The Moscow City Duma produces a noise effect – Newspaper Kommersant No. 218 (7419) of 11/24/2022

The Moscow City Duma submits to the State Duma a bill allowing the capital and other regions to fine car and motorcycle owners for excessive noise in the amount of 5,000 rubles or more. For “frostbitten motorists driving without silencers and with loud music” at night, the authorities intend to use automatic cameras with built-in sound level meters that have been tested in Moscow. The deputies prepared the amendments necessary for the operation of the complexes a year ago and since then have been waiting for a response from the government of the Russian Federation. The White House asked parliamentarians, in particular, to introduce an upper limit of 30,000 rubles for sanctions. and transfer to the federal level the regulation of requirements for new devices.

Moscow City Duma on Wednesday hosted decision to amend the Code of Administrative Offenses. We are talking about a bill that will allow Moscow and other regions to use sound level cameras and fine, on the basis of the materials received, violators – vehicle owners. With such an initiative in August 2021 spoke Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin. Then he instructed to create a system of punishments for owners of excessively noisy cars and motorcycles, calling for a fight against “frostbitten motorists who drive without silencers and with loud music” at night.

The TsODD of Moscow is responsible for the technical part of the project: in 2021, the camera was tested at Patriarch’s Ponds. The legal part of the issue is handled by the Moscow City Duma: in September last year, it developed draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia, which introduced fines from 5 thousand rubles, the amount of sanctions increases progressively depending on engine power. The violator’s vehicle will be sent to the impound.

The capital’s parliament has been waiting for a response from the Russian government for more than a year. document (arrived in mid-November). White House amendments supportedbut asked for improvement. The Moscow City Duma has made two changes to the new version, deputy Alexander Semennikov (United Russia) said: now the bill will set a maximum fine of 30,000 rubles. for citizens (there was no limit in the first edition). It is clarified that the requirements for sound level meters will be determined by federal law. The deputies also named the expected date for the amendments to come into force – March 1, 2023.

So far, only prototypes of devices exist, Mr. Semennikov said, but the general technical requirements for them have already been formulated.

The sound level meter must have at least three microphones, it will be installed on the masts and facades of houses. The complexes will be deployed in those areas where residents complain about the noise, explained Alexander Semennikov, as well as near various “social” facilities – veterans’ houses, hospitals.

The amendments were supported by almost all deputies. A number of parliamentarians, as it turned out, receive a lot of complaints from citizens about noise and understand the technical nuances. Communist Nikolai Zubrilin, for example, talked about street racers who, by removing the muffler, achieve a power increase of 3-4 liters. s., and when removing the manifold (apparently, this refers to the exhaust manifold of the engine) – another 2-3 liters. With. United Russia Lyudmila Stebenkova spoke about “rockers on motorcycles” on Pererva Street in Maryino. Alexander Semennikov, in turn, said that guys from the “combat classics” gather on Novoyasenevsky Prospekt (apparently referring to the informal community of fans of the classic Zhiguli VAZ-2106, 2105, etc.).

Deputy from Yabloko Daria Besedina, in turn, was surprised that the authors of the amendments named the date of entry into force of the law on January 1, 2023, because it has not even entered the State Duma yet. Deputy Elena Nikolaeva predicts that the bill will be supported at the federal level “with some caution,” since such a level of digitalization and technical equipment as in Moscow is not available in all regions.

Elena Shuvalova saw in the new cameras the risk of “wiretapping” the private lives of Muscovites: “There is no need to hide behind a real problem to solve some purely pro-government issues!”

The finalized amendments will be sent to the State Duma in the near future. United Russia Stepan Orlov said he was counting on the support of the deputies of the lower house and the adoption of the bill as soon as possible. Prior to the entry into force of the document, according to the requirement of the government, sound level meters must be certified and receive the status of “type of measuring instrument”. Norms should also be developed with maximum permissible noise values, to which devices will be tuned, explained “Kommersant” on Wednesday at the TsODD. “Tasks to do this (apply new cameras.— “b”) not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Moscow Vice Mayor Maxim Liksutov said in September. “We need to make a good product that would be competitive so as not to depend on one manufacturer. You need to make sure that the changes are accurate so that there are no errors and fines are sent exactly to the one who violated.

“The result of the sound level meters cannot be double-checked, unlike complexes that measure speed,” Grigory Shukhman, an expert on photo and video recording systems, warned Kommersant. “It is not clear how errors will be detected and eliminated. And they can be, because there are a lot of cars moving along the road, they all make noise.” Fixing a noisy car or motorcycle, the expert believes, can only be a reason for stopping the car and checking its technical condition by the inspector, but not for issuing an automatic fine.

Ivan Buranov