Ghostbusters: 250,000 "ghostbusters" discovered in Russia
The Prosecutor General's Office revealed "omissions in the work of the Interior Ministry." The claims of the supervisory authority were caused by more than 250 thousand cars registered to deceased citizens. 2.5 million traffic violations were committed on such cars, but the drivers were not held responsible for this. The problem with detecting "auto-visits" is largely related to the difficulties in exchanging information between different departments, experts say. Despite this, their number on the roads is decreasing, experts remind. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
"The Ghost Rider"
In 2025, there is a decrease in accidents and the number of injured on Russian roads. This was stated by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Alexander Gutsan, speaking at the Federation Council with a report on the state of law and order in the country. This was largely the result of the expansion of the network of photo and video cameras and the use of modern digital technologies, he noted. So, according to the State Traffic Inspectorate, 128,793 accidents occurred last year, which is 2.5 less than a year earlier. 13.9 thousand people died in car accidents (-3.2%) and almost 160 thousand people were injured (-3%).
However, the prosecutor's check revealed omissions in the work of the Interior Ministry bodies, reducing the effectiveness of their control powers, said Alexander Gutsan. One of the claims against the agency is related to the large number of cars on the roads, the owners of which have died.
— According to the cameras, more than a quarter of a million vehicles registered with the deceased continued to participate in traffic, 20 thousand drivers drove cars that were de-registered, while committing 2.5 million violations. All these facts have gone unpunished," said the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
Get information
According to art. 18 of the law "On registration of vehicles", the death of the owner of the car is one of the grounds for termination of its registration, recalls the lawyer of the Freedom of Choice movement Sergey Radko. In this case, the driver who drives such a car for the first time, according to Part 1 of Article 12.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Driving a vehicle that is not registered in accordance with the established procedure," faces a fine of 500-800 rubles, the lawyer noted. For repeated violations, a more serious liability is provided — a fine of 5 thousand rubles or the deprivation of a driver's license for 3-6 months.
— After receiving information that the owner of a vehicle has died, the Ministry of Internal Affairs automatically terminates the registration of such a car. The only question is how quickly the agency will receive this information," Sergei Radko said.
Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, believes that the main difficulty in identifying "ghost" cars is precisely in promptly obtaining data on the death of their owners.
— If the vehicle's registration is terminated, the cameras detect such a car in the stream — its data and route are transmitted to the patrol officers for appropriate measures. But if the data that the owner of the car died came with a delay and there is no information about it in the database, the camera simply will not see such a car," he noted.
Valery Soldunov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists, also believes that it is possible to solve the problem of "ghosts" on the road through clearer information interaction between various departments.
— A few years ago, car owners who sold a car or had it stolen often faced the fact that they kept receiving notifications about the need to pay transport tax for it. There are much fewer such cases now. This means that we have managed to establish an operational exchange of information between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and tax authorities. The same process needs to be worked out in relation to the registry offices that record the death of a citizen," said Valery Soldunov.
Wait six months.
According to the law, heirs inherit only six months after the date of their relative's death, Sergei Radko recalls. After that, the new owner of the vehicle must register it in his own name. Up to this point, it is impossible to operate a car that previously belonged to the deceased, this is a violation, the lawyer warns.
Many people simply do not know about this ban, believing that since there are documents for the car, then it is possible to drive it, Igor Morzharetto notes. In addition, car owners usually include their spouses, children or other relatives in the insurance, which only increases confidence that the car belonging to the deceased can be used, he notes.
— Unlike an apartment, which, according to the law, the future heirs of the deceased owner can live in before the official inheritance, they cannot use his car. But not everyone who gets behind the wheel of such a car is aware that they are committing an offense by doing so," Igor Morzharetto said.
Cameras are not a panacea
The problem with ghost cars is not new, and the State Traffic Inspectorate is systematically identifying such vehicles, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, notes.
— But it's not enough just to find such a car, it also needs to be stopped. And for this, we no longer need cameras, but live employees. However, in the State Traffic Inspectorate, as well as in the Interior Ministry as a whole, there is a serious shortage of personnel — this is recognized by the police leadership. Along with certain difficulties in obtaining information about deceased owners, personnel problems also complicate the work to reduce the number of such cars on the road, Maxim Kadakov believes.
At the same time, despite certain difficulties, the number of "ghost" cars is decreasing, experts interviewed by Izvestia admit. So, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, about 700 thousand such vehicles were identified in 2020. Thus, due to the measures taken by the State Traffic Inspectorate, the number of these cars has decreased by almost 2.5 times in six years, experts say.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
