Driving Licenses to Be Restored for Over 18,000 Drivers Revoked for Alcohol Offences

More specifically, a person's right to drive will be reinstated if they committed an administrative offence before 10 December 10, as outlined in the following articles of the Administrative Offences Code of Georgia:

• Article 116 - Operation of a vehicle in a state of alcoholic intoxication, and other individual administrative offences related to the operation of a vehicle.
• Article 123 - Leaving the scene of a traffic accident or failing to comply with a police officer’s order to stop the vehicle.
• Article 45 - Illegal manufacturing, purchase, storage, transportation, transfer and/or use of a small quantity of narcotic drugs, their analogues or precursors without a doctor’s prescription.
• Article 45¹ – Illegal purchase, storage, carriage, transfer and consumption of the Cannabis plant or Marijuana in small quantities and/or being under its influence.
• Article 115²  – Refusal to undergo testing for the purpose of establishing the fact that a driver is under the influence of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, or new psychoactive substances while driving a vehicle.

A person whose right to drive a vehicle has been suspended due to the depletion of the points allocated to their driving license shall be re-allocated 100 points starting from January 1^st

“On the one hand, if a person’s driver’s license was revoked for alcohol intoxication, leaving the scene of an accident, using or purchasing a small amount of drugs, or if points were deducted, their license will be reinstated from January 1; in the case of alcohol-related revocations, from February 1. For other cases, such as drug use, if the person submits a medical report confirming they are no longer a user, their license will be reinstated immediately, allowing them to drive again,” said Archil Gorduladze, one of the authors of the Georgian Dream’s legislative amendments.

As stated in the explanatory note to the draft law, a total of 35,445 driver's licences have been suspended to date, including:

•  Based on alcohol consumption — 18,310;
•  For causing a traffic accident and leaving the scene — 1,134;
•  For drug use — 3,504;
•  For depletion of points — 781;
• Based on a criminal conviction – 327;
•  For other reasons, including unpaid administrative fines — 11,389.

A person whose driver's licence has been suspended for leaving the scene of a traffic accident or for driving a vehicle. At the same time, an intoxicated person is not required to apply to the relevant authority or official to be released from the administrative penalty - suspension of the right to drive a vehicle. They are released from suspension but remain liable to a penalty.

Furthermore, the draft law repeals the norms that permit offenders to have their driving licences reinstated early in cases of driving under the influence of alcohol, evading a traffic stop to determine drug influence, and leaving the scene of a traffic accident.

“There will no longer be an opportunity for a person whose driver's license has been revoked due to alcohol intoxication and who has served half of the revocation period to apply to the Patrol Police Service, pay a specific fee, or, for example, pass a driver's license exam and obtain a new license. These records will be cancelled,“ Gorduladze explained.

Georgian Dream adopts legislative amendments under an expedited procedure.