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- The "invisible" inspectors: how does the hidden patrol of the State Traffic Inspectorate work?
The "invisible" inspectors: how does the hidden patrol of the State Traffic Inspectorate work?
The absence of traffic cameras and traffic police patrol cars in the visible area is not a reason to violate traffic regulations. Moreover, traffic police can be very close, literally in the next car. The Izvestia correspondent was convinced of this by taking part in a covert patrol of the roads of the Samara region.
No flashing lights or special paint
An ordinary white Lada Vesta drives up to the main entrance of the Samara Region Traffic Police Department. There were no flashing lights on the roof, no signs of "Traffic police" and "Police" on the sides... Even the registration plates are the most ordinary, not blue, police ones. There are two traffic police officers in the car. It is with them in this car that we have to catch those who violate traffic regulations, thinking that their offenses will go unnoticed.
Amateur police work? Not at all: the method of covert patrolling is provided for by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 264 dated May 2, 2023. According to this document, with this method of monitoring and supervising compliance with traffic regulations by road users, it is allowed to "use operational and official vehicles without color schemes." Moreover, according to the decision of the leadership of the regional department of the State Traffic Inspectorate, police officers conducting covert patrols can work in civilian clothes. However, in our case, two officers go on duty in uniform.
Before leaving for the patrol route, traffic police inspectors attach a video camera with good recording quality and the possibility of maximum zoom to a special bracket on the front panel of the Vesta. Until recently, an inspector's report was sufficient to initiate an administrative case against a reckless driver identified by a hidden patrol. However, since July 2023, a prerequisite for this method of monitoring compliance with traffic regulations is the presence of video surveillance equipment in the patrol car.
Prevent, not catch
The hidden patrol works in conjunction with regular traffic police crews. "Invisible" traffic inspectors do not stop violators and do not compile administrative materials on them — this is the prerogative of traffic police officers in patrol cars with flashing lights. The task of the "secret" police officers is to detect a violation and pass the information on to their colleagues.
— The location of the fixed posts is well known. Navigators warn you about where the cameras are installed. Obviously, no sane driver would violate traffic regulations on camera or in front of traffic police inspectors. But it is almost impossible to predict which car the inspector is in next to him, who is conducting a hidden patrol. Knowing that there may be a police officer in a nearby car leading such a patrol, drivers tend to refrain from rash actions. This form of traffic control radically changes the psychology of motorists' behavior on the road," explained Police Lieutenant Colonel Alexandra Orlyanskaya, Deputy head of the Department of Organizational and Analytical Work and propaganda of the Traffic Police Department of the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Samara Region.
"I didn't break anything!"
On the "secret" Lada Vesta, we drive up to one of the transport interchanges in the vicinity of Samara, where several ordinary traffic police crews are already waiting for us. A couple of patrol cars remain in place, and another squad leaves for a position a few kilometers ahead. After some time, a hidden patrol also leaves the highway, starting to "iron" the road between the other two crews.
One lap, two, three... All drivers behave roughly, some even warn us about an "ambush" ahead by flashing their headlights. However, car inspectors are indifferent to "well-wishers", moreover, they even welcome such warnings.
— Let them blink! If such a prompt forces the driver to abandon traffic violations, it may save someone's life," notes one of the inspectors in the crew of the Vesta. — Our task is not to catch as many violators as possible. Sometimes no one gets caught during a job change in a hidden patrol — well, thank God!
However, this time the duty turned out to be "rich in catch." At some point, the patrol's attention is attracted by one of the cars, which, although it went out to overtake where it was allowed, returned to its lane after a solid line of markings.
— Red Volkswagen Polo, license plate number so-and-so... 12:15 (departure in violation of traffic rules to the lane designated for oncoming traffic. — Izvestia)... We're stopping it! We'll be right there," the inspectors of the hidden patrol tell their colleagues.
— I didn't violate anything and I wasn't driving in oncoming traffic! I overtook a truck 2 km from here: what did you see there?! — the Volkswagen driver is trying to prove his innocence to the traffic police who stopped him.
— The violation was recorded by a hidden patrol, there is a video recording, you can read it, — the police invite the motorist to come to our "Vesta". — Do you see the number? Is the car yours? Which marking line does it cross?
After watching the video a couple of times, which captures the maneuver he performed, the confused motorist admits his guilt and dejectedly follows to the patrol car to draw up a protocol.
— Well, I drove quite a bit on the wrong side... I didn't have time to come back, I thought no one would notice," the intruder mutters.
"Before you started overtaking, you had to make sure that you had enough space to return to your lane before the start of the zone where this maneuver is prohibited," the traffic police remind him of the traffic regulations regarding the rules of overtaking. — You are not convinced of this, so we will draw up a protocol and send the materials to the court.
According to current legislation, for this offense, a motorist faces a fine of 7.5 thousand rubles or deprivation of rights for 4-6 months.
The vast majority of drivers, whose violations were recorded by a hidden patrol, at first categorically refuse to admit their guilt, the police say. But as soon as they see that their misconduct has been recorded on camera, they agree that they have committed a violation.
No sooner had the hidden patrol moved back onto the route than two intruders came out almost head-on. Moreover, if the first driver did not calculate the distance for the maneuver and crossed the solid line after it was completed, then the second motorist purposefully went to overtake the truck, despite the forbidding signs and markings. And again, the violators are outraged at first, but after watching the "movie" they agree with the arguments of the traffic police.
Not a trap, but prevention.
Driving into the oncoming lane is one of the most serious traffic violations detected by hidden patrols, according to the Department of the State Traffic Inspectorate for the Samara region. Such maneuvers often lead to the most serious accidents. A large flow of transit traffic passes through the region, and due to the hilly terrain in many areas, overtaking is unsafe and therefore prohibited by signs and markings. Therefore, the main focus of the "secret" traffic police crews in the Samara region is on the prevention and suppression of driving into the oncoming lane. However, this does not mean that they do not notice other violations.
So, since the beginning of the year, in addition to driving into the oncoming lane, they have identified more than 50 drivers and passengers who were not wearing seat belts; 37 times motorists who were driving on the phone were prosecuted; about a hundred drivers were fined for violations of the rules for transporting children.
The crews of hidden patrols do not have the task of catching as many reckless drivers as possible, emphasized Alexandra Orlyanskaya. This is primarily a preventive measure aimed at preventing traffic violations and, as a result, improving road safety, she noted.
— This is by no means some kind of hidden trap for drivers. The key task of covert patrolling is to prevent drivers from behaving law—abiding on the road. When a motorist realizes that his actions can be observed at any moment, he begins to behave more disciplined, regardless of whether he sees a traffic police patrol or not," the police lieutenant colonel told Izvestia.
That is why information boards are everywhere installed on the roads of the Samara region, urging drivers to abandon traffic violations and warning them that hidden control is being conducted on the highway.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
