With new rules and laws

Since the beginning of January, a number of major changes in legislation concerning motorists have come into force in Russia. They are aimed at improving road safety, reducing accidents and deaths on the country's roads. Izvestia investigated the changes together with the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

The results of the New Year holidays

During the long New Year holidays, from January 1 to January 11, 2026, according to preliminary data from the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, more than 2.3 thousand accidents occurred on the country's roads. 348 people became victims of these incidents, more than 3.5 thousand were injured. At the same time, as noted in the department, contrary to popular belief, despite the long holidays, driving drunk is not at all the main cause of "New Year" car accidents. According to the State Traffic Inspectorate, 162 road accidents occurred in our country during the holidays, involving drivers who were intoxicated or refused medical examinations.

— The dynamics of recent years shows that drunk driving during the New Year holidays is no longer the main risk factor for accidents, — said the Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Road Safety (GUOBDD) Interior Ministry of Russia Major General of Police Oleg Ponariin.

In many ways, this positive trend was the result of large-scale campaigns aimed at the inadmissibility of drunk driving. The practice of conducting mass and continuous checks of drivers, which is regularly conducted by the police, also has its effect. Last New Year's holidays were no exception: as in previous years, during the holidays, traffic police officers in all regions were on duty in an enhanced mode, additional traffic police crews were working on the roads.

Children are safe

Along with drunk drivers, throughout the New Year holidays, as well as on regular weekdays, traffic police paid special attention to compliance with the rules for transporting children. Statistics are inexorable: a third of child passengers killed in car accidents were transported without child restraints or were not wearing seat belts.

At the end of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which the responsibility for violating the rules of transportation of small passengers is significantly increased. These amendments to the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation entered into force on January 9, 2026.

From this date, violation of the requirements for the transportation of children established by the traffic regulations entails the imposition of an administrative fine on the driver in the amount of 5 thousand rubles (previously — 3 thousand); on officials — 50 thousand rubles (previously — 25 thousand); on legal entities — 200 thousand rubles (previously — 100 thousand).

The State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia emphasizes that individual entrepreneurs (sole proprietors) (carriers who operate without forming a legal entity) for this offense, as before, bear administrative responsibility on an equal basis with legal entities: from January 9, the fine for them is 200 thousand rubles. But the so-called self-employed (individual carriers applying the special tax regime "Professional Income Tax") are now responsible as officials for violating the rules of transportation of children, if this offense is committed by them in the process of transporting passengers and luggage by passenger taxi (a fine of 50 thousand rubles), the department noted.

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The State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia reminded that, according to the traffic regulations, children under the age of seven should be transported in a car only in a child restraint system. A child over the age of seven, who no longer has enough car seat, is allowed to be transported in the rear passenger seat of a car with the mandatory use of a seat belt. Moreover, the diagonal strap of the belt should pass over the chest, and not over the neck of the small passenger, the department emphasizes. At the same time, various straps, adapters, retainers, seat belt pads and other similar items are not child restraint systems (devices) — the corresponding changes to the traffic regulations came into force at the end of July 2025, the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia said.

According to Oleg Ponarin, these changes in legislation are designed to reduce the death rate and injury of young passengers in road accidents. Purposeful work is underway in this direction, he noted.

— Responsibility for violations of the rules of transportation of children has been increased many times. We predict that the effect of these changes in legislation will manifest itself in about six months," said the deputy head of the Russian State Traffic Inspectorate.

The amendments to the Administrative Code that have come into force are primarily aimed at raising the legal awareness of parents, on whom the safety of children depends entirely, said Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

— In fact, the fine for transporting a child without a child safety seat is now comparable to the cost of the seat itself. Perhaps this will force negligent parents who have not yet purchased this most important car accessory for a child to buy it and use it when traveling with a young passenger, he believes.

The rights are not renewed

Another important change for a number of motorists came into force on January 1, 2026. We are talking about driver's licenses that expired between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025. According to the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 12, 2022 No. 353, they were extended for three years and cannot be extended again, the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia noted.

The agency reminded drivers whose license expired during this period that such documents are considered valid for another three years from that date. Thus, all driver's licenses that expired in 2022 (the one listed in section 4b) are now considered invalid. And the rights that expired in February 2023 will become invalid in February 2026. The State Traffic Inspectorate strongly recommends that drivers check the expiration date of their license and replace their driver's license if necessary.

The issuance of rights to replace previously issued ones is carried out without passing exams, the State Traffic Inspectorate noted. The license replacement procedure takes place either at the registration and examination department of the State Traffic Inspectorate or at the MFC. If the driver's license expires on a non-working day, the holder of such a document must take care of its replacement in advance, the department stressed. A fine of 15 thousand rubles is provided for driving vehicles with an expired driver's license, the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia recalled.

New signs and markings

Also, on January 1, the updated GOST entered into force, which introduces a number of new road signs and adjusts the marking requirements. For example, it is allowed to use the "Deaf" sign, which informs about hard-of-hearing or inaudible pedestrians, and the sign "Recommended speed when passing artificial bumps" appears. It is also allowed to combine several signs on one sign. And the Stop sign can be not only horizontal, but also vertical.

The requirements for road markings are also changing. In particular, parallel parking spaces are allowed to be 2.25 m wide instead of the previous 2.5 m.

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Less paperwork

On the first working day after the New Year holidays, the government approved a bill changing the procedure for suspension from driving a vehicle. In particular, it is proposed to exclude the drafting of a separate protocol on the application of this measure (for example, in relation to a driver suspected of drinking alcohol).

Instead, it is planned to put an appropriate mark in other documents: the protocol on the referral for a medical examination, on the detention of a vehicle, on an administrative offense, a ruling on the initiation of a case or a decision on the case.

This will reduce the number of documents issued by traffic police in relation not only to drivers suspected of drunk driving, but also to persons who have committed administrative offenses under Part 1 of Article 12.3; Part 2 of Article 12.5; Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4 of Article 12.7 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. So far, these proposals are a draft law: it has yet to be considered by the State Duma and the Federation Council.

The State Traffic Inspectorate warns

The key to road safety is strict compliance with traffic regulations by all road users, the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia reminds. However, in addition, deliberate and responsible behavior of both drivers and pedestrians is extremely important, especially in winter road conditions, the department emphasizes.

— Drivers need to take into account road and weather conditions and, based on this, choose their driving speed. During icy conditions or snowfall, it is not enough to simply observe the speed limit on this section of the road — the speed should be lower, and the distance and side interval should be longer. Unfortunately, many motorists do not take into account the winter condition of the road. As a result, there is a risk of collisions, including oncoming ones, with the most severe consequences," Oleg Ponariin noted.

Pedestrians should also behave more responsibly, said the Deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. They need to remember that on a winter road, the driver is not able to stop the car immediately. Therefore, pedestrians need to cross the roadway only in designated places, making sure that motorists let them through, he recalled.

In addition, due to snowdrifts, the driver often simply cannot notice a person about to cross the road in time, so it is extremely important to stop before crossing, and not immediately enter the roadway. And in the dark, pedestrians should use retroreflective elements on outerwear or as accessories — bracelets and key chains. They allow the driver to see a pedestrian on a dark road much earlier — this gives him additional time to stop the vehicle, the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia notes.

The material was created as part of the implementation of the federal project "Road Safety" of the national project "Infrastructure for Life".