Turkey imposes steep fines and jail terms for traffic violations

Turkish courts and police have intensified penalties for a range of traffic offenses. The Supreme Court (Yargıtay) ruled that repeatedly using the steering‑wheel selector to pressure the driver ahead is punishable by up to one year in prison under Article 123 of the Penal Code.

Authorities have also levied hefty administrative fines for dangerous driving: a driver who travelled the wrong way on the Mersin TAG highway received a 90,000‑lira fine and a 60‑day license suspension; in Adana, 23 vehicles were fined a total of 113,719 lira for loud music, disrespectful driving and oversized exhausts; a taxi driver in Antalya who assaulted an elderly man was fined 180,000 lira, had his licence permanently revoked and his vehicle barred from traffic for two months.

Separate incidents highlighted the human cost of traffic breaches. An intercity bus on the Istanbul‑Kuşadası route overturned in Kütahya, leaving 31 people injured. In Bursa, a driver operating a vehicle without a license and ignoring police warnings was fined 240,000 lira and the vehicle seized. Various local police operations across Turkey have resulted in fines ranging from 6,000 lira to over 200,000 lira for infractions such as illegal passenger drops on highways and reckless maneuvers.