New traffic police fine for drunk driving 2021

We are on Twitter:

Automotive news

Rules for the movement of heavy trucks in the automatic weight control zone have been adopted. The Federal Tax Service has approved the application form for the death or destruction of a vehicle. In Russia, it is forbidden to disembark children without a ticket from buses. A new sign 6.22 has been introduced in the traffic rules - “photo and video recording” Testing for alcohol dependence has been postponed for another year. The Ministry of Health has updated the requirements for completing car first-aid kits, the Ministry of Transport has approved the procedure and terms for storing diagnostic maintenance cards. Obtaining permission for international transport will now be done in a new way. You can now check your MTPL policy for authenticity online. The Central Bank has set new tariffs for MTPL.

/ Legal articles on the topic of automobile law / Criminal law and the car / Caught drunk driving for the second time - what are the dangers?

The second time you were caught drunk driving – what are the consequences?

Repeated driving while intoxicated is a very serious offense that may result in criminal liability under certain circumstances. Under what conditions can this happen and why it is better to refrain from drinking strong drinks while driving - you will learn about this in our article today.

In 2014, a new article 264.1 appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, under which literally from the very first days the police began to initiate criminal cases in batches. As you probably already guessed, this article provides for criminal liability for repeated driving while intoxicated.

Liability for driving while intoxicated

According to the current traffic police regulations, the inspector does not have the right to unreasonably send the driver for a medical examination or check his condition using a breathalyzer. Legitimate reasons for such actions on the part of a traffic police officer may be:

The presence of a characteristic odor from the person driving the vehicle;
Noticeable lack of coordination;
Incoherent speech;
The appearance of red spots in the face area.

If, during additional diagnostics, it turns out that the motorist drank alcohol before getting behind the wheel, then the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for him as punishment for such an offense:

30,000 rubles fine + arrest for 18-24 months – when drawing up the first administrative protocol under Art. 12.8 (driving while intoxicated or refusing a medical examination);
30,000 rubles of financial penalty or restriction of freedom for a period of 10 to 15 days - type of liability for people who do not have a driver’s license (due to age or other reasons);
30,000 rubles fine + withdrawal of rights for 1.5 - 2 years - when transferring control of a vehicle to a person under the influence of intoxicating substances;
30,000 rubles as a financial penalty + deprivation of driving license for a period of 18 to 24 months – if drunk while driving a motorcycle, scooter or moped.

It is important to know! The listed types of liability are provided for citizens who come across a traffic police inspector for the first time. What is the punishment for repeated drunk driving for 2021 prepared by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for drivers of all categories, we will consider further.

Normative base

Penalties for driving while intoxicated are regulated by the provisions of the main codes of the Russian Federation - administrative and criminal. It is worth paying attention to the following points:

Art. 12.8 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;
Art. 12.26 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;
Art. 12.29 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;
Art. 264.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Depending on the individual circumstances of cases of detection of drunk driving in 2021, other provisions may be used. For example, if a driver who drank alcohol before a trip became involved in a traffic accident with victims, then more stringent penalties will be applied to him.

Repeated detection of drunk driving

In order to assign a person the status of a “twice offender,” police officers are required to record his first offense not only by photographing or videoing, but also by documenting it. Without drawing up a protocol, information about the traffic incident will not be included in the unified register of the traffic police. And in words, even in the presence of evidence, establish guilt under Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, inspectors will not be able to, including through the courts.

A period of time

According to the new law of 2021, deprivation of rights for repeated drunk driving can occur only if the following conditions are met:

The person's first offense was documented;
The next incident occurred no later than a year after the return of rights for violation of Art. 12.8 Code of Administrative Offences.

That is, if for the first time a person’s driver’s license was confiscated for drunkenness for 1.5 years, then driving a car under the influence of intoxicating drugs will be considered a repeated crime under the same article for him within 2.5 years from the date of receipt of the traffic police report. Longer statutes of limitations will serve to impose punishment, as for the first offense.

Controversial situations during detention

If traffic police officers have the slightest suspicion that the driver is intoxicated, the car owner will be required to undergo a medical examination. If there is obvious abuse of alcoholic beverages, it will not be possible to avoid responsibility. If, after conducting a breathalyzer test, the permissible norm of ppm (0.16 mg/l) during exhalation is exceeded, government officials will draw up an appropriate protocol.

