Opposition calls for withdrawal of road traffic safety draft bill

Zagreb - A few Opposition parliamentary clubs on Wednesday demanded that the draft bill on road traffic safety should be withdrawn from the procedure due to the provision envisaging that family doctors should have a decisive say in whether a driver is able to drive or not.

The proposal that it should be general practitioners with an insight into the health state of their patients and the drugs they take, who should inform the police of those data which should be used for a decision to revoke somebody's driving license, has been met with criticism from both doctors' and patients' associations.

Davor Dretar of the Homeland Movement party's club told the parliament today that the bill was poor and should be withdrawn for further elaboration.

He warns that a sizeable community of war veterans who use certain medicines could be found in a situation where their doctors propose the revokement of their driving licenses to law enforcement authorities.

Andreja Marić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) club says that the sponsor of the draft bill ignored the opinions of medical professionals and patients' associations.

The proposed bill will not help improve road safety, and it can do huge damage to public health, she said.

Marić said that this legislation can also undermine the trust between family doctors and their patients.

Dario Zurovec of the Fokus club said the bill would turn GPs into informers, which clashes with the principle of doctor-patient confidentiality, he said.

Marina Opačak Bilić of the Social Democrats' Club warns that this will only deter patients from going to their family doctors for check-ups.

Emil Daus of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) says that a mere 1% of road accidents are caused by health problems, while the main causes are speeding, driving under the influence, inexperience, and disrespect for rules.

Hrvoje Zekanović, an independent MP, however, cites an example of a road accident in which a pedestrian died after being hit by a car driven by a driver who was experiencing an epileptic attack, while that condition had never been reported to the relevant authorities.