The State Duma has adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The most important change: Malicious offenders can seize cars on court order.
The article of the Criminal Code on confiscation of goods will be supplemented with the words: “a vehicle belonging to the suspect and used by him in the commission of a crime …”
Civil liability will evolve into criminal liability for drivers who are not allowed to drive a car if they are caught driving three times.
Confiscation can also follow repeated serious offences: drink-driving, driving in the oncoming lane where it is prohibited, speeding at 60 km/h or more.
Why so strict?
Statistics indicate that for some reason the number of malicious violations in Russia is not decreasing. Despite the measures taken. In 2020, the number of drivers who lost their license but went somewhere and got caught has increased by 25%. In the first six months of 2021 by another 17%.
Everything would be fine if they traveled safely for themselves and others. But just the opposite: more than a third of accidents are caused by people who should not have been driving at all. These have been deprived of their rights as well as drunk drivers in general.
Which shelf?
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, once proposed to seize all cars of drunk drivers, whether they belong to third parties, including legal and government cars. But the text of the law has been softened. The car can only be seized if it belongs to the suspect. In all other cases this is not possible.
If a malicious offender cuts through a car company, wife, brother, friend, and so on, then it will not be taken away – all other sanctions will be applied. They have also been expanded and reinforced.
For the “third serious violation” now stands a fine of 150-250 thousand rubles, hard labor up to 360 hours, hard labor or imprisonment up to one year. If after that the driver is caught again with the same, the rate will be increased to 300 thousand rubles and up to two years in prison.
Raise the bar at the same time for repeated driving without a license – a fine of up to 50-100 thousand rubles or mandatory work of 150-200 hours. Before that, the first and second time cost the same – 30 thousand rubles, or administrative arrest up to 15 days, or compulsory work for a period of 100-200 hours.
Which conditions?
To face repossession, you must regularly travel for a year without a permit or violate the traffic police. By the way, on July 1, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation forbade them to measure speed with portable mobile systems.
Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which determines which offenses are to be punished, includes a comment: “The effect of the article does not apply to cases of determination of administrative violations by special technical means that are in automatic working mode.” That is, the camera disappears – it is the traffic police officer or other persons authorized to solve the violation.
LEFT LUIS HOUSE
By being notified in advance of upcoming changes, you can worry about the safety of your preferred vehicle in advance. In cases where there are no rights, but you want to drive somewhere, slam wine and pull into the oncoming lane. For example, a woman can always drive her husband’s car and a man can drive a car owned by his wife. One car per family? Rewrite it right away for someone who doesn’t ride it at all.
If the whole country does this, the threat of confiscation will be nullified. Everything else remains, plus the transfer of control of the vehicle to a person who clearly does not have the right to drive or has been deprived of such a right (a fine of 30 thousand rubles).
- Driving history data from July 1, 2022 is available in a special traffic police service.
- “Drive” can be viewed in YouTube.
Photo: ITAR-TASS / Evgeny Yepanchintsev