Parking on the lawn: where to complain about a violator, where to send a photo

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Published: 11/07/2018

Reading time: 7 min

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If it was not possible to resolve the conflict peacefully and the car owner continues to violate the law by parking his car in the wrong place, then eyewitnesses of such a violation have the right to complain about him to the appropriate authorities.

Where should I complain? Contacting the traffic police
Complaint to the district administration
Online resource “Angry Citizen”

Procedure for filing a complaint

What responsibility does the violator bear?

In order for the appeal to be considered and the culprit punished, the applicant will need to provide evidence. You can confirm the fact of parking a car on the lawn using photo and video materials. There are also some requirements for photographs and videos, only if they are met can such materials act as evidence. So, when planning your appeal, you need to consider that:

The photo or video must be shot in good quality so that the registration number of the offender’s car can be clearly seen in the frame.
In a photo or video, not only the car, but also the surrounding area should be included in the frame . It should be clear from the material where exactly the vehicle is located. You can record a house number or another nearby object.

A driver can avoid punishment for illegal parking in the following cases:

it is impossible to establish a link between the location of the car and the residential area;
there is no grass or other green space on the lawn;
According to the project, the place where the car is parked is not a lawn.

Under certain circumstances, parking on the lawn is permitted:

if the site is not recognized as a lawn in accordance with regional legislation;
if the lawn is sown with damage-resistant vegetation;
if there is a sign permitting parking or permission from a traffic police inspector.

It is worth noting that the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) or traffic rules does not define what a lawn is. If we focus on GOST 28329-89 clause 38, then, according to this document, a lawn is considered to be a grass cover sown with special grasses, which acts as a background in park structures and is an element of landscape compositions.

In regional regulations, the concept of “lawn” can be interpreted differently.

When is stopping on the lawn allowed?

The traffic rules established in Russia consider options for permissible stopping. Parking is allowed along the road or on the border with the sidewalk. There is no direct indication in the traffic rules that parking on the lawn is prohibited. However, such a standard is contained in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely in Art. 12.19. This article reflects the prohibition of such an act by defining specific penalties for the offending citizen.

Here, paragraph one talks about a verbal warning or a fine for a citizen in a certain amount for ignoring parking rules. Specifics regarding lawns or other plantings are not specified, however, fines are applicable in these cases. At the same time, in federal subjects the fine is 5 times higher and amounts to 2,500 rubles . Accordingly, for other entities the fine is only 500 rubles .

A difficult issue for many applicants is the definition of an area with a lawn. In fact, any unpaved fragment bordering a roadway or pedestrian area can be considered such a site. Thus, a lawn should be understood as a plot of land in municipal or common property, even without the presence of specific vegetation on it (since this implies the possibility of growing it).

If you park on the lawn, you are breaking the law!

Let's start with the fact that the law “On Administrative Offenses in St. Petersburg” contains Article 32 .
It states that “placing vehicles on lawns, parks, gardens, squares, boulevards, children’s and sports grounds” entails the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles. As practice shows, few people want to know that by parking on the lawn, they are committing an administrative offense. In addition, every violating motorist understands that the likelihood of getting a fine for parking on the lawn somewhere in the yard of his house is small, and hopes to remain unpunished.

Despite this, it is possible and necessary to fight such people! It is worth making it clear to violators that their illegal actions regarding parking on the lawn do not go unnoticed by the public.

Now such offenses are dealt with by the administrations of the districts of St. Petersburg. Although this was once the responsibility of local police inspectors.

Parking in winter

Indeed, in the Russian region, unlike many other countries, in winter it can be extremely difficult to see both the markings on the roads and, in principle, the location of organized parking spaces for parking cars in the private sector or near organizations. This has always been a kind of reason for citizens to circumvent existing legislation, attributing their offense to a lack of cleanup work.

Where to go if your car is parked in the wrong place

If a violator wants to park near a residential building, the easiest way for residents is to contact their local police officer. His responsibilities include ensuring similar law and order in the territory entrusted to him. In order not to distract the traffic police on this issue (since real victims of road accidents can expect the service to arrive), it is allowed to complain here online on the official website.

Since, when refusing a call, a person misses the fact that a violation was recorded by an official body, he should independently verify the described situation with evidence in the form of photo or video materials. The online window on the site allows you to attach files of various formats here. With special principles, a person is still not prohibited from calling a traffic police inspector to the place of the alleged violation.

Who has the right to fine

As for the powers of the district police officer, he cannot issue fines. Rather, he will record the fact of a violation when parking the car on a green lawn and issue a resolution, which will be sent further to the court if the person is unwilling to pay the fine voluntarily. In this situation, only the court can satisfy or deny the requirements. In the first case, the resolution will go to the bailiffs for implementation.

The preparation of protocols and resolutions is also carried out by the traffic police with the help of official or video recording of offenses. In the second case, an important condition for issuing a resolution is a clear image of a car with individual license plates standing on the lawn. After the decision is issued, it goes to the violator. He has the right to pay the fine or complain to the court to have it cancelled.

