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- Riding into the unknown: the court replaced the driver who left the scene of the accident with a fine.
Riding into the unknown: the court replaced the driver who left the scene of the accident with a fine.
Leaving the scene of an accident does not always entail the loss of a driver's license. This is the conclusion reached by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Traffic regulations clearly regulate these nuances, however, for fear of being left without a driver's license, motorists often risk their lives by staying at the scene of an accident when it is not required by law, lawyers say. The details are in the Izvestia article.
Within sight
In April last year, a small accident happened in Moscow — Renault Sandero and Niva got a little "stuck". Since the accident occurred on a major highway, the woman driving the French car pulled over to a stand-in so as not to interfere with the passage of other cars along the main highway, and stopped a few meters from the scene. In the explanations, the motorist indicated that she began to wait for another participant in the accident to process the necessary documents for the accident, but he did not drive up to her. From this, she concluded that there was no damage.
However, based on the materials drawn up by traffic police officers, the magistrate's court found her guilty under Part 2 of Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Leaving the scene of an accident in violation of traffic regulations, in which he was a participant," and deprived her of her driver's license for a year. The District and Second Cassation Courts upheld this decision. As a result, the motorist had to file a complaint with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (SC RF).
Not that part.
After reviewing the case materials, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not agree with the conclusions of the lower courts and noted that the motorist acted in strict accordance with traffic regulations.
"By virtue of paragraph 2.6.1 of the traffic Regulations, if damage is caused only to property as a result of an accident, the driver involved in it is obliged to clear the roadway if an obstacle is created to the movement of other vehicles, having previously recorded by any possible means, including by means of photography or video recording, the position of the vehicles in relation to each other and the objects of the road infrastructure, traces and objects related to the incident, and damage to vehicles," the Supreme Court said in its ruling.
From the testimony of the driver, which is also confirmed by the testimony of the second participant in the incident, it follows that there are grounds for concluding that Semenova (surname changed. — Izvestia) There is no place of an accident in which she was a participant, the RF Armed Forces noted. At the same time, her actions revealed signs of a violation under Part 1 of Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Failure by the driver to comply with the obligations stipulated by the traffic regulations in connection with an accident in which he is a participant." In particular, she did not turn on the "emergency light" and did not put up an emergency stop sign and did not record the position of the vehicle and other circumstances of the incident.
As a result, the Supreme Court decided to reclassify the actions of the motorist from the second to the first part of art. 12.27, cancel the penalty in the form of deprivation of rights and impose a fine of 1 thousand rubles on her.
Read the traffic regulations carefully
Obviously, after driving away from the scene of the accident for several meters, the motorist had no intention of hiding in order to avoid responsibility, said Sergey Radko, a lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement. Therefore, he calls the decision made by the Supreme Court absolutely correct.
— The traffic regulations clearly state that in the event of an accident where there are no casualties, drivers are required to clear the roadway if colliding cars cause interference to other road users. That's exactly what the girl did. Yes, she did not record the position of the vehicle and other circumstances of the incident, as required by the traffic regulations, for which she received a fine," the lawyer noted.
The actions of the driver in the event of an accident, including in certain cases the obligation to clear the roadway, are described in the traffic regulations, said Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
— It is unclear why an elementary issue had to be brought to the Supreme Court. By paying a little more attention to the case and understanding the circumstances, the very first world court could have solved it correctly. Moreover, this situation might not have reached court at all if the traffic police had initially prepared the material on the relevant part of the article of the Administrative Code," he said in an interview with Izvestia.
Rights are more expensive than life
Due to such court decisions, when the driver was deprived of his license for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident and had to prove his case to the Supreme Court, many motorists remain at the scene, risking both their lives and the lives of their passengers, Sergei Radko believes.
— The data Center, the State Traffic Inspectorate, Avtodor and other services literally persuade drivers in the event of an accident on the MKAD, Central Ring Road or other expressway to clear the roadway as soon as possible by moving cars to a safe place. However, often motorists, even despite the clear regulations of the traffic regulations and the possibility of registering an accident according to the European protocol, still stand still, believing that, having left the scene, they will be left without rights," Sergei Radko told Izvestia.
Maxim Kadakov, the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, shares a similar point of view. It is precisely because of the idea ingrained in the minds of drivers that leaving the scene of an accident is a guaranteed deprivation of their rights that they prefer to take risks.
— New videos with footage of secondary accidents, when other cars crash into cars standing on the roadway at full speed after an accident, appear almost every day. Most often, such incidents occur due to the fact that drivers simply do not understand that they can safely remove cars, if they are on the move, to a safe place and already there they can independently issue a European protocol or, if they really want to, wait for the arrival of traffic inspectors," Maxim Kadakov noted.
To protect themselves from potential loss of rights for leaving the scene of an accident, experts and lawyers recommend that motorists who become involved in an accident report it by calling 112 in any case, even the most minor incident. After that, it is necessary to follow the instructions of the operator, they advise.
— The operators, having clarified the circumstances of the accident, will decide whether it is necessary for police officers or other operational services to arrive at the scene. If this is not necessary, they will offer to register an accident according to the European protocol, clearing the roadway, or drive up to one or another department of the State Traffic Inspectorate for its registration by the police," Maxim Kadakov recommends.
In any case, the accident itself will already be recorded. And since all conversations on 112 are recorded, if any questions arise in the future, the driver will have proof that he left on the recommendation of the police, said the editor-in-chief of Behind the Wheel.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
