Scooter users are identified by cameras

The traffic police, together with the Moscow City Hall, are testing a neural network that will allow traffic cameras to record traffic violations by users of electric scooters and other means of individual mobility (SIM). This was stated by the head of the Moscow traffic police Alexander Bykov. The resulting data is used by the police in “administrative investigations” to determine the identity of the perpetrators. The Ministry of Transport has already announced the development of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, toughening penalties for citizens using SIM. Experts urged the authorities to deal first of all with couriers on electric bicycles that have recently flooded Moscow: they do not comply with traffic rules, creating a threat to pedestrians.

The Moscow City Duma yesterday held a round table on the use of electric scooters, unicycles and other SIMs in the city. On March 1, we recall, new traffic rules came into force with a chapter regulating the behavior of SIM users (“Kommersant” spoke about this in detail): prohibition signs were introduced, the speed limit of electric scooters is limited to 25 km / h, only persons over 14 are allowed to drive on the roadway. years, etc.

There will be no problems with sharing electric scooters, Alexander Bykov, head of the Moscow traffic police, assured: their speed is forcibly limited to 25 km/h and is automatically reduced in pedestrian areas to 5–15 km/h. The movement of such SIMs is monitored, the traffic police may request this data. In 2023, the rental scooter fleet will grow from 40,000 to 60,000 units, Polina Stasyuk, head of sharing projects at the Moscow Department of Transport, said that the mayor’s office is going to increase the number of “slow” zones for SIM (now 189 such zones). Magomed Kolgaev, deputy head of the DCDD, announced a doubling of the number of parking lots for electric scooters (from 7,000 to 14,000) in the city this year.

The deputies of the Moscow City Duma drew attention to the problem with SIM belonging to citizens whose movement is difficult to control: some models accelerate to 80–100 km/h, they are often seen on highways along with cars. “Such a SIM does not have a number, it is not clear how to identify it,” said Alexander Semennikov, head of the Moscow City Duma legislation commission. “It is also unclear how to determine the owner.” “We understand who is driving a rented scooter, not on private ones, their position is unequal,” added deputy Natalia Metlina.

The traffic police, together with the TsODD, are already testing a system that, using traffic cameras and a neural network, will track violations of SIM users (for example, when entering a freeway), said Alexander Bykov. What the specific function of the neural network will be, Mr. Bykov did not explain, most likely, we are talking about the allocation of SIM users from the general traffic flow. The police are also going to use the metropolitan video surveillance system, which, according to Mr. Bykov, allows tracking the movement of virtually any citizen anywhere in the city. Users of private scooters, he added, as a rule, move along the same routes: according to the data from the traffic police cameras, they will be able to open an administrative investigation (lasting up to two months), within which it will be possible to request video from the cameras, interview witnesses to identify the offender etc.

Alexander Semennikov drew attention to the problem with couriers of delivery services using electric bicycles (often, according to him, self-made). “I often see how they play “checkers” between pedestrians at great speed, then jump out onto the Garden Ring and cross it through a double solid line. After all, they pose a threat to life, can they even be fined?” asked the deputy Dmitry Loktev. The devices used by couriers do not belong to SIM, explained Magomed Kolgaev: “This is a special category of people, we work with them, create educational programs for them, etc.” Employing companies themselves control couriers using applications, Alexander Bykov assured the deputies. If it is clear from the track of the movement of the electric bicycle that the courier, for example, did not dismount at the crossing, then he is first warned, then penalty points are awarded, then they are disconnected from accepting orders, he specified.

The authorities appear to be planning other tightening measures to control SIM. Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Automobile and Urban Passenger Transport of the Ministry of Transport Vladimir Lugovenko, speaking at the Moscow City Duma, announced the development of a new package of documents related to SIM (the changes to the traffic rules that came into force were only the first stage), including amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses with new fines for electric scooters. The current sanctions for violators range from 800 to 1.5 thousand rubles, the authorities have not yet named the amount of new sanctions. The head of the Moscow City Duma, Alexei Shaposhnikov, said that the parliament is ready to develop amendments and submit them to the State Duma. The Moscow authorities are simultaneously negotiating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to make mandatory GOST with SIM requirements for all devices manufactured or legally imported into the Russian Federation, Magomed Kolgaev said yesterday. The voluntary standard, we recall, entered into force on February 1, it includes, among other things, a factory-wired speed limit of 25 km / h and automatic deceleration in parks, but this is still a recommendation. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Mikhail Delyagin, in turn, told Kommersant that he plans to introduce a bill on mandatory registration of SIM cards in the traffic police and obtaining numbers.

Ivan Buranov