Bill wants app drivers to bear the cost of installing a panic button in their car | Photo: Nidin Sanches / O Tempo
A Bill (PL) is ready to be voted on in the plenary of the Legislative Assembly (ALMG) which, among other things, intends to oblige app drivers to install two panic buttons in the car, in cases of emergency.
Authored by deputy Thiago Cota (PDT), the PL began to be debated after the case of a 22-year-old woman who was left unconscious on the street by a driver and ended up being a victim of rape in the Northwest region of Belo Horizonte. But the project foresees the installation of two buttons, one near the steering wheel, for your own safety, and another on the rear door, for the passenger.
The idea of the project is to create a security protocol for drivers and app transport companies. In addition to installing panic buttons, the text highlights that the app driver is obliged to call Samu or the local police authority when a passenger shows signs of drunkenness, drug use, loss of consciousness or a medical emergency during the trip. Except in cases of personal risk, the driver would be obliged to provide assistance and would have the right to deny service if the passenger appeared to be very drunk.
Cota’s original text had an article that obliged app companies to train and guide the partner driver, in addition to posting a sign inside the vehicle publicizing the law. The article, however, was excluded after passing by the Constitution of Justice Commission, which assessed that the State cannot interfere in the contractual relationship between driver and company.
For both. The project provided for the installation of a button, but thinking about “guaranteeing more safety for app drivers as well”, the Transport, Communication and Public Works Commission approved a substitute that determines that the driver must install both buttons in the car. .
In the case of motorcycles, the button would be available close to the handlebars. The cost of installation, however, is the responsibility of the driver himself.
When activated, the panic button would send a signal to a security center, which must be the responsibility of the application company, informing the real-time location and speed of the vehicle, origin and destination of the race and route taken, license plate, make, model, color and year of the vehicle and identification of the driver and passenger.
To come into force, the PL must be approved in the first and second round and sanctioned by governor Romeu Zema (Novo).
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