Changes to the Law no. 2918 on Highway Traffic include revisions on the vehicle inspection and registration services for the National Intelligence Service, Coast Guard Command and Gendarmerie General Command, as well as the authorizing of public notaries to carry out the registration procedures.
Other amendments to the Law no. 2918 on Highway Traffic concern the correct placement and possession of vehicle registration certificates and registration licenses, as well as sanctions that apply in cases of nonconformity (Executive Decree 676 Article 21). Furthermore, the sanctions to be imposed on those who print and distribute these licenses and certificates without authorization were outlined (Executive Decree 676 Article 21).
Executive Decree 680 introduced changes to the Law no. 2918 on Highway Traffic. Most of them concern the registration of vehicles that belong to Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command, which have been separated from the Turkish Armed Forces. All the occurrences of “traffic documents” were replaced with “registration documents” with the exception of “temporary traffic documents” (Executive Decree 680 Article 51-62).
It became obligatory to show one’s vehicle registration document or ownership document, as well as the obligatory financial responsibility insurance in order to receive a vehicle inspection report (Executive Decree 680 Article 53). Regardless of the driver being Turkish or not, administrative traffic fines to be inflicted on vehicles with foreign licenses will be collected without the need for prior notification. The foreign license plated vehicles will not be able to leave Turkey unless the traffic fine is collected. Traffic fines to foreign drivers driving cars with Turkish licenses will be collected from the registered owner of the vehicle (Executive Decree 680 Article 59).
In an amendment that will have an important impact on daily life, public notaries were authorized to perform the registration procedures of vehicles (Executive Decree 680 Article 61). Previously these procedures were conducted by the Traffic Registration Branch Directorates under the General Directorate of Security. Public notaries will start carrying out these procedures in 2018.
In another amendment set to have an immediate daily impact, it was stipulated that commercial vehicles carrying passengers or various items can be obliged by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications to use winter tires during certain parts of the year, depending on the weather and climatic conditions of different provinces (Executive Decree 687 Article 2).
Finally, the vehicles that belong to the Undersecretariat of National Intelligence Service can be either inspected by the National Intelligence Service itself, or alternatively, by the Ministry of National Defense, General Directorate of Security or Gendarmerie General Command if demanded by the Service (Executive Decree 694 Article 59).