
A way, in the EU's vision, to enforce the rules established by the Twenty-seven to all drivers and to improve safety on the roads where - numbers in hand - 20 thousand people lose their lives every year.
The measure goes in the direction also taken by Italy with the new code being examined by parliament for a topic, in the words of the MIT, "serious and precious" which cannot be transformed "into an electoral campaign brawl".
The political agreement reached between the European Parliament and national governments aims directly at preventing "reckless driving" even on holiday and in a foreign land.
In addition to speeding, drunk driving and failure to respect red lights, the list of road crimes that will trigger cross-border cooperation has also been expanded to include no parking, dangerous overtaking, driving on the wrong side of the road, crossing the line continuous, entry into restricted traffic areas, failure to provide assistance.
Stricter rules which, as Belgium's rotating EU presidency has claimed, will guarantee "equal treatment for all European motorists", regardless of "their nationality".
The premise that made the regulatory intervention necessary is supported by the data: in approximately 40% of cases cross-border road crimes go unpunished.
For this reason, MEPs and governments have decided to introduce more robust assistance procedures among the Twenty-Seven and the obligation to track down offenders.
National authorities across the border will therefore be forced to respond to requests for help from other countries without further delay, i.e. within two months of gathering all the necessary information.
But that's not all: at the request of the police of the territory in which the transgression occurred, the country of residence of the unruly motorist will have to take responsibility for collecting the sum due in the event that the fine exceeds 70 euros and also when all legal actions to obtain payment have been exhausted.
For drivers, however, there will be the benefit of easier access to road information through digital channels.
In addition to the right to receive "adequate and understandable communications in their language" on the procedures for appealing fines.
The scope of the rules, assured MEP Kosma Zlotwki,
it was extended "only in those areas where it can have a real impact on reducing the number of accidents, including those involving vulnerable road users".
A commitment also included in the EU's 'Vision Zero' strategy to bring road deaths to zero in 2050. Now the political agreement will have to be definitively confirmed.
Then it will take two and a half years to incorporate the new provisions into national laws and prepare for implementation.
And say goodbye to the impunity of holidaymakers.
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