The Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the traffic police – Gazeta Kommersant No. 60 (7505) of 04/07/2023

The Ministry of Internal Affairs managed to prove in the Supreme Court (SC) the legality of the regulations for passing exams for a driver’s license. Olga Popova, a resident of Kaliningrad who went to court, failed to complete one of the exercises and saw the reason for her failure in the regulations, which, in her opinion, contradicted the government’s decree. She also believes that citizens should have the choice of where to do the exercises – on the site or in the city. Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that Ms. Popova, who has failed the theoretical part of the exam seven times and the practice part eight times since 2016, “misinterprets the documents.”

The Supreme Court considered the case of Olga Popova, who tried to pass the exam at the traffic police on February 12, 2022 in Kaliningrad. She was unable to reverse her car into a 90-degree parking lot (this exercise is also known as “driving into the garage”). The exam was held on a street with parking spaces separated from the road by a curb: Mrs. Popova’s car stalled, trying to drive into it. The inspector rated it “failed”, Olga Popova appealed to the local courts. She believes that the exercise should be performed on the grounds or it should be indicated in the examination route, but this was not done. Ms. Popova applied to the Supreme Court after failures in lower courts.

She demanded to cancel the paragraph of the regulations for taking exams (contained in the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 80), according to which the exercise, which she did not cope with, is performed “on sections of roads with low traffic using marked places.” Olga Popova believes that this rule “restricts” the possibilities of those who take exams and contradicts government decree No. 1097 (they set the rules for conducting exams). It lists all locations where drivers’ skills are tested, including “closed areas, light traffic sections, dead ends”. Olga Popova believes that citizens should have the right to choose where to exercise.

The applicant is misinterpreting the rules, Yulia Safonova, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Armed Forces, explained: in fact, only the traffic police can choose where to conduct the exam – on the site or in city traffic.

Government Decree No. 1097 only describes all possible options, while the regulations contain specifics. The exercise “checking into the garage in reverse” is performed on streets with parking spaces, and if there are none, then you can do it on a site with markings. Yulia Safonova recalled that from April 1, 2021, a single exam was introduced (instead of the previously separate “sites” and “cities”), and stressed that a driver candidate cannot choose a place to test skills. Yulia Safonova also said that Ms. Popova has been trying to get her license since 2016: she passed the theory seven times and the practical exam eight times. “Kommersant” could not contact the applicant on Thursday. Nikolai Gilyakov, head of the department for organizing examination activities and providing public services of the traffic police of Russia, added in court that after the merging of exams, the death rate in road accidents involving novice drivers decreased: by the end of 2022 – by 6%. At the same time, according to him, only 10% of drivers pass the practical exam on the first try. Judge of the Supreme Court Sergei Nefedov, after hearing the parties, dismissed the claim.

Meanwhile, the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs discussed at the meeting is awaiting changes. Back in 2021, the government ordered all departments to reissue regulations for the provision of public services in digital form: the authorities, as explained by the Ministry of Economy, want to create a “digital rule-making ecosystem” that simplifies the process of accepting documents, reducing the time for approval, etc. should go digital before the end of the year, and the department also wants to correct some of the rules, taking into account the proposals of driving schools.

Ivan Buranov