Consuming alcohol or other psychoactive substances after a traffic accident- critical considerations

Abstract

The present study analyzes relatively recent criminalization of the act of consuming alcohol or other psychoactive substances after a traffic accident, provided in art.  336¹ of the Criminal Code, from the perspective of the natural correlation with the criminalization of the act of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances, provided in the art. 336 of the Criminal Code, mainly, but also from the perspective of the relation with the criminalization of the act of refusal or evasion from taking biological samples, provided in the art. 337 of the Criminal Code.  Thus, the analyses proposes itself to determine whether this criminalization coherently fits into the proximity regulatory framework of the correlated criminalized acts and whether it is thus capable of protecting the social value of road safety to the same degree as they do. Finnaly, noticing also other deficiencies, in our opinion, of the regulatory extracriminal framework, the conclusions lead on one hand to proposals for legislative amendments to this framework, which would also entail subsequent amendments of the criminal law, and on the other hand to a proposal de lege ferenda  intended to improve the criminalization of the act under analysis.