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- They will protect you with rubles: fines for transporting children without a chair will increase in Russia
They will protect you with rubles: fines for transporting children without a chair will increase in Russia
The Cabinet of Ministers has supported a bill providing for a significant increase in liability for violations of the rules of transportation of children — they want to increase the fine by 1.5–2 times. The measure will reduce the number of such offenses and increase the safety of young passengers in the car, experts say. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Half a million violations
The government has supported amendments to the Administrative Code developed by senators, providing for a significant increase in fines for transporting a child in a car without a child safety seat. According to the draft law (a copy is available to Izvestia), it is planned to strengthen sanctions for these violations for both individuals and officials, as well as legal entities.
For ordinary drivers who, in violation of traffic regulations, transport a child without a child restraint device, the fine is planned to increase from the current 3 thousand to 5 thousand rubles. It is planned to double the sanctions for officials and legal entities — from 25 thousand to 50 thousand rubles and from 100 thousand to 200 thousand rubles, respectively.
According to the data provided in the explanatory note to the document, the number of violations related to the transportation of children in a car is only growing. So, if in 2020, employees of the State Traffic Inspectorate issued 504.9 thousand resolutions for this violation (part 3 of Article 12.23 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), then in 2021 their number increased to 580.5 thousand. In 2022, 652.4 thousand violations were already recorded, and in 2023 the figure increased to 656 thousand.
Chair protection
Last year, more than 7.2 thousand cases were recorded in our country. Accidents involving minors. At the same time, transporting young passengers in a car without a child restraint is one of the main causes of their death and injury.
According to the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 345 children were killed and 8.4 thousand injured in accidents in 2024. Note that these figures are 14% and 0.7% lower than in 2023, respectively.
At the same time, in more than 1.1 thousand cases (-5.1% compared to the previous year), children rode in a vehicle without a special seat. 97 children were killed in such accidents and over 1,400 were injured, these figures also decreased by 28.7% and 4.1%, respectively, compared to 2023.
According to the traffic regulations, child restraints are necessary when transporting passengers under 12 years of age, but taking into account the height and weight of the child. If he is less than seven years old, then a DUU is a mandatory requirement. Young passengers aged 7-12 years can ride in the back seat with a standard seat belt. An important condition here is the location of the diagonal strap of the belt: it should pass over the child's chest, not over the neck. If this requirement is not met, a booster is needed — one of the varieties of a child restraint device. It ensures that the child is properly seated in the car and can be fastened with a safety belt according to all requirements.
"The fine should be comparable to the price of the chair"
The senators' proposals, despite all their rigor, are balanced and well-reasoned, said Valery Soldunov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists. In his opinion, it is the high fines for violations of the rules of transportation of children that should ensure the safety of the child in the car.
— It's not so much rigor that's important here, as the economic motivation to purchase a child safety seat. The fine should be comparable to the cost of this device. In this case, it will be more profitable to pay for a child safety seat once than to pay the same amount later in the form of a fine for its absence. Moreover, now Russian manufacturers are already offering inexpensive and high—quality products," Valery Soldunov told Izvestia.
Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, agrees with him. He also believes that in order to ensure the safety of a child in a car, the fine for transporting a young passenger without a child safety seat should be increased. However, he considers the idea of raising it immediately to 200 thousand for legal entities premature.
— This applies primarily to taxi cars. There are different situations, therefore, in my opinion, the proposed fine of 200 thousand is excessive. It probably makes sense to ensure that in every locality a passenger with a child has the opportunity to order a car with a child safety seat. And only after that, introduce an increased fine for taxi drivers for not having a seat when transporting children," Igor Morzharetto emphasized.
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, is convinced that responsibility for violations of the rules of transportation of children must be strengthened. The safety of the child in the car should be a priority, he is convinced. However, the expert does not understand why this proposal was not included in the recent serious increase in fines for a large list of traffic violations.
— I criticized the amended Administrative Code, which came into force on January 1, 2025, quite harshly, including the fact that the responsibility for the improper transportation of children was not increased then. Now this will probably be fixed, and the penalty for not having a child safety seat when transporting a child will be increased. It is unclear why this could not have been done immediately, in a "package", rather than continuing to "dismantle" the Administrative Code, and specifically its "automotive" chapter," said the editor—in-chief of Za Rulem.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