If a person does not appeal the decision made against him in time, he risks the initiation of legal proceedings regarding his desire to park on a prohibited lawn. The meeting can also be held behind closed doors, after which the person will only receive notice of the decision made by the judge himself (based on the evidence presented by the prosecution).

Where to appeal legal. face a fine for parking on the lawn?

You can appeal the fine directly to the body that issued the controversial decision to bring the legal entity to administrative liability - to MADI. A substantiated complaint accompanied by documents as evidence must be sent to MADI by registered mail. In practice, this is a waste of time, the chances of success are approximately zero. We recommend skipping this step.

The correct decision would be to appeal the fine immediately in court! A complaint against a decision to prosecute someone for parking a car on a lawn must be sent to the court that serves the address where the violation was committed. You will find the address at which the parking was recorded in the resolution that you received from MADI, and the court is determined on the website of the Moscow City Court (on the website https://www.mos-gorsud.ru section “territorial jurisdiction”).

A few of our cancellations in the courts

Decision to cancel the fine Kuzminsky court
Decision to cancel the fine Lublin court

Decision to cancel the fine Kuntsevo court

Decision to cancel the fine Nikulinsky court

How to solve a problem yourself without conflict and fines

Indeed, if citizens are adequate, the problem can be solved simply by asking them not to park on the grass or on land without an actual lawn. In this case, a similar request will have the greatest effect, for example, from a neighbor who is the owner of an apartment on the first floors when parking someone else’s car on the lawn directly under the windows of his property.

If the car owner switches the topic to the lack of organized parking for cars, it should be calmly explained that this issue should have been thought about before making a purchase. The responsibility for organizing a parking space rests not only with the executive authorities, but also with the owner of the car. An alternative is to buy a garage to store your car.

In the conversation, you should carefully emphasize the violation of the rights and interests of others by this car owner, mentioning a specific legislative article banning parking on lawns. The difficulty in this case can be caused by the actual absence of plantings or natural vegetation in the place where the machine is placed. However, the lack of a lawn is often associated with long-term parking.

Which institution regulates violations?

Based on the foregoing, it is obvious that parking of cars on vegetation/lawn is regulated primarily by law enforcement agencies represented by the local police officer or highly specialized traffic authorities. In this case, it is possible to involve judicial institutions or supervisory authorities in the work.

Who fines for parking cars on the lawn (makes a decision on imposing fines on persons who park illegally):

district commissioner within the territory he serves;
traffic police inspector;
an ordinary police officer temporarily vested with appropriate powers.

As for the desire to complain to the court, this action is carried out either by a direct law enforcement agency or by the violator to appeal the charges against him. Also, to conduct inspections of institutions and the activities of their officials, a person can complain directly to the prosecutor’s office: territorial, and then general, canceling the decisions of previous authorities.

Alternative options for addressing the problem of cars on the lawn are public organizations that can actively conduct their main activities in the Internet space. Such services are often welcomed by government agencies. For example, the same traffic police sends a user to record traffic violations using the SafeRoads.rf portal.

This portal is designed to transmit reports of violations (including parking on lawns) in the field of traffic and the quality of road surfaces. Violations about parking on the lawn are not entirely appropriate here. However, even in this case the problem can be solved indirectly. For example, if you have to park on the lawn due to problems with the asphalt surface in the immediate parking area.

It is worth noting that the service, which is suitable for expressing opinions about offenses, was developed for citizens of Moscow. Its name is Moscow Helper. Here you can complain about cars on the lawn by attaching a photo of the identified episode directly from your smartphone. In this case, the photograph must comply with the standards. So the car should be well lit, the angle should display the make and color, as well as the individual number of the car.

Download Moscow Helper applications

Is there a fine for parking on the lawn in winter? Is there a fine? The answer is yes, there are and they are attracted.

MADI attracts for parking on the lawn in winter according to Art. 8.25 ZGM No. 45 is exactly the same as in the summer. Active citizens still continue to use the PAK-PM application and take photographs of cars parked where the lawn is not even visible, and legal entities and individuals receive fines of 300,000 rubles. and 5,000 rub. respectively. Formally, from a legal point of view, the authorized body explains such actions quite simply - just because the lawn is covered with snow and is not visible, it has not ceased to be a lawn, which means it is still impossible to place vehicles there. After the snow melts, the soil cover will be damaged in any case, which in the summer will negatively affect the already green plantings. When defending themselves in court, representatives of MADI literally say the following: “In winter, the lawn does not die, the root system does not go anywhere, it is alive and overwinters under the snow, and a 2-ton car, pushing through the snow cover with its weight, destroys it.”

