The issue of youth deaths in traffic accidents should be resolved through the development of society, not through the legislative process.
This week, in Tartu County, two girls and two young men, aged 15 to 23, died in a serious traffic accident.
When asked how to reduce the number of deaths in traffic accidents, sworn attorney Ilya Zuev, from the Grandman Law Firm, told Stolitsa.ee:
“I think there is only one answer to this question. Namely, society must develop in such a way that such cases become as rare as possible. However, completely eliminating accidents may prove to be a difficult task.
Law and justice are two different things. Although they are often discussed together, in reality, justice is always something more than law, more than a statute.
Responsibility
At the legislative level, the offender is responsible for causing harm to a person’s health. However, in Estonia, judicial practice does not allow for proper compensation for moral damage. By proper compensation, I mean compensation that would be sufficient to cover the victim’s pain and suffering.
Judicial practice has repeatedly confirmed this legal stance. Large compensations are not common in Estonia. A few thousand euros for moral damage in cases of minor or moderate injury cannot be considered fair. The pain and the amount of compensation are entirely disproportionate.
Therefore, within Estonian law, it would be appropriate for society to strive to prevent road accidents.
Punishment should correspond to the degree of violation
In terms of criminal law, the punishment should not be too harsh, nor too lenient. The punishment should be moderate and correspond to the degree of violation.
Again, in my opinion, the issue of reducing youth deaths in traffic accidents should primarily be addressed through societal development, not the legislative process. In the city, you can see warnings about the consequences of drunk driving. I think many people have noticed and taken them into account.
If someone sees that an accident might happen, they need to respond – call the police, try to influence the person, take reasonable steps to prevent it. Otherwise, society becomes a passive accomplice to a possible tragedy.”
