- Road Safety Russia
Penalties for traffic offences in Russia – high or low?
The amendments relating to traffic offences which have been introduced to the Russian Code of Administrative Offences and came into force on1 September 2013 are currently being hotly debated in the media and the public at large. Opinions on the matter are divided. Some people see it as a way to compel drivers to comply with traffic regulations, while others say that it will serve to exacerbate the corruption which already exists on the roads. Then there are those who say it is the only effective measure and there are many other arguments too. The issue is certainly much-discussed and highly relevant.
We would like to present here the main differences between the penalties for four types of offences in Russia, Europe, USA and China.
Despite the fact that considerable experience has been accumulated in countries with high levels of vehicle use, there is still no consensus about the relationship between penalties and traffic offences.
We seek here to compare Russia and other countries in an attempt to explain the main features and differences compared with countries with high levels of vehicle use.
The table below shows penalties for traffic offences in 12 European countries and Russia (following the recent amendment).
|
Country |
Penalty for exceeding speed limit by 1) more than 40 km/h, but less than 60 km/h 2) more than 60 km/h, but less than 80 km/h |
Alcohol (maximum penalty under administrative law) |
Children travelling by car |
Seatbelts |
Minimum monthly wage (2011) |
Per capitaGDP, per month, 2012 |
|
Russia |
1) 1,000-1,500 RUB (EUR 23-34) 2) 2,000-2,500 RUB (EUR 45-57) |
Up to 5,000 RUB (EUR 113) |
3,000 RUB (EUR 68) |
1,000 RUB (EUR 23) |
EUR 148 |
EUR 890 |
|
France |
1) EUR 135 2) EUR 1,500 (for exceeding limit by 50 km/h) |
Up to EUR 10,000 |
EUR 135 |
EUR 135 |
EUR 1,133 |
EUR 2,571 |
|
Luxembourg |
More than 25 km/h EUR 145 |
Up to EUR 10,000 |
EUR 49 |
EUR 49 |
EUR 1,325 |
EUR 6,700 |
|
United Kingdom |
1) EUR 52-232 2) EUR 78-348 |
EUR 5,800 |
EUR 35-580 |
Up to EUR 580 |
EUR 1,019 |
EUR 2,412 |
|
Belgium |
More than 10 km/h EUR 50 + EUR 10 for each additional km/h |
EUR 12,000 |
EUR 50 |
EUR 50 |
EUR 1,174 |
EUR 2,730 |
|
Ireland |
Fixed penalty EUR 80 |
EUR 5,000 |
EUR 60 |
EUR 60 |
EUR 1,151 |
EUR 2,868 |
|
Greece |
More than 30 km/h EUR 350 |
EUR 2,000 |
EUR 80 |
EUR 100 |
EUR 840 |
EUR 1,378 |
|
Netherlands |
1) Case goes to court 2) More than 50 km/h, loss of licence Maximum penalty EUR 390 |
EUR 750 |
EUR 130 |
EUR 130 |
EUR 1,217 |
EUR 2,884 |
|
Slovenia |
1) EUR 1,200 2) EUR 1,200 |
EUR 1,200 |
EUR 120 |
EUR 120 |
EUR 824 |
EUR 1,387 |
|
Malta |
From EUR 23.30 to EUR 116.50 |
EUR 1,200 |
EUR 12-58 |
EUR 47 |
EUR 784 |
EUR 1,303 |
|
Spain |
1) EUR 500-600 2) EUR 600 |
EUR 500 |
EUR 200 |
EUR 200 |
EUR 706 |
EUR 1,831 |
|
Portugal |
1) EUR 300-1,500 2) EUR 500-2,500 |
EUR 2,500 |
EUR 120-600 |
EUR 120-600 |
EUR 595 |
EUR 1,261 |
|
Poland |
1) EUR 75-100 2) From 50 km/h EUR 100-125 |
EUR 125 |
EUR 38 |
EUR 25 |
EUR 515
|
EUR 784 |
|
USA |
From EUR 375 |
EUR 750 |
EUR 7.50-375 |
EUR 37.50 |
EUR 1,005 |
EUR 3,120 |
|
China |
EUR 238.50 |
EUR 230 |
- |
EUR 6 |
EUR 189 |
EUR 380 |
Source: http://auto.mail.ru/article.html?id=30840
Source: http://autotraveler.ru
Source:http://gtmarket.ru/ratings/rating-countries-gni/rating-countries-gni-info
Source: http://www.fbk.ru/upload/docs/MROT-1.pdf
Source: http://gai.ru/law/novaya-tablitsa-shtrafov/
Source: http://m.forbes.ru/article.php?id=159291
However, to look at the absolute figures, expressed in Euro, and to say, “Well, look how high their fines are, that’s why no-one breaks the rules there”, is not entirely accurate.
Attempts have already been made in some countries to balance penalties against the minimum monthly wage. We have selected a number of countries and penalties for comparison.
We obtained our information on penalties from the website http://autotraveler.ru. We were only able to find values for the minimum monthly wage in different countries for 2011. The average monthly income for each country for 2012 was calculated by dividing annual per capitaGDP by 12. Overall, this provides a rough idea of the level of penalties inRussia compared with other countries.
Four types of offence were selected for the comparison: speeding, drink driving, offences involving children travelling in cars and failure to use a seatbelt.
