Deputies of Tatarstan propose to take away rights for violations recorded by cameras

The State Council of Tatarstan proposed to deprive drivers of their rights for violations recorded by traffic cameras. Now, for re-entering the oncoming lane and exceeding the speed limit by more than 60 km / h, you can lose your driver’s license only if the offender was stopped by a traffic police inspector. In this case, automatic complexes send the owner of the vehicle a fine of 5 thousand rubles. The fines “do not give results,” the Tatar parliamentarians concluded, so the courts, considering cases of deprivation of rights, must also accept video recordings as evidence.

The draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which the Parliament of Tatarstan sent for consideration to the Council of Legislators under the State Duma, provide for “strengthening the penalties for repeated violations of the rules of overtaking and speed limits.” Changes are made to Art. 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (speeding), art. 12.15 (violation of the rules of passing or overtaking), as well as Art. 28.6 (appointment of an administrative penalty without drawing up a protocol).

At the moment, for repeatedly exceeding the speed limit by more than 60 km / h (part 7 of article 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and re-driving into the oncoming lane (part 5 of article 12.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), the violator can be deprived of rights for one year. An indispensable condition: violations must be detected by a police officer. If the same compositions are fixed by automatic complexes, the owner of the car faces a fine of 5 thousand rubles. In this case, administration is provided without drawing up a protocol by a traffic police officer and subsequent trial.

The State Council of Tatarstan proposes to unify the approach and deprive the owners of vehicles of their rights, even if violations of the speed limit and overtaking rules were recorded by cameras.

The authors of the amendments believe that the measure “will have an effective effect on the violator.” The explanatory note provides the following statistics. Due to the exit into the oncoming lane in Tatarstan last year, 389 accidents (11.6% of the total) occurred, and in the whole country – 10.9 thousand accidents (8.6%). “Bringing the driver to administrative responsibility for violating the rules of overtaking does not produce results, and he repeatedly commits a similar offense,” the parliamentarians say. So, in 2022, 461 administrative cases were initiated for re-driving into an oncoming lane in Tatarstan, which is 19% more than in the previous year.

The Tatarstan parliament reminds that in 2021, Art. 264.2, according to which they can be held criminally liable for repeated overtaking in violation of traffic rules, as well as for violating the speed limit by more than 60 km / h. However, due to the fact that violations should be recorded by police officers, and not by cameras, the authors of the initiative complain, only two such cases were initiated in the republic, and 45 in all regions.

The deputies emphasize that now traffic violations are recorded mainly by cameras.

So, last year in the region, 10.9 thousand resolutions were issued for repeated speeding by more than 60 km/h and 80 km/h by the center for automatic fixation of violations (CAFAP), and 69 for re-driving into the oncoming lane. During the same period, traffic police inspectors under Part 7 of Art. 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, only 9 cases were initiated, and under Part 5 of Art. 12.15 – 392. A similar picture is observed in the whole of the Russian Federation. CAFAP under Part 7 of Art. 12.9 235 thousand decisions were issued, according to Part 5 of Art. 12.15 – 31.7 thousand traffic police inspectors initiated 151 and 11.2 thousand cases, respectively.

Former State Duma deputy, founder of the “Freedom of Choice” movement of motorists Vyacheslav Lysakov notes that the punishment only in the form of a fine for violations recorded by cameras was not introduced by chance: “Procedural documents are drawn up in a simplified manner: without the presence of the driver, without questioning him in the analysis group, without a protocol. He adds that “cameras are often wrong” and “can be tweaked.” “How can we automatically deprive the driver of his rights? After all, the camera does not see who is driving? Mr. Lysakov is perplexed. As a solution to the problem, the expert proposes to increase the number of inspectors on the roads, “or even better, withdraw covert patrol groups.”

Deputy Chairman of the Tatarstan State Council Committee on Law and Order Alexander Chubarov assured Kommersant that the republic’s initiative does not cancel the established order: “The deprivation of rights will be in any case by the decision of the world court.”

However, he emphasized, “at present, the courts in cases of deprivation of a driver’s license accept only materials about an offense identified by an inspector”: “We propose that video recording materials be accepted as evidence.”

It should be noted that earlier the traffic police had the right to use hand-held camera-detectors (“hair dryers” in driving slang) on ​​the roads, photos and videos from which were sent to the courts for deprivation of rights. But on July 1, 2022, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev banned this practice without explanation. The courts, as a result, practically stopped depriving people of their rights for speed, as Kommersant told about in early May.

Kirill Antonov, Kazan