The President of TISPOL (the European Traffic Police Network co-funded by the European Commission), Chief Commissioner Eddy Greif, has called for pan-Europe rallies such as the Gumball to be banned.
"The roads of Europe are not a playground for the rich and reckless. These rallies pose a considerable danger to other road users who deserve our protection' said Chief Commissioner Greif. "We have to push further our effort: perform more checks, develop better strategies and equipment and lobby for more adequate sanctions. Or, even more sensible, just convince the proper authorities to ban these kind of events!'' he added.
In a message to TISPOL, Police Chief Ivo Kotevski said the Ministry of Interior in Macedonia "strongly supported' the TISPOL stance. It was a Macedonian couple that died after their VW Golf was struck by a Porsche 997 Turbo that was competing in the Gumball rally earlier this month.
Chief Commissioner Greif also used his address to the TISPOL conference to call for standardised laws on alcohol limits, speed limits and other regulations to be applied across Europe.
Drink drive levels vary widely across Europe, with some countries operating a zero tolerance level and others such as the UK and Ireland having a higher than average limit. Worryingly, CC Greif also highlighted the German autobahns in his drive for European standardisation.
"I do not believe that drinking alcohol and driving is less dangerous in the United Kingdom than in other parts of the European Union. And I am very sceptical that a driver has more chance to survive a high speed crash on a German motorway than on similar well built roads in other member states”.
"It would certainly help drivers to know that traffic regulations applied all over Europe are the same, it is the first condition they must comply with! They would not be able to hide behind ignorance anymore when caught by the police' said CC Greif.