What is the fine if you don’t let the ambulance, police, or fire department pass?

What is this new law?

Actually, it's not new. It was developed 2 years ago by 2 deputies: Yarovaya and Morozov. But the draft Federal Law was postponed in June 2017 after its adoption in the first reading. And now in 2021 they returned to it and put it up for discussion.

This bill introduces an amendment to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which the initiators propose to supplement with Article 1241. This article will provide for increasing liability for the fact that the driver of a civilian vehicle does not give way to an ambulance, depending on the consequences that such violation of traffic rules led to:

if failure to allow the ambulance to pass resulted in moderate health problems for the patient to whom the ambulance was traveling,
if failure to give way to the road resulted in death or serious harm to the health of the patient.

Literally the text of the draft new law speaks of creating barriers to access to patients:

Obstructing the legitimate activities of a medical worker in providing medical care by restraining, threatening, creating obstacles to access a patient...

View the full text of the bill. It is also available on the official website of the National Medical Chamber and Consultant Plus.

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Make way for doctors: drivers are now punished more severely for not allowing an ambulance to pass

Until today, those who did not allow an ambulance to pass could be deprived of their driver's license for a period of one to three months, and the minimum fine was 500 rubles. At the same time, there were no separate sanctions in case of negative consequences for emergency patients. The authorities considered that such punishment does not affect the behavior of motorists, so they decided to toughen the punishment for them.

According to the new rules, the fine for drivers who did not give priority on the road to ambulances or police patrol vehicles (they must have a special paint job on the sides and a blue flashing light) ranges from 3 thousand to 5 thousand rubles (which is 6-10 times more compared to yesterday's collection). In addition, such motorists may be deprived of their license for a period of 3 to 12 months.

Now there is a penalty for obstructing the activities of medical workers, the amount of the penalty is 4 thousand - 5 thousand rubles. Moreover, if the patient’s health was harmed as a result of the driver’s actions, the offender will either be imprisoned for up to 2 years, or fined 80 thousand rubles, or sent to forced labor for up to 2 years, or arrested for up to 6 months. If the patient dies, the perpetrator faces up to 4 years in prison.

Let us remind you that bills amending the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were developed by deputies after several high-profile and discussed cases. One of them led to the death of a person: he was in an ambulance, which the driver refused to let through on the road. The State Duma approved the changes in the final reading in the middle of last month, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the document at the end of July.

Previously, legislators proposed more lenient options for increasing penalties for those who did not allow an ambulance to pass. For example, United Russia deputies advocated increasing the fine for this violation to only 1.5 rubles. And in the event of blocking emergency vehicles, drivers were planned to be deprived of their licenses for a period of 6 to 12 months.

At the beginning of 2019, it became known that the use of “flashing lights” was prohibited for emergency services that are not part of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The department considered that their responsibilities were not related to urgent actions to protect the life and health of citizens. The decision was made due to the increasing number of cases of vehicles with the symbols of the Ministry of Emergency Situations being used for other purposes, as well as due to the growing number of accidents involving them.

Drivers of cars with flashing lights are currently studying under special programs: the corresponding order came into force on September 1, 2021. Those motorists who already have a license are allowed to improve their qualifications. They study regulations, the basics of psychology and ethics, as well as emergency driving techniques.

What will be the responsibility?

So, if today the driver faces punishment under Article 12.17 of the Administrative Code in the form of a fine or deprivation of rights, then in the future the motorist will be subject to either a higher fine, or compulsory labor, or even imprisonment, if the patient to whom the ambulance is traveling is in will eventually die.
Comparative table of penalties for failure to pass an ambulance

Responsibility under the Criminal Code in a new way	How was it like before?
1. Obstructing the legitimate activities of a medical worker in providing medical care by holding, threatening, or creating obstacles to access a patient, if this negligently resulted in the infliction of moderate harm to the health of the patient, is punishable by a fine of up to forty thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three months, or compulsory work for a period of up to three hundred and sixty hours, or correctional labor for a period of up to one year, or arrest for a period of up to four months.	2. Failure to provide priority in movement to a vehicle that has special color schemes, inscriptions and designations applied to the outer surfaces, with a blue flashing light and a special sound signal simultaneously turned on, shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of five hundred rubles or deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of from one to three months.
2. The same act, if it negligently resulted in the death of a patient or the infliction of grievous harm to his health, is punishable by forced labor for a term of up to four years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it, or by imprisonment for up to four years. for a term of up to four years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years.	2. Failure to provide priority in movement to a vehicle that has special color schemes, inscriptions and designations applied to the outer surfaces, with a blue flashing light and a special sound signal simultaneously turned on, shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of five hundred rubles or deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of from one to three months.

