On June 5th, around 5:30 PM at the intersection of Vadym Hetman and Ushynsky streets in Kyiv, a Mercedes-Benz traveling at high speed failed to navigate a turn and crashed into an underground pedestrian crossing. Four people died at the scene: two men, a woman, and a 12-year-old boy. Three more sustained serious injuries. The driver, a 49-year-old resident of Kherson Oblast, survived and is in critical condition.
Not the first time — and not the first fines
Police determined that the Mercedes had 39 recorded traffic violations, mostly for speeding. Of these, 18 occurred just during 2025, averaging one per week leading up to the tragedy. Additionally, the driver had already been involved in four previous accidents.
«A terrible accident in Kardachy in Kyiv. An ordinary day that for four people, including a child, became their last»
Oleksiy Biloshytsky, First Deputy Head of the National Police Department of Patrol Police
Biloshytsky directly raised the issue of strengthening accountability for systematic traffic violations. Under current laws, the driver faces up to 10 years imprisonment — but only after the irreversible has already happened.
What exists in legislation and what is missing
The Verkhovna Rada is considering bill No. 12172, which provides for maintaining all violations in a unified database and license suspension for up to one year for systematic recidivism. Police are also lobbying for a separate bill to increase accountability specifically for serial speeding violations — with proportional fines as in most EU countries.
The problem is concrete: current legislation records violations but does not prevent continued driving. A driver with 39 fines could formally get behind the wheel that day without any legal obstacle — and did.
Four deaths as an argument in the legislative process
Similar tragedies in Ukraine regularly become catalysts for public reform promises. Following the deaths in Kardachy, police once again initiated action, and relevant bills returned to public focus. The question is whether this case will become pressure on parliament or remain just another «something must be done».
If bill No. 12172 is indeed passed in the current session — will it contain a mechanism for preventive suspension of driving privileges for drivers with over, say, 10 recorded violations per year, or will the system once again stop at the level of fines?
