With the introduction of points to Portugal’s driving licences from tomorrow, Público explains that drivers who suddenly find themselves with only five points (out of the regulatory 12) will have only a short period of time to enrol themselves on mandatory training programmes. Failure to do so could see them lose their licences altogether, warns the paper.
The new regime has been set out in government newspaper Diário da República.
According to Público, drivers who find themselves caught out by the new points system will hear the bad news via ANSR, the road safety authority.
This is the same authority that earlier this week was described as having an administrative backlog of as many as a million traffic fines (click here), so how they will cope with the demands of the new points system remains to be seen.
Público stresses however that once drivers are informed by ANSR, they will have only 10 days to book their mandatory retraining sessions, which must be concluded within a period of six months, or they stand to lose their driving licences completely.