Situations occur when an on-site examination produces an overestimated result, although the driver is fully confident that he did not drink alcoholic beverages. In some situations, this is considered a variation of the norm, since some foods consumed contain substances that increase ppm.

The driver should not consume citrus fruits, chocolates, kefir, kvass and some other products before the trip. However, the substances contained in the listed edibles quickly disappear. The motorist has every right to take the breathalyzer test again after 10 minutes. If the driver is in adequate condition and does not show signs of intoxication, the employees will not be against this requirement.

If the re-examination nevertheless fails with an overestimation of the norm by 1-2 ppm, the car owner must insist on a trip to the medical center for a blood test. This procedure will give a more accurate result. The permissible ethyl alcohol content will be 0.35 ppm.

If the driver simply does not agree with the result of the breathalyzer, but refuses a medical examination, he will be held accountable. Any attempt to avoid confirmation of a sober state will be qualified as confirmation of intoxication.

After the decision is issued, the motorist can count on the cancellation of the penalty only if the documents are filled out incorrectly. Any error or omission may be grounds for cancellation of the decision. Erroneously drawn up documents are not subject to consideration in court.

Penalties

We know what punishment for driving while intoxicated in 2021 is provided for drivers by the administrative code of the Russian Federation. Now is the time to consider options for sanctions for repeated disregard of Art. 12.8 of the Administrative Code, including with aggravating circumstances. After all, if you get into an accident under the influence of alcohol, the case becomes criminal in nature. And this is a completely different level of responsibility.

Fine

As we have noticed, financial penalties are due to all drivers, without exception, who drive a vehicle under the influence of intoxicating drugs (regardless of the circumstances of the offense itself). But in the event of a second failure to comply with the mentioned paragraph of the traffic rules, the citizen will be subject to a fine 10 times higher than the original amount (from 300 to 400 thousand rubles). And this is a significant difference, especially for the average motorist.

Mandatory work

Since the amount of a financial penalty for repeated driving while intoxicated is unaffordable for most citizens of the Russian Federation, the administrative code offers an alternative for such violators, in the form of forced labor for a period of 350 to 480 hours.
But in order to receive such a punishment, a person needs to go to court. Otherwise, for failure to pay the fine, the state will be able to confiscate his property (car, household appliances, real estate, etc.), or restrict his freedom.

Deprivation of rights

Based on Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, it becomes clear that for driving a car while intoxicated, the driver not only receives a financial penalty, but also loses his license for a certain period. The same applies to violators who repeatedly ignored traffic rules under the specified point. But the second time for drunkenness, the license is arrested for at least 3 years, while in the first incident this period reaches only 18-24 months.

Deprivation of liberty

When considering the options for what punishment a drunk driver can receive in 2021, it is simply impossible not to mention the criminal component of Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which occurs under the following circumstances:

A drunk driver hit a pedestrian;
A citizen, driving a vehicle while intoxicated, caused a serious accident.

In any of the above cases, the violator will face imprisonment. But depending on the severity of the harm he caused, his time behind bars can reach:

3 – 4 years – when causing serious injuries to third parties injured in a car accident;
7 years – in case of death for one of the participants in the accident;
9 years – if there are two or more victims for whom the accident ended in death.

It is worth noting that criminal liability may arise for the first violation of Art. 12.8, and when it is ignored again. And this circumstance will not affect the overall term of imprisonment.

Hit a pedestrian while drunk

In article 264 you can find punishment for those who hit a pedestrian. The severity of the punishment directly depends on how serious damage was caused to the health of the hit pedestrian.

If a driver causes serious bodily injury to a pedestrian while driving while intoxicated, he or she may receive a prison sentence of up to 4 years.

It can be replaced by forced labor for the same time. Additionally, the offender may be prohibited from engaging in certain types of activities and holding certain positions for up to 3 years.

If the pedestrian died, or a whole group of people died , then the punishment can be much more severe. If one person died, you can be imprisoned for 2-7 years, but if two or more people died, the law provides for a punishment of 4 to 9 years in prison. In both cases, a ban may be imposed on engaging in certain activities and holding a certain list of positions for up to 3 years.

Calculation of terms of general deprivation of rights

We have already found out what fine a person faces if he drinks alcohol while driving, and how much his license will be deprived for driving while intoxicated for the first time in 2021. Now is the time to consider the procedure for calculating this administrative penalty.

