A man who was caught drink-driving in Bratislava on Friday was sent to prison as early as on Monday via express proceedings, the daily newspaper Pravda reported on Tuesday.
The unnamed man was found to be severely drunk, with 2.4 parts per thousand of alcohol in his blood. One of Bratislava's district courts sentenced the man to 15 days in prison. He will also be banned from driving for six years. As the man chose not to appeal, the sentence could begin immediately. It's hoped that such processes will help to discourage drink-driving, a significant problem in Slovakia. “This is a revolutionary judgement. A number of these punishments could achieve the goal. The guilty person is torn away from his environment and was unable to avoid prison”, said legal expert and rector of the Police Academy Lucia Kurilovská. A total of 2,646 drivers were convicted of drink-driving in the first half of this year, but only 80 of them ended up behind bars. The Interior Ministry isn't planning any new legislation in this area at the moment, but it would like to launch a discussion on the merits of short jail sentences. Transport psychologist Karol Kleimann thinks that as long as so few drink-drivers are actually caught the situation won't improve significantly.