The penalties for speeding in Russia from 1 January 2013 are as follows: 1,000-1,500 RUB for exceeding the speed limit by between 40 km/h and 60 km/h and 2,000-2,500 RUB for exceeding the limit by between 60 km/h and 80 km/h. Since the minimum monthly wage in Russiain 2011 was around EUR 148 (converted at the rate of 1 USD = EUR 0.75), a penalty of 2,500 RUB represents 42% of the minimum monthly wage. This figure is considerable but is not very different from other countries. Generally, penalties for speeding offences are scaled depending on speed. However, there are countries (Ireland, Luxembourg and Greece) where the penalties are fixed. In general, the maximum penalty is not usually higher than the minimum monthly wage, with the exception of France, Slovenia and Portugal.
With regard to drinking and driving, in western countries the penalties for drunk drivers are relatively severe, involving not only high administrative penalties but also criminal sanctions.
The highest penalty administered for drink driving in the countries surveyed is in Belgium where it is ten times the minimum monthly wage there. France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Ireland are not far behind, with maximum penalties ranging between four and nine times the minimum monthly wage. It is also worth considering the Netherlands which has one of the lowest rates of road traffic accident mortality in the world, but where the maximum penalty for drink driving is significantly lower.
It seems that the issue of alcohol and the roads is underestimated inRussia. This is evidenced by the penalties system and by the official statistics, according to which only 6-8% of road traffic accidents involving casualties are caused by drunk drivers.
In Russia there is a particular focus on children. The penalties for failure to use special child restraints in Russia are the highest among the countries surveyed, except for Portugal. Time will tell whether the new penalty will lead to improvements in injury rates among children inRussia.
The use of seatbelts is also very much a topic of the moment in road safety. On 1 September a penalty of 1,000 RUB for failure to use a seatbelt came into force in Russia. There is not much variation in other countries in the penalties for this offence. It is also important to note that in these countries seatbelts are used by over 80% of the population, whereas the figure inRussiais lower at around 70%.
|
Country |
Speeding penalty as proportion of minimum monthly wage |
Drink driving penalty as proportion of minimum monthly wage |
Penalty for offences relating to children travelling by car as proportion of minimum monthly wage |
Penalty for failure to use a seatbelt as proportion of minimum monthly wage |
|
Russia |
17% - 42% |
Up to 84% |
51% |
17% |
|
France |
12%-132% |
883% |
12% |
12% |
|
Luxembourg |
11% |
755% |
4% |
4% |
|
United Kingdom |
5% - 34% |
569% |
3% - 57% |
Up to 57% |
|
Belgium |
From 4% |
1,022% |
4% |
4% |
|
Ireland |
7% |
434% |
5% |
5% |
|
Greece |
42% |
238% |
10% |
12% |
|
Netherlands |
32% |
61% |
11% |
11% |
|
Slovenia |
145% |
145% |
15% |
15% |
|
Malta |
3% - 15% |
153% |
2%-7% |
6% |
|
Spain |
71%-85% |
354% |
28% |
28% |
|
Portugal |
50% - 420% |
420% |
20% - 100% |
20% - 100% |
|
Poland |
15% - 24% |
24% |
7% |
5% |
|
USA |
From 37% |
75% |
0.7-37% |
4% |
|
China |
126% |
122% |
- |
3% |
The table below shows penalties for particular offences as a proportion of average monthly income. Since the value of average earnings is higher than the minimum monthly wage, the penalty is a significantly smaller proportion of monthly income. Average income provides a better idea of the size of penalties. Thus, for example, drink driving in Belgium incurs a penalty equivalent to four months’ income. InRussiathe maximum penalty since 1 September is 16% of average monthly income. The difference is striking.
|
Country |
Speeding penalty as proportion of average monthly income |
Drink driving penalty as proportion of average monthly income |
Penalty for offences relating to children travelling by car as proportion of average monthly income |
Penalty for failure to use a seatbelt as proportion of average monthly income |
|
|
Russia |
3% - 8% |
Up to 16% |
9% |
3% |
|
|
France |
5% - 57% |
383% |
5% |
5% |
|
|
Luxembourg |
3% |
208% |
1% |
1% |
|
|
United Kingdom |
2% - 15% |
243% |
1%-24% |
Up to 24% |
|
|
Belgium |
From 2% |
427% |
2% |
2% |
|
|
Ireland |
3% |
205% |
2% |
2% |
|
|
Greece |
24% |
138% |
6% |
7% |
|
|
Netherlands |
13% |
25% |
4% |
4% |
|
|
Slovenia |
85% |
85% |
8% |
8% |
|
|
Malta |
2% - 9% |
97% |
1% - 5% |
4% |
|
|
Spain |
27% - 32% |
27% |
11% |
11% |
|
|
Portugal |
23% - 194% |
194% |
9% - 47% |
9% - 47% |
|
|
Poland |
9% - 16% |
16% |
5% |
3% |
|
|
USA |
12% |
24% |
0.2%-12% |
1% |
|
|
China |
63% |
61% |
- |
1.5% |
|
In international comparisons of penalties for traffic offences,Russia does not particularly stand out from countries with high levels of vehicle use. The only notable difference is in drink driving. There is also a slight difference in relation to penalties for speeding. Whether aligning penalties for traffic offences in Russia with other countries can have an impact on accident rates is debatable. However, we hope that in the near future penalties will not be the only tool for managing and influencing road safety.