Another question is how the court will react to the argument that since under a layer of snow it was impossible in principle to determine where the border of the roadway lies and the territory occupied by green spaces begins, then the driver should not be held responsible for such a violation, and in this case, for example, utilities are to blame services? The answer is that the court will react positively, this is a weighty argument and the chances of canceling this fine are greatly increased. The resolution itself on bringing to administrative responsibility from MADI always contains, on the front side, a photograph of the offense (black and white, of dubious quality), so it would not be amiss for the court to attach to it your good and color photograph of the place where the violation was committed, in which The absurdity of the situation will be much more visible. The photo must be taken from several angles with reference to the address - the nearest buildings with address signs (street, house number) should be visible in the photo.

To summarize the above, in winter people are attracted for parking on the lawn in exactly the same way as in summer. The difference is that when you go to court to appeal this fine, you have one more weighty argument in your arsenal than in the summer. The main thing is not to take the position of “there is no lawn there, there is snow there.” This position is incorrect. Subject to proof is the impossibility for the driver, due to circumstances beyond his control, to determine where the border of the roadway lies and the territory formally occupied by green spaces begins.

Have you finished reading the material and haven’t found the answer, do you have any more questions?

Leave a request or call and get a brief consultation with a lawyer!

Punishments in different areas

Often, law enforcement officers can limit themselves to a verbal warning. However, the law allows them to issue fines in the name of the car owner who allows himself to park directly on the lawn. The size of such monetary penalties varies several times depending on the status of the subject: a city of federal significance or other subjects: ordinary cities, urban and rural settlements.

Moscow region

It is much easier for citizens to complain in the capital and achieve the desired result regarding illegal parking of cars on lawns. This is explained by the presence of specialized public portals for sending messages about the presence of cars on lawns and other violations, as well as the location in Moscow of the central offices of all government agencies (Rospotrebnadzor, the Prosecutor General’s Office, etc.), where citizens are allowed to complain.

However, the scale of Moscow and the Moscow region also determines the number of problems that arise here with cars on lawns and careless car owners who want to park in the wrong places. That is why a certain balance is maintained in opening the necessary services and applications to maintain the operation of the government system and initiating public control.

The farther from the Moscow region, the fewer questions need to be resolved regarding car owners and their unlawful attempts to park on growing lawns. And in connection with this, the level of need for additional measures to control the conscientious performance of their duties by motorists and the direct powers of public authorities is also reduced.

Other cities

In other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the prerogative options for sending complaints about cars on so-called lawns are standard state executive authorities of territorial significance, as well as bodies of the supervisory and judicial system. In general, the scale of the problems here is not so extensive (relative to Moscow) and does not require the global development of additional resources for complaints.

How to report a violator yourself

In the age of digital technology and the abundance of online services (including for complaining about those parking on the lawn), citizens have numerous opportunities to contact the authorities and resolve issues of violation of their rights and interests remotely. Complaining online is allowed directly through the official websites of government agencies or with the assistance of intermediary organizations.

How to complain about car owners who want to park on lawns:

Select the recipient of the complaint and send an email here with an attached photo of the car parked on the lawn (check the rules on photo format in advance) or call an employee to the scene to write a report.
Wait for the decision to issue a resolution to the owner of the car who periodically parks on the lawn and the latter’s further actions.

It is worth noting that with any of these methods, consideration of the application must take place in a standard format. If the message is not anonymous and has contact information about the applicant, then the complaint will be accepted and verified after registration within thirty days. Postponements are possible, but only in a complicated situation that requires additional expert opinions, or if the recipient is incorrectly chosen.

How to appeal a lawn fine? Instructions

The step-by-step instructions for appealing a decision are quite simple and consist of 4 main points.

Collect evidence of an unreasonable fine for parking on a lawn and/or find out the reasons for its illegality.
Write a complaint and attach evidence that allows you to challenge the punishment.
Send the package of documents to the required department.
Wait for a decision.

The appeal period is 10 days. It must be remembered that the period begins to run from the moment a copy of the decision is received, and not its issuance. That is, if you received it by mail, then the countdown of this period begins from the day of receipt.

Sample complaint

A complaint is a central document, the correctness of which will determine the success of the entire procedure. The standard sample should include the following parts:

introductory;
descriptive;
motivational;
pleading.

The introductory part contains the following information:

addressee and his contacts (department, official or court);
information about the applicant (full name and place of residence);
document's name.

The descriptive part indicates the plot of the case. The applicant must indicate the date of the decision and the basis for imposing fines.

The motivational part plays a decisive role in the entire document. Its task is to justify the illegality of the decision. To do this, you need to specify in the reasoning part the provisions of the law that allow you to appeal administrative decisions, and the evidence in the case. The more detailed the argument is (even to the point of what is considered “lawn”), the more effective the complaint will be.

In the petition part, you indicate a request to cancel the decision. At the end of the document, a list of attachments (copies of decisions and envelopes) is written down, the date and signature of the applicant are put.

(DOCX format for filling out on a computer).
(to be filled out by hand).

How to report an illegally parked car to the traffic police