The traffic police intends to return full control over the road workers

The traffic police intends to regain full control over the road workers, lost during the moratorium on business inspections introduced in connection with the sanctions. As a result, the number of orders issued against companies repairing and operating roads has decreased by more than 40 times over the year. The police, in order to circumvent the restrictions, intends to adjust the provision on state control in the field of traffic safety: “constant raids” will allow not only to detect violations, but also to fine companies without the consent of the prosecutor’s office. The Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that this is necessary “to minimize the risks of harm to the health of citizens.” Rosavtodor objected to such adjustments, pointing out that the opinion of the traffic police would be “peremptive”.

On regulation.gov.ru, the discussion of the draft government decree (prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs) on amending the “Regulations on Federal State Control in the Field of Traffic Safety” has been completed. In the current version, the document (defines the rules for interaction between the State Traffic Inspectorate and legal entities) allows inspectors to use a special supervisory regime called “permanent raid” in relation to freight carriers, trucking companies and taxi companies, during which violations can be detected and administrative cases initiated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to use the same tool to check organizations involved in road repair, maintenance of markings, signs, traffic lights and infrastructure. This is necessary “to minimize the risks of causing harm to the health of citizens,” the explanatory note to the document says. Last Friday, the police also posted on regulation.gov.ru clarifying amendments to the laws on police and road safety, which establish the powers of inspectors in the field of control and supervision.

Recall that in March 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation, by Decree No. 336, in order to reduce the burden on business against the backdrop of anti-Russian sanctions, introduced a moratorium on scheduled inspections (control and supervisory measures) in relation to legal entities. Unscheduled cases were allowed to be carried out after agreement with the prosecutor’s office and in exceptional cases: in case of a threat to life and causing serious harm to the health of citizens, an emergency, etc.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2022, the prosecutor’s office coordinated only 10% of control and supervisory activities on the facts of road accidents with injuries or deaths (or in connection with the threat of such accidents) caused by non-compliance with traffic safety requirements. The number of orders issued against road builders to eliminate violations decreased over the year by more than 40 times (to 7.8 thousand). The number of cases of administrative offenses initiated through road supervision has halved over the year – from 56,000 to 29,000.

In mid-May, public organizations sounded the alarm. The National Automobile Union (NAS) appealed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he asked to “promptly” return the authority of the traffic police to check road workers. “This state of affairs entails a disdainful attitude of road owners, contractors, road services to the implementation of the law,” the authors pointed out. “This leads to negative consequences, increases the risk of death of road users.” Discussions about road control, we note, unfolded against the background of the abnormal destruction of the road network after the winter of 2022–2023, which Kommersant talked about in March. The head of the State Duma Committee on Transport, Yevgeny Moskvichev, asked the White House to allocate 200 billion rubles. for urgent repairs of at least federal highways (according to Rosavtodor, 16.5 thousand km of roads need to be repaired). No official announcement has been made about the decisions made.

In the draft resolution, the traffic police proposed a way to circumvent the restrictions, having previously agreed it with the Ministry of Economy (supervises control and supervision activities). “Permanent raid”, according to the law, does not formally refer to “control and supervisory measures”, for this reason the restrictions recorded in the 336th resolution do not apply to it – coordination with the prosecutor’s office is not needed. If the document is approved, the traffic police will be able to announce a “permanent raid” on the territory within which the roads are located, and conduct an instrumental survey there, request documents, conduct a survey, inspection and inspection. Having found a hole, a knocked down sign, a damaged fence or non-working lighting, inspectors will be able to initiate proceedings under Art. 12.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (fine up to 500 thousand rubles) or issue an order to eliminate the violation. If it is not eliminated on time, the fine under Art. 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses reaches 200 thousand rubles. for legal entities.

Road workers, as a rule, comply with the instructions of the traffic police – it rarely comes to fines, says Alexander Vasilyev, coordinator of the Map of Dead Roads project. Lawyer, ONF expert Katerina Solovieva calls the amendments a “temporary legal structure”: in order to fully solve the problem, changes are needed to Resolution 336 and the Code of Administrative Offenses. “Such a design is acceptable in the current conditions, when the accident rate and the number of deaths due to the actions of road workers is growing (this is confirmed by traffic police data from the beginning of 2023.— “b”), – says the expert. – But conceptually this is wrong. It is sad when a government agency is forced by by-laws to create workarounds in order to fulfill its mission to protect the life and health of citizens.” In the Moscow Region State Budgetary Institution Mosavtodor (which maintains regional roads), Kommersant was told that the new amendments would create an “additional financial burden” on the institution, “but nevertheless, they would ensure control over road safety on the roadway.”

The current mechanism is “optimal”, it is “premature” to make amendments, the Federal Highway Agency is sure. When accepting the document proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosavtodor explained to Kommersant, the opinion of the traffic police regarding the imposition of fines under Art. 12.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses will be “peremptive” for organizations in the field of road management. “When fixing offenses, it is necessary to establish their objective causes and possible real terms for elimination, as well as the reason that led to the violation,” they say in the agency. the need to complete previously started facilities, the implementation of which is aimed at the development of federal highways, bringing them into a standard state and, accordingly, ensuring traffic safety.”

Ivan Buranov