President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued on Saturday new amendments to the Traffic Law, ensuring harsher punishments for the law's violations. Presidential spokesman Ihab Badawi said the amendments come amid the recent increase in road accidents and the injuries and deaths resulting from them. The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in a report released in June that the total number of car accidents in 2013 was 15,578, a rise of 0.4% from the 2012 figure of 15,516. Article 76 of the newly amended law punishes those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs by three months to a year in prison and/or an EGP 1,000 to EGP 3,000 fine. The punishment is doubled should the driver repeat the act within a year since his sentencing. Should someone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs cause an accident which leads to the injury or death of another, he faces the same initial punishment. Anyone driving a vehicle without a licence will be punished by a maximum of six months in prison and/or a fine ranging from EGP 1,000 to EGP 2,000, as per an amendment to Article 74. Article 72 stipulates a punishment of an EGP 500 to EGP 1,500 fine for anyone who litters the road, creates noise or produces "exhaust which doesn't meet environmental standards" through his vehicle. The punishment is doubled should the perpetrator repeat the act within three months. If the perpetrator is to repeat it again within six months, the punishment would be doubled and his driver's licence would be seized for a year. An addition to Article 64 allows the prime minister to issue a decision regulating or banning a certain type of vehicle from driving in certain places and at certain timings. The earlier version of this article allowed the concerned traffic department to amend the roadmap and travel times of public transport vehicles and take all necessary measures to achieve general security. The law regulating traffic was initially issued in 1973 and has been amended in 1999. In 2000, Mubarak-era Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly issued an executive bylaw to implement it.
