Doctor rides: Russian drivers will be taught to respect ambulances
The State Duma will consider amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, providing for tougher liability for failure to provide an advantage on the road to ambulances with special signals turned on. Drivers who do not let medics rush to the call will face up to two years in prison. Lawyers and experts have mixed opinions about this initiative. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Into a separate category
Amendments to the Administrative Code have been submitted to the State Duma for consideration, suggesting a significant tightening of liability for drivers who do not allow ambulances with special alarms on. The document has been published in the legislative support system of the lower house of Parliament.
According to current legislation, failure to provide an advantage in driving to a vehicle with special signals turned on (blue flashing light and siren) threatens with a warning or a fine of 500 rubles (Part 1 of art. 12.17 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). If we are talking about a special vehicle of operational services with special color schemes, inscriptions and designations applied on the sides, then such an offense is already qualified under the second part of this article of the Administrative Code and threatens with a fine of 4.5–7 thousand rubles or deprivation of rights for a period of three months to a year.
The parliamentarians intend to add a third part to Article 12.17 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, providing for separate sanctions for those who do not allow ambulances to pass. They are proposed to be deprived of their rights for up to two years, as well as fined 20-30 thousand rubles.
"The recent increase in cases of failure to provide an advantage in the movement of ambulances indicates the insufficiency of sanctions provided for such an administrative offense. At the same time, untimely provision of emergency medical care can lead to extremely negative consequences, up to the death of the patient," the explanatory note to the bill says.
According to Yaroslav Nilov, one of the authors of the bill, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Social Policy, the actions of drivers who do not allow ambulances to pass are a risk to the health and life of patients, to whom doctors either do not arrive on time or do not have time to deliver them to the intensive care unit or to the operating table.
— In order to make responsibility for these ugly antics more serious and sensitive, it is necessary to add an additional measure besides the fine — the deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle. And not as an alternative.: There should be no alternative approach here," the parliamentarian stressed.
They're in a hurry for a reason
Recently, cases have become more frequent when drivers do not let ambulances through. For example, in April, two such incidents occurred in Lyubertsy and Balashikha near Moscow. At the beginning of the year in the capital, the motorist also did not give way to doctors. In all cases, police officers identified the violators and compiled administrative materials against them.
Valery Soldunov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists, considers it logical for parliamentarians to single out the non-provision of advantages to ambulances in a separate article of the Administrative Code and provide for tougher sanctions for this.
— The vast majority of drivers, having seen an ambulance or another emergency vehicle with special signals on, try to clear the way for them as quickly as possible. Therefore, the proposed sanctions will definitely not affect them in any way. But for those few people who basically "don't notice" or, even worse, intentionally interfere with the passage of cars with special signals, the deprivation of rights will serve as a good lesson," Valery Soldunov told Izvestia.
At the same time, he emphasizes that, along with the introduction of tougher sanctions, it is necessary to strengthen control over the validity of the use of flashing lights and sirens on special vehicles. Taking into account modern digital technologies, there should be no special difficulties with this, the chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists believes.
In addition to monitoring the validity of the use of special signals, special transport drivers should be more carefully monitored for compliance with the rules of their use, said Anton Shaparin, Vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS). The traffic regulations clearly state that such machines take advantage only if flashing lights and a special sound signal are turned on at the same time, he recalls.
— In practice, it is not uncommon for only the flashing light to work, and the driver of a special vehicle turns on the siren at the last moment. Obviously, in this situation, other motorists are not able to immediately stop or change lanes so as not to cause interference," the NAS Vice president emphasizes.
They forgot about the firefighters
The initiative to separate ambulances into a separate category and impose separate, tougher sanctions for not providing driving advantages to such vehicles is illogical and excessive, says Sergey Radko, a lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement.
— Cars of the fire service, police, rescuers and other operational services with special signals and color-coding on the sides are essentially no different from ambulances: they also rush to emergency calls related to some kind of emergency. At the same time, the legislation already effectively distinguishes them into a separate category, providing for tougher sanctions for not providing advantages to transport in "special paint" compared to conventional cars with special signals, the lawyer notes.
At the same time, the issue of bringing to justice a driver who does not give way to a car with a beacon and siren on is quite subjective, Sergey Radko emphasizes. It is not always possible for a motorist to quickly free up passage for such vehicles, he notes.
— It's one thing when a driver intentionally slows down in front of an ambulance or fire truck — here we can really talk about malicious traffic violations. And it's a completely different situation when a motorist would be happy to free up passage for special vehicles, but he can't do it quickly in a dead traffic jam when the neighboring rows are also clogged," Sergei Radko believes.
"They're competing to see who's stricter"
Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, considers the initiative of parliamentarians to be excessive and premature. According to him, cases when drivers intentionally do not allow ambulances or other special vehicles to pass are rare and not widespread. However, they usually cause a serious public outcry, which is why proposals for another tightening of liability for drivers come to light.
— A couple of outright idiots at the wheel defiantly do not allow an ambulance to pass. This does not mean that all drivers are the same — the problem is clearly not widespread. At the same time, attempts are once again being made to "rip up" the Administrative Code, and again we are talking about the "automotive" chapter, despite the recent serious change in responsibility for a number of traffic violations. It seems that the deputies are simply competing with each other in which of them will propose tougher sanctions for drivers. At the same time, law enforcement practice and an analysis of how the changes already adopted work and what effect they lead to seem to be ignored at all," Igor Morzharetto told Izvestia.
The proposed amendments are considered untimely by the government. The response to the document signed by Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, states that an increase in the fine for this offense is provided for by the law "On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation" adopted at the end of last year. At the same time, in the accompanying documents to the draft law, "there is no information on the results of the analysis of statistical data and materials of law enforcement practice, indicating the insufficiency or inefficiency of the current legal regulation." In this regard, the government notes that "given the short period of validity of the new version of the specified rule of the Code, consideration of further strengthening administrative responsibility for the offense in question is premature."
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