Most of the initiatives from people's representatives concern increasing fines and introducing liability for actions that are not currently considered a violation. But there is also a proposal that will reduce the abuse of local authorities in towing cars.
People's Deputy of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Vladimir Kreidenko spoke about the legislative initiatives that are currently being considered in parliament.
Points for traffic violations
The point system for traffic violations, theoretically, should encourage drivers to violate less. Previously, in Soviet times, drivers had special tickets, in which holes were “pricked” for certain violations.. The penalty point system exists in many European countries, for example in Germany. The return of such a system (even in electronic form) at first glance seems like a logical step.
However, it should be borne in mind that not all drivers drive the same number of kilometers in a certain period of time.. A person who drives a car only to the dacha on weekends and a taxi driver who drives 300 kilometers a day will have a different probability of committing violations.. Therefore, the limit of violations should be different.
In addition, penalty points increase corruption risks on the part of police officers. If now the relatively small amounts of fines for the most common violations are offset by this, then the driver, who will have several penalty points, is much more motivated to “agree” with the inspector.
Remove 20 km/h, which is not subject to a fine
Currently the fine for exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 kilometers is 340 UAH.. More than 50 km – 1700 UAH. People's representatives propose removing these 20 “non-penalized” kilometers and making a larger scale of fines depending on speed.
Important point: in populated areas the maximum permitted speed is 50 km/h. This restriction applies both on narrow streets and on highways and avenues that have three or four lanes in one direction, are separated by bumpers and do not have pedestrian crossings. Driving on such roads at a speed of 50 km/h is not entirely logical, and the existing 20 kilometers of “play” neutralizes this limitation. Of course, it is possible to put appropriate signs on such roads, but local authorities are usually in no hurry to do this (this practice is common only in a few cities in Ukraine).
In addition, the speedometers of most cars do not indicate the speed correctly, so there should be at least some kind of “gap” (for example, 5-10 km/h).
If such an initiative is adopted, traffic in large cities will become significantly more difficult.. On the other hand, People's Deputy Vladimir Kreidenko proposes to increase fines for speeding to 20 thousand hryvnia. If a person drives in the city at a speed of 190 or 200 kilometers per hour, there should be a significant punishment for this.
Fine for loud exhaust
Now, during the war, some citizens are afraid of loud noises. Therefore, according to Vladimir Kreydenok, responsibility for loud exhaust must exist.
A corresponding bill has already been registered in the Rada. For exceeding the noise level, it is proposed to establish a sanction in a fixed amount – 1000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens (17,000 UAH), and in case of repetition – 2000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens (34,000 UAH) with possible deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period from three to six months.
Ban drift
The ban on drifting looks rather strange, because there are very few cases when one of the drivers drifts on public roads. And the most important thing is that it is unlikely that fines will be able to stop those who decided to show off their skills in front of friends, or, on the contrary, accidentally drove the car sideways, for example during a snowfall.
However, the corresponding bill has already been registered in the Verkhovna Rada. It provides for fines of UAH 8,500 for the first case. If the driver is caught drifting for the second time within a year, he will receive a 17,000 UAH fine and deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of six months to one year.
Car towing only by police
Currently, private companies in tandem with parking inspections are engaged in the evacuation of illegally parked cars.. In fact, this is just a business for motorists – picking up a towed car from the impound lot costs about two thousand hryvnia. The lion's share of these funds goes to private companies; a small share of this amount goes to the budget (the fine for violating parking rules is 340 UAH).
Vladimir Kreidenko proposes to take away the authority to evacuate cars from parking inspectors and give them to the police. In this case, only cars that actually impede traffic will be evacuated.