At the same time, it remains unclear how the involvement of the failure to admit an ambulance to the harm to health or death of the patient will be proven.

That is, imagine if the judge asked the question: “What is the probability that the patient would have remained alive or suffered less harm to health if the driver had not committed a crime by not giving way to the ambulance?”

Will the examination be able to answer it? The question is still rhetorical, and judicial practice will show...

Doctor and investigator

Laws aimed at ensuring the timely provision of medical care and protecting the life and health of both patients and medical workers were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The first law amends the Code of Administrative Offences. Thus, a separate article establishes administrative liability for obstructing the legal activities of a health worker in any form.

For such an offense a fine of 4-5 thousand rubles has been established. The punishment for not allowing an ambulance to pass through has been significantly tightened. Until recently, irresponsible drivers who did not allow ambulances to pass were usually fined 500 rubles. In some cases, they could be deprived of their rights for a period of one to three months. After the amendments to the Administrative Code come into force, the fine will be 3-5 thousand rubles, and the period of deprivation of the right to drive vehicles will be from three months to one year.

All of these liability measures apply when people deliberately interfere with doctors, but as a result, help is still provided to the patient.

But, unfortunately, many tragic situations arise when the actions of individual citizens lead to the death of those who need urgent medical care.

“There are different situations. For example, parents are members of some sect or hold rather controversial beliefs and deliberately do not allow their children to be treated,” Tatyana Kusayko, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, tells Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “And remember the numerous high-profile cases when ambulances are deliberately blocked from passing through courtyards!”

“In situations where saving a life depends on a few minutes, the punishment must be really strict and inevitable,” previously emphasized the President of the National Medical Chamber of Russia, the famous pediatrician and surgeon Leonid Roshal, who at one time asked State Duma deputies to speed up the adoption of these laws.

However, actions that led to the death of patients were not previously punished in any way.

And now for such actions you can lose your freedom. A provision is being introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that already defines criminal liability for obstructing the activities of medical workers.

Thus, any act that prevented doctors from providing the necessary assistance and resulted in the infliction of serious harm to health will be punishable by a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months. Either by restriction of freedom for up to 3 years or forced labor for up to 2 years. Arrest for up to 6 months or imprisonment for up to 2 years is also possible. More severe penalties (up to imprisonment for up to 4 years) are established for the same act if it led to the death of the patient.

For not letting an ambulance through, the fine has been increased tenfold.

In addition, the Criminal Code is supplemented by a provision on punishment for harm caused or threats to doctors themselves. Cases of attacks on doctors are also not uncommon. “It is tragic if some inadequate citizen attacks a rural doctor. He is alone, there is no one to replace him. The entire village is left without medical care,” explains Tatyana Kusayko.

Now, threatening to kill or causing grievous harm to health workers will be punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years. According to Tatyana Kusayko, the laws have come quite a long way from the moment they appeared to the final edition. They were discussed for a long time by the professional community. But no one doubted their relevance. As a result, as the senator emphasized, for the first time a mechanism has been created to protect doctors and patients from inappropriate behavior. Both the doctors themselves and citizens who witnessed the incident can initiate an administrative or criminal case. Both of these documents come into force on August 6, 2019.

How to skip correctly?

Traffic regulations that are current for 2021 require the driver not to miss, but to give way for unhindered passage of the ambulance (clause 3.2). But the main thing is that such an obligation arises only in the case of a blue flashing light and an audible siren being turned on at the same time.

The term “give way” has a clear definition in the traffic rules. It means that when an ambulance approaches, you must:

do not start or resume movement,
don't continue moving
do not maneuver

in cases where this will force the car with special signals to change its trajectory or speed in the intended direction.

Please note that according to the letter of the by-law in the form of the Rules of the Road, you are not required to change lanes, pull up against a neighboring car, or otherwise violate (or not violate) traffic rules. Just stop, don’t start driving and don’t perform the maneuver.

Of course, from a practical human perspective, it is better to do everything to ensure that the ambulance gets through. But please note that in this case you are in violation, and if you suddenly incorrectly determine the direction of movement of the ambulance, or its driver decides to change the trajectory of movement, then you may well be at fault.