Venezuela's first driver license suspension
Source: Agencies |
May 20, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CAR-FRIENDLY Venezuela, where gasoline is almost free and troublesome highway rules rarely imposed, has suspended a bus driver from the roads for a year in the first case of a suspended license in the OPEC nation.
Police stopped Ramon Parra, 41, for driving at excessive speed in a large, overladen passenger bus that was missing one of its rear wheels.
The bus was packed with more passengers than legally permitted and one of its six wheels was wedged in an aisle, national police chief Luis Fernandez told reporters.
"It is important to emphasize that this is a totally new act; for the first time in Venezuela we are suspending a driving license, for 12 consecutive months," Fernandez said.
South America's top oil producer places a strong emphasis on the rights of drivers.
Gas costs about 12 cents a US gallon (3.79 liter) and prices have not been raised in years, meaning it is economical to operate gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and 1970s muscle cars like Ford Mustangs.
Testing of drunk drivers is virtually unknown, and traveling on pot-holed interstate highways is a hair-raising experience, as automobiles, buses and trucks weave in and out of lanes at speeds up to 160 kilometers an hour.
Police stopped Ramon Parra, 41, for driving at excessive speed in a large, overladen passenger bus that was missing one of its rear wheels.
The bus was packed with more passengers than legally permitted and one of its six wheels was wedged in an aisle, national police chief Luis Fernandez told reporters.
"It is important to emphasize that this is a totally new act; for the first time in Venezuela we are suspending a driving license, for 12 consecutive months," Fernandez said.
South America's top oil producer places a strong emphasis on the rights of drivers.
Gas costs about 12 cents a US gallon (3.79 liter) and prices have not been raised in years, meaning it is economical to operate gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and 1970s muscle cars like Ford Mustangs.
Testing of drunk drivers is virtually unknown, and traveling on pot-holed interstate highways is a hair-raising experience, as automobiles, buses and trucks weave in and out of lanes at speeds up to 160 kilometers an hour.
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