AMMAN — The 2017 Penal Law, which stiffened the sentence of perpetrators of fake traffic accidents to two years in prison, was published in the Official Gazette on August 30 and will come into force after 60 days of publication, the Public Security Department (PSD) said in a statement on Monday.

The PSD said that the amendment was necessary after the emergence of several cases of fake accidents (collision or hit-and-run), which some consider as a source to receive “easy money” from citizens. Under the amended law, the penalty will be two-year imprisonment and a fine of JD50 for people involved in blackmail cases, if the case involves a fake traffic accident.