Dangerous driving will be punished with fines and short-term license suspension
Dangerous driving will be punished with fines and short-term deprivation of license - such bill The State Duma adopted it in the first reading on Tuesday. We are talking about aggressive maneuvers that create a threat to road users - for example, sudden braking in front of other cars, sudden acceleration or changing lanes. By the second reading, the deputies, together with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate and the Ministry of Transport, promise to rewrite the existing definition of dangerous driving in the Traffic Regulations - apparently expanding the list of dangerous actions. Some deputies believe that the punishment for reckless drivers should be even harsher - and even propose sending “extreme drivers” to SVO.
The concept of dangerous driving was introduced into the traffic rules back in 2016 to suppress various manifestations of deliberate aggressive driving. The rules define this violation as a series of actions that may result in death or injury to people, vehicles, cargo and structures. Such maneuvers include, but are not limited to, dangerous lane changes in heavy traffic (“checker games”), sudden braking in front of other cars, sudden acceleration, and impeding overtaking. However, the Code of Administrative Offenses still does not spell out punishment for dangerous driving - and this conflict should be corrected by the bill of the LDPR faction, which was considered in the first reading on Tuesday.
Deputies propose to fine the driver in the amount of 3 to 5 thousand rubles in the first case of dangerous driving. And in case of repeated violation - deprivation of rights for a period of one to three months.
The punishment will be imposed by the court, and any materials will be accepted as evidence, including videos from stationary cameras and mobile phones, explained deputy Yaroslav Nilov (LDPR), speaking in the State Duma. The bill does not provide for automatic “chain letters,” he emphasized.
Deputy Alexey Kurinny (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) also proposed punishing drifters - drivers who park their car sideways and drive around corners at high speed. Mikhail Sheremet (United Russia) considered it necessary to include in the sanctions list those who do not use turn signals. In response, Yaroslav Nilov assured his colleagues that the term “dangerous driving” would still be discussed - and made it clear that by the second reading the list of dangerous maneuvers would change. Let us recall that the State Duma, the presidential administration and other structures previously noted the imperfection and excessive complexity of the current definition.
Deputy Oleg Leonov (New People) asked to take into account the rights of motorcyclists. He recalled that in heavy traffic, bikers often move between cars - and this can formally be considered dangerous driving. United Russia member Boris Gladkikh expressed the same idea.
Other parliamentarians considered the punishment proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party too lenient. Taking into account the “public danger”, the sanction for repeated dangerous driving should be more serious than deprivation of rights for 1-3 months, believes Nikolai Brykin (United Russia).
About this let us remind yousays the conclusion of the Duma Committee on State Construction. Yana Lantratova (SRZP) proposed, along with deprivation of rights, a fine of 30 thousand rubles, as drunk drivers are already punished today. And her party colleague Oleg Nilov demanded compulsory work for reckless drivers - and quite unique ones: “Send to the territories of new regions, to the front line. They need extreme drivers and adrenaline junkies there. Let them deliver everything they need to the front line.”
Amendments to the second reading must be submitted by October 30. It is not yet known in what format they will be finalized, but Mr. Nilov promised to involve the traffic police and the Ministry of Transport in this process. At the end of the discussion of the bill, deputy Yuri Sinelshchikov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) recalled that this is not the first attempt to adopt such an amendment to the Administrative Code. Indeed, the government proposed to establish a fine for dangerous driving back in 2017. Those amendments were adopted in the first reading, but were subsequently rejected as requiring revision - and even then claims arose regarding the term “dangerous driving”. Therefore, it is possible to support a new initiative only if there is a guarantee that the definition of a violation will still be changed, Mr. Sinelshchikov said, otherwise there is no point in the new bill.
The State Duma adopted a law on the deprivation of driver's licenses for concealing license plates
The State Duma adopted in the third reading government amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, allowing for 1–1.5 years to deprive the rights of drivers who use devices to hide or disguise license plates. We are talking about special frames that turn over the license plate when passing under the camera (controlled by a remote control from the passenger compartment); it is assumed that the police will confiscate them when a violation is detected. Frames are used to avoid penalties and to save money when driving on toll roads where the Free Stream barrier-free travel system operates (TsKAD, M-12). Now the use of such devices faces a fine of 5 thousand rubles. or deprivation of rights for up to three months. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs admitted that such punishment does not stop unscrupulous drivers: over six years, the number of violations has increased by one and a half times.
The bill was adopted in the first reading on July 10. Then it was finalized, and on October 1 it was adopted in the second and third readings.