According to the current law, a driver whose driver’s license was arrested for drunkenness is required to submit the document to the traffic police department no later than 3 days after the traffic police report is issued. And only when the fact of transferring the crust into the hands of the State Traffic Inspectorate occurs, the period of its arrest will begin to gradually decrease.

Moreover, a citizen will not be able to extend the moment of withdrawal of rights even if he tries to challenge the decision issued to him. But for ignoring the demands of the police officers, more serious measures will be applied to the violator in the form of forced confiscation of the driving license.

Can they be deprived of their driver's license for life?

Guided by the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that the concept of “lifelong arrest of rights,” as such, does not exist in the administrative code. But the maximum period for which a person is allowed to be removed from driving a vehicle for one violation should not exceed 3 years.

It is important to know! However, the legislation of the Russian Federation also provides for the possibility of summing up punishments of the same type under several traffic police protocols. Therefore, the total period of arrest for a driver can easily reach 40 or even 50 years, which in principle is equivalent to lifelong deprivation of a driver’s license.

How to avoid losing your license if you are caught driving drunk?

If we look at the issue from the ethical side, a motorist who has committed “drunk driving” only needs to repent and humbly accept the well-deserved punishment in the form of deprivation of his license. However, many modern drivers do not think about ethics - they, on the contrary, strive to avoid punishment for a serious crime. For such motorists, experts have prepared a number of recommendations on what to do if they are caught drunk driving.

A drunk driver should not do the following:

Accept that he drank before taking a breathalyzer test. Some motorists mistakenly believe that a sincere confession will allow them to receive a less severe punishment. In fact, the Administrative Code does not divide drivers into those who chose to confess and those who “held the defense to the end” - the punishment is the same for everyone.
Write in the protocol as dictated by the inspector. The temptation is great not to overload your alcohol-addled brain with your own thoughts and simply write what the servant of the law says. However, a driver who acts this way actually signs a “death warrant” to his right to drive.
Refuse to sign the protocol. In this case, the content of the document can be anything - what difference does it make if the offender still does not want to get acquainted with it? The driver’s refusal to sign will be confirmed by a special note. If the case goes to court, such a mark will clearly not do the motorist any good.

So how can you avoid deprivation if you are caught driving drunk? Before “breathing into a tube,” you need to ask the inspector for 2 documents - a verification certificate and a technical passport for the breathalyzer. The motorist can safely get into the car and drive further if the traffic police officer cannot / does not want to show these documents.

If the inspector showed the papers, the driver can only hope that the servant of the law will make mistakes when registering the violation - for example, the following.

Driver's dream - hit 2021!

DVR with radar detector and GPS informer.
Notification of distance reduction and lane change. Antisleep function.
Stay safe on the road with the Roadgid X7 Hybrid GT. Watch the video!

TODAY'S PROMOTION find out more>>>

Review of a popular gadget among car owners

Read more>>>

Forgets to call witnesses. By law there must be at least two.
Fill out the protocol incorrectly (for example, forget about the need to sign).
Will take the motorist to a medical facility that is not licensed.

There is no point in reminding the inspector that he must attract witnesses at the stop site - in this way the motorist will prematurely pull out the “trump card from his sleeve.” It is necessary to point out one of the listed errors during the court hearing. The court will not be able to convict a citizen whose detention was unlawful.

A citizen who is wondering how to avoid deprivation if stopped drunk driving should under no circumstances ignore court hearings in his own case. By skipping the trial, he will only worsen his already unenviable situation.

Grounds for criminal liability

Previously, we found out that in 2021 a person can get away with a fine for alcohol intoxication only if his offense did not cause serious harm to the health or life of third parties. Otherwise, a criminal case will be opened against him with preliminary detention at the crime scene. The grounds for such a decision on the part of inspectors will be the following materials:

Photo or video recording of the accident (necessary to identify the culprit of the accident);
Witness's testimonies;
Medical report on injuries sustained by car accident victims.

If the guilt of a drunk driver is not proven, or the injuries he inflicts turn out to be not serious enough, then criminal liability will change to administrative. And this, at a maximum, is forced labor for a period of 480 hours.

We found out what punishment for driving while drunk since January 1, 2019 faces drivers of all vehicles, and what circumstances can become aggravating for them. In conclusion, it is worth adding that you need to be afraid not of fines or seizure of your driver’s license, but of the possible consequences of driving while intoxicated. After all, human life is clearly more valuable than any money.