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Zagreb - The Interior Ministry State Secretary Žarko Katić defended the final bill on road traffic safety in the Sabor on Wednesday, saying that it is aimed at reducing the number of traffic accidents and that no new obligations are being introduced for doctors.
"No new obligation is being introduced for doctors," Katić said, responding to the Opposition's criticism that family doctors would be obliged to notify the ministry of their patients' temporary inability to drive.
Katic also claimed that the workload for doctors will not increase significantly since they are networked and would only be required to enter the code of a certain disease into the system.
"Even now, the incumbent law stipulates that all doctors, not only family doctors but also specialists and private doctors, are obliged to submit information to the ministry of any changes in health that affect the ability to drive safely," said Katić.
He explained that the change was proposed in order to avoid sending drivers for emergency medical examinations for short-term temporary health conditions of up to six months that affect their ability to drive.
In cases when the driver's health condition is more severely impaired or the driver has a certain degree of disability, they will continue to be referred for an extraordinary supervisory health examination, Katić added.
Regulation will determine what affects an incompetent driver
He also announced that regulation will determine the conditions and medications that may affect the temporary incapacity of the driver.
The parliamentary opposition insisted that the proposed solution was not good, that it did not respect the opinion of the profession, that too much responsibility was shifted to doctors, and that it would lead to the revocation of driver's licenses for more people, especially veterans.
The law will not have a negative impact on veterans and the bill was given consent by the Veterans' Affairs Ministry, the official replied.
The bill also brings several changes with regard to road safety and increases several penalties such as the fine for speeding which will now rise from HRK 500 to HRK 1,000.