The traffic police decided to shed light on the violators – Newspaper Kommersant No. 6 (7451) dated 01/16/2023

The draft decree of the government of the Russian Federation, which creates additional tools for the State traffic inspectorate to deal with owners of faulty cars, has reached the final straight. The new edition of the “list of malfunctions and conditions” under which the operation of vehicles is prohibited will allow inspectors to fine drivers for using summer tires in winter, for driving a car with an inoperative anti-lock braking system, and abnormal discharge lamps in headlights. The draft, which has been discussed and rewritten several times over the course of several years, has passed the stages of public discussion and will soon be sent to the White House for final approval.

The analytical center under the government of the Russian Federation has moved to the final stage of discussing the draft government decree in the new edition of the “list of faults and conditions” prohibiting the operation of a car. This list is referred to in Art. 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, containing sanctions from 500 rubles. for vehicle malfunctions: they are used by traffic police inspectors. On Friday, the document was discussed at the working group “Road Safety” as part of the regulatory guillotine, in the coming days it will be discussed by the working group “Road Transport”: according to Kommersant, most of the questions on the document have been removed, members of the working groups are likely to amend support.

From December to February, drivers of passenger cars and light trucks will be prohibited from driving on summer tires, from June to August – on studded tires, a fine of 500 rubles will be applied for violation. Regions will be able to increase the duration of the seasonal ban (for example, Krasnoyarsk will be able to extend the winter season until March). This norm is already enshrined in the technical regulations of the Customs Union on the safety of wheeled vehicles. Since the Code of Administrative Offenses does not refer to it, the traffic police now has no right to fine. On heavy trucks and buses, winter tires will be optional, but drivers will be required to carry snow chains with them from December to February (times may also be subject to federal decision).

The new list will prohibit the use of light sources in headlights, the class of which does not correspond to the “specified in the operational documentation”, for example, non-standard xenon and LED lamps. They shine brighter than conventional lamps, but their non-factory installation, as a rule, leads to blinding of the oncoming traffic. A non-functioning automatic headlight range control, provided for a car from the factory, will be a violation, as well as a non-functioning reversing lamp and brake lights.

The inspector will be able to penalize the driver for an inoperative anti-lock braking system ABS based on the indicator on the dashboard. It would also be a violation to dismantle the brake force regulator: in the event of a breakdown, many car owners, wanting to save money, remove the device, which leads to premature blocking of the wheels and an accident. Bends, cracks, chafing, tears, cuts, breaks in brake lines and hoses will also be considered a violation.

From a number of ideas of the traffic police in the discussion process refused. At one of the stages, for example, it was proposed to use a fine if the Check Engine light on the dashboard lights up, indicating a malfunction in the engine (it may light up, for example, when refueling with low-quality fuel). It is not in the final version. In one version of the list, it was proposed to consider the presence of “drops of process fluids in the engine compartment” as a violation, recalls Yuri Sveshnikov, co-chairman of the Automobile Transport working group: in other words, inaccurate topping up of windshield washer fluid could lead to a fine. This rule will not exist either.

At the same time, the traffic police compiled a separate list of violations and malfunctions that create a “threat to road safety.” If they are discovered, inspectors will in the future apply a new “prohibition of exploitation” mechanism, which will be described in a separate law, the draft of which was submitted back in 2020, Kommersant wrote about it: it is still being discussed, it has not been submitted to the State Duma. Drivers will be given a certain amount of time to eliminate the most critical malfunctions (in the latest edition, it was about 72 hours), then they will need to undergo an extraordinary MOT: if this is not done, the STS is withdrawn. The list of such violations of the traffic police in advance, even before the adoption of the law, provided for in the draft government decree: among them, the parking brake, ABS, power steering, spontaneous steering regardless of the driver’s action (a regular type of breakdown of electric power steering), unadjusted according to GOST headlights, non-working brake light, excessive tinting, excessive tire wear, missing or damaged seat belts, inoperative or missing tachograph, destruction of suspension parts. For motorcyclists, this is the absence of a footrest or a handle for passengers on the saddle, standard safety arches, the presence of play in the connection of the frame with a side trailer (for example, on a Ural motorcycle).

As a result of working with experts, the document turned out to be “balanced, taking into account all the comments and additions,” says Yevgeny Litvin, co-chairman of the Road Safety working group. Yuri Sveshnikov added that specialists from the State Unitary Enterprise Mosgortrans, the Association of Freight Carriers ASMAP were involved in the work on the amendments – all their comments were also removed in the latest version. The final version of the amendments still does not give an answer to the question of what to do for car owners moving between the northern and southern regions in winter, when in one city there may be a positive temperature and winter tires are not needed, and in another – a blizzard and frost, notes a specialist of the organization directorate of St. Petersburg Road Traffic Dmitry Popov (also participated in the discussion of the amendments). Those who often make such trips can use all-season tires, the traffic police explain: they will not ban it.

After the final results of the voting of the working groups, the document will be agreed in the White House, but already behind closed doors, after which it will be sent to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin for signing. In this case, it may come into force as early as September 1, this date is fixed in the latest version.

Ivan Buranov