The legislator prohibits citizens from driving vehicles if they have previously consumed alcohol. For such actions, a fine and confiscation of the certificate are provided. If a citizen is drunk and driving without a license, the punishment will be more severe.
Let's figure out what the driver will be fined for in this case, and whether it is possible to somehow avoid punishment.
Legislative norms
The ban on driving while intoxicated is established at the legislative level. For violating this rule, the driver will be deprived of his license and will also be fined. Repeated violation leads to a significant increase in the amount of the fine.
Even sober citizens are prohibited from using transport without a license. If the driver simply forgot the paper at home, he will be fined five hundred rubles.
The complete absence of this document (that is, it was selected or not completed at all) entails a fine (from 5,000 to 30,000 rubles).
The situation is aggravated if both factors are combined, that is, if the driver does not have a license and is intoxicated. In order to understand what the penalties for such actions are, you need to pay attention to two regulations:
- Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
- Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The third part of Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses establishes the penalty for the first use of a car without a license after drinking alcohol. The fourth part of the same article contains a description of the punishment for a violation committed a second time.
Important! Second paragraph of Art. 12.8 also establishes the liability of a citizen who handed over his vehicle to a driver who drank alcohol before he began driving the vehicle.
For driving without a license while intoxicated, the offender can also be prosecuted. Article number 264.1 of the Criminal Code states that if a caught driver has already been caught in a similar violation, he may be subject to a fine, and in some cases, imprisonment.
It should be taken into account that in addition to the fine, the driver will have a criminal record, which can negatively affect the future life of the citizen (for example, a criminal record does not allow him to hold certain positions).
Definition of intoxication
After stopping, a traffic police officer can conduct an examination. This procedure is carried out if there are grounds to suspect that the driver is drunk (change in skin tone, slurred speech, smell).
On-site examination is carried out using a breathalyzer.
If a citizen refuses to accept the results or undergo the procedure, he will be sent for a medical examination.
It is carried out by specialists in medical institutions. In addition to a breathalyzer, urine and blood tests may also be used.
○ The future of drink-and-drive.
The latest changes to legislation regarding the consequences of alcohol consumption by drivers occurred in 2015. It was then that the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was supplemented with Art. 264.1, according to which the repeated detention of a drunk driver who had previously been deprived of his rights under Art. 12.8 of the Administrative Code, turns the case from administrative to criminal. In this case, the culprit will face a more severe punishment - from a fine of at least 200 thousand rubles to imprisonment for up to 2 years . The period of deprivation of rights, by the way, in this case will increase by another 3 years .
There are no plans for a new tightening of liability measures in the near future, but you can’t make any guesses here: a new bill can be introduced at any time and be approved, signed and come into force in a few months.
Therefore, it should be an absolutely strict rule for every driver: if you drink at least a little, forget about driving for the next 8-10 hours.
What will the driver be punished for?
To find out what exactly the punishment will be imposed for, you need to refer to Art. 12.8 Code of Administrative Offences. The third part of this document states that a fine will be issued not only for the fact of driving while intoxicated, but also for the fact that the citizen uses a car without a license. That is, a fine is issued simultaneously for both violations.
Attention! If a driver loses his license due to driving while intoxicated, the status of the offense changes, and the citizen will face criminal rather than administrative liability.
In this case, the fact that the violation is repeated is taken into account, that is, the previously taken measure did not affect the violator. Therefore, the punishment is becoming tougher.
Responsibility for driving a car by a driver deprived of his license
Punishment for driving a vehicle by a person who has been deprived of his driving license is regulated by Part 2 of Art. 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which the driver may suffer the following types of penalties:
- recovery of 30 thousand rubles;
- arrest for half a month (the verdict is made exclusively by the judge, while the driver cannot be arrested if it is a mother with children under 14 years of age, a pregnant woman, a person under 18 years of age, a military serviceman, a person with disabilities of groups I and II, a person who is called up for military training, etc.);
- 100-200 hours of forced labor (by court decision).
In this case, the car is placed in an impound lot, and the owner will be able to pick it up only after the end of the sentence.
Responsibility for driving a vehicle by a person deprived of a license and in a state of intoxication is regulated by Part 3 of Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is generally identical to the previous one, however, it is more stringent and presupposes:
- 10 - 15 days of administrative arrest;
- penalties up to 300 thousand rubles.
For a second hit while driving by a drunk driver who has previously been deprived of his license, he may face criminal penalties. It is regulated by Art. 264.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which such a violation or failure to comply with a traffic police officer’s request to undergo a medical examination is subject to a sanction of 200-300 thousand rubles. or in the amount of salary and other income for 1 - 2 years, with a ban on holding specific positions or conducting certain activities for a period of 2 - 3 years.
Every drunk driver who has previously been deprived of his driving license is considered a potential murderer. According to statistics for 2015, the number of road accidents caused by a drunk driver in Russia was 15,344, resulting in 3,753 deaths. In 2021, these figures increased: the number of road accidents amounted to 15,669, with 4,569 deaths.
The law is especially harsh for those who have been deprived of their license for driving drunk or have been held accountable for refusing a medical examination, while driving a vehicle and committing any criminal offense. The punishment is regulated by Federal Law No. 528 of December 31, 2014. In this case, the punishment is assigned taking into account the nature of the offense, and drunkenness will be considered an aggravating circumstance.
The fine can reach 300 thousand rubles, and the driver will be deprived of his license for 3 years. In this case, the period of deprivation of rights is summed up, counting from the moment the rights are handed over to the territorial traffic police. And penalties must be paid within 2 months from the date of the decision. In each individual case, the decision on criminal liability is made by the judge.
Specific penalties
If a person violates the rules for the first time and his license is taken away not due to drunk driving, he will be subject to penalties prescribed in the Code of Administrative Offenses.
According to the provisions of this code, if a driver is caught driving drunk without a license, he may face arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days.
If for some reason this measure cannot be applied to the violator (for example, because the latter is pregnant), the traffic police officer will use a fine of up to thirty thousand rubles.
In this case, the reason why the driver was previously deprived of his license is of great importance. If this happened due to driving while drunk, the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses do not apply for a repeated violation. In this case, the Criminal Code is used, and the punishment is criminal.
Article number 264.1 of the Criminal Code indicates that for such an offense the driver may face a fine.
Its size ranges from two hundred to three hundred thousand rubles!
In addition to this hefty fine, the violator may also be subject to the following penalties:
- restrictions related to work in certain positions, valid for 3 years;
- compulsory work (no more than 480 hours);
- imprisonment (not more than twenty-four months).
It is mandatory to extend the period of deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle. It can reach three years.
It should also be taken into account that the judge, when making a decision, will focus on aggravating and mitigating factors, which can significantly affect the punishment. But you need to understand that drinking alcohol is always an aggravating circumstance.
○ Drunk driving without a license. Punishment, fines and consequences.
First of all, let's look at what type of drunk is considered. There are now a lot of rumors and speculation in this area - from “one drink will not show anything on the breathalyzer” to “if you drank kefir, your license could be taken away.”
The rumors are partly true: until recently, the “zero ppm” principle was in effect in Russia. This meant that there should be no alcohol in the exhaled air or in the driver’s blood. However, since 2013, the rule has been canceled, and Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation has been amended accordingly. The device is now required to record a dose of ethyl alcohol of more than 0.16 mg per liter of air exhaled from the lungs. The changes are due to the fact that:
- This is exactly the error that most breathalyzers have.
- Alcohol is actually part of metabolism. It is always present in trace amounts in humans - and therefore “zero ppm” turned out to be completely unrealistic.
- Some products (kefir, brown bread, non-alcoholic beer) when consumed can cause false alarms - but from any quantity the dose will never reach 0.16 mg per liter of air.
We must remember: minimum doses apply only to alcohol. Other psychoactive substances (narcotics, toxic substances, etc.) must still not be contained in any dose. However, opiates, cannabinoids and other compounds of this type are not synthesized by the human body in any form, and if they are found in the blood, it means that the driver used them.
What awaits a drunk driver whose device shows an excess dose of alcohol?
First of all, he will have to say goodbye to his rights. Part 1 art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation clearly states: for driving a car or other vehicle while intoxicated, the punishment is deprivation of rights for a period of 1.5 to 2 years . The second punishment in this case will be a fine. Unlike deprivation of rights, there is no “fork”, that is, a range within which a choice of punishment is possible: in any case, you will have to pay 30 thousand rubles .
Exactly the same consequences await a person who is sober himself, but let a drunk drive. Part 2 art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation is no less harsh: the punishment will be absolutely the same as if the owner of the car or its driver, who allowed a drunk to drive, himself drank while driving. The same 30 thousand fine and deprