Alcohol stop
Despite the decreasing number of accidents involving drunk drivers over the past few years, car accidents such as driving while intoxicated are still a serious problem on Russian roads. Izvestia found out how to prevent accidents with drunk drivers and prevent a drunk person from driving.
Numbers are not the main thing
According to official accident statistics, more than 10.1 thousand cars were recorded on the country's roads in the first 10 months of this year. Accidents involving drivers with signs of intoxication, that is, drunk drivers and motorists who refused to undergo a medical examination. Compared to the same period last year, the number of such car accidents decreased by 13.7%. 2,374 people became victims of "drunk" accidents (a decrease of 22.7%), more than 12.8 thousand people were injured in them (-13.7% compared to the 10 months of last year). However, a decrease in these indicators does not reduce the severity of the problem of drunkenness at the wheel, the Main Directorate for Road Safety emphasizes The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
— Such accidents could have been avoided if the drivers had fulfilled one of the fundamental requirements of the traffic regulations and not got behind the wheel drunk. This would have saved the lives of more than 2,000 people," said Police Colonel Anton Belan, Deputy head of the Department for Road Safety Promotion and Prevention of Child Traffic Injuries at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
He recalled that the statutory figure of 0.16 mg/l, above which a motorist is considered drunk, is just the maximum permissible error level of the measuring instruments (breathalyzers) used to check the driver for sobriety. However, this value should not be confused with the allegedly allowed alcohol level, Anton Belan emphasized.
— The driver driving the vehicle must be completely sober. In no case should those 0.16 mg of alcohol in a liter of exhaled air be considered a permission to "drink a little before the trip" - this is an extremely dangerous misconception. This value is established by law only in order to exclude the error of measuring devices that are used by traffic police and doctors to examine the driver for intoxication. Alcohol consumption, even in minimal doses before a trip, is strictly prohibited by traffic regulations," said the deputy head of the Department for Road Safety Promotion and Prevention of child traffic injuries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
From deprivation of rights to imprisonment
According to current legislation, serious administrative liability is provided for driving under the influence of alcohol: deprivation of a driver's license for a period of one and a half to two years and a fine of 45 thousand rubles. Similar sanctions threaten motorists who refuse to undergo a medical examination for intoxication at the request of traffic police. In this case, the lawyers emphasize, the violator is automatically deprived not only of his car rights, but also of documents that allow him to drive other vehicles: for example, a tractor driver's license (required for riding a tractor, ATV or snowmobile) or a certificate for driving a small vessel.
If the driver, being deprived of his license for drunkenness, gets behind the wheel drunk again or refuses a medical examination, in this case he will already face criminal liability: a fine of 200-500 thousand rubles or up to 480 hours of compulsory labor. Also, for this crime, the court may impose a punishment in the form of forced labor or imprisonment for a period of two to three years.
Suppression and prevention
For 10 months in Russia, 193.9 thousand administrative cases were initiated against drivers who got behind the wheel drunk, as well as those who refused a medical examination, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia reported. To identify drunken motorists and prevent them from driving while intoxicated, traffic police officers constantly use the so-called continuous inspection method, when reinforced traffic police crews stop all passing vehicles on a certain section of the road.
— The main purpose of such raids is not punitive, but preventive. Regional departments of the State Traffic Inspectorate inform about these inspections in advance on the Internet, social networks and the media. The task is not to catch as many drunk motorists as possible, but to ensure that the driver, knowing about the increased patrol, refuses to travel at all after drinking alcohol," Anton Belan explained.
Public assistance
Despite the active work of the State Traffic Inspectorate to curb and prevent drunk driving, it is obvious that it is impossible to solve the problem of drunkenness at the wheel only by the police. It is extremely important that road users themselves join in the eradication of this serious problem on the roads, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia emphasizes. That is why, through the media and through various social campaigns and actions related to the formation of a stable negative attitude towards drunk driving among the population, the ministry urges citizens to report to the police about drivers who behave inappropriately on the road or try to drive drunk.
"Every such message will be checked, and Traffic police officers will take all measures to promptly respond to them," Anton Belan said.
An active civic position is bearing fruit. So, in the Ulyanovsk region, thanks to the vigilance of concerned citizens, since the beginning of the year, State Traffic Police officers have detained more than 200 drivers who were driving while intoxicated. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, when processing almost 2.5 thousand appeals in connection with drunk motorists that were reported to the police this year, 558 cases were confirmed — drunk drivers were really driving.
Such reports should by no means be considered snitching, member of the Public Board, member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Transport of Russia, Chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists Valery Soldunov is convinced. This is primarily a manifestation of civil law awareness, he emphasizes.
— A drunk driver is a criminal, a potential murderer. If a citizen who notices a man walking down the street with a gun at the ready reports this to the police, no one will have a thought to consider this a snitch. On the contrary, such an applicant will deserve full respect and encouragement in the eyes of society. But an intoxicated motorist is, in fact, exactly the same "man with a loaded gun." Therefore, citizens' reports to the police about drunk drivers should also be supported by society," Valery Soldunov believes.
Start with yourself
The State Traffic Inspectorate considers raising the level of legal awareness of drivers themselves to be a key area in the fight against drunkenness at the wheel. It is in this direction that the main work is being done to prevent and prevent one of the most serious traffic violations.
— Driving while intoxicated inevitably leads to the most serious consequences. As part of preventive conversations with driving school cadets, during social campaigns and daily traffic control, traffic inspectors constantly work with drivers, explaining to them that alcohol and driving are incompatible. Using concrete examples, they show road users what drunk driving leads to, and urge motorists not to risk their lives, as well as the lives of their passengers and other road users," Anton Belan said.
The fight against drunkenness at the wheel is one of the key areas of work of the State Traffic Inspectorate aimed at reducing accidents and deaths on Russian roads and achieving the results indicated in the adopted Strategy for Improving Road Safety. This work will continue in close cooperation with other ministries and departments, civil society institutions and motorists themselves, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia emphasizes.
The material was created as part of the implementation of the federal project "Road Safety" of the national project "Infrastructure for Life".
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