They give you a day: cars with foreign license plates will reduce the time for paying the fine

The period of payment of a fine for traffic violations for the owner of a car with foreign license plates may be shortened. The relevant amendments to the Administrative Code were developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Those who do not meet the deadline will face the detention of the car. Experts are ambivalent about this proposal. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Reduce the deadline

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia intends to reduce from 60 days to a day the deadline for paying a fine for violations committed by owners of cars registered in foreign countries. The relevant amendments to Article 32.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation have been published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

The agency notes that currently the owners of such vehicles are required to pay an administrative fine within 60 days from the date of entry into force of the decree. At the same time, they can freely leave the country, which "contributes to the non-compliance with relevant regulations."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that recently the number of rulings on traffic violations, issued on the basis of data from photo-video recording complexes, has been growing. This also applies to owners of vehicles registered in foreign countries. Last year, 489.6 thousand such resolutions were issued, which is 37.1% more than in 2023. At the same time, out of almost half a million fines issued to owners of cars with foreign license plates, only 281.8 thousand were paid by the end of 2024. In the first seven months of this year, 359.6 thousand rulings were issued against such traffic violators (+51.1%). However, less than half of them have been executed at the moment — 169.7 thousand. These data from law enforcement practice indicate the insufficient effectiveness of the current model of legal regulation, according to the Interior Ministry.

"There is no control over the payment of administrative fines imposed for offenses committed on vehicles registered in foreign countries against persons who are not carriers when leaving the territory of the Russian Federation of these vehicles," the explanatory note to the draft law says.

According to the amendments to the Administrative Code, it is planned to set a deadline for owners of cars registered in foreign countries to pay an administrative fine for traffic violations within 24 hours from the date of entry into force of the decree.

"The implementation of this proposal will contribute to compliance with the principle of the inevitability of punishment, in cases of identification of vehicles registered in foreign countries, the owners (owners) of which have not paid an administrative fine within 24 hours from the date of entry into force of the relevant decision in the case of an administrative offense, such vehicles will be detained until the payment of an administrative fine," — it follows from the accompanying documents to the draft law.

Dauntless needs to be notified

Traffic violators who hide behind foreign license plates should understand that punishment for their actions is inevitable, said Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. However, the violator must understand that he has been fined, he emphasizes.

— A foreign driver who has violated traffic regulations in a car with a license plate from another country may simply not have an account on Public Services. He has no place to send a paper "letter of happiness." Therefore, before introducing new rules, it is necessary to establish a clear mechanism for informing such motorists that they have committed an offense," Igor Morzharetto told Izvestia.

As an example of such a mechanism, he cited the experience of neighboring Belarus, where if the camera recorded a traffic violation committed by a car with a foreign license plate, this information is immediately sent to a single database. A police officer, having stopped such a car, informs the driver that there was a violation and hands him a copy of the resolution, the expert said. In his opinion, it makes sense to introduce a similar scheme in our country.

Maxim Kadakov, the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, shares a similar point of view. According to his observations, two of the three cars whose drivers violate traffic regulations are cars with foreign license plates.

— Such reckless men are not even afraid of cameras, gathering dust on the side of the road, driving into the oncoming lane or rushing headlong right under them and believing that they can get away with anything. Such drivers, if I may say so, should certainly be punished, and the proposed measure is a very effective way to prevent them from escaping responsibility. However, even the most vicious reckless driver must first be properly notified that administrative materials have been drawn up against him and a decision has been made to bring him to justice," Maxim Kadakov emphasized.

There are few days

The principle of the inevitability of punishment should apply to all violators, regardless of which state's license plates are installed on their car, said Sergey Radko, a lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement. However, he considers the deadline proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is proposed to give such violators to pay a fine, too small.

— The proposed detention of a vehicle in case of non-payment of a fine within the established time limit is a rather serious measure of coercion. However, practice shows that information about the payment of a fine may be received late in the database. Such cases are not uncommon, especially with regard to resolutions issued "manually". Therefore, it probably makes sense to increase this period, at least to two or three days, and preferably to a week. In this case, the probability of errors related to the detention of the car will be significantly lower, " he told Izvestia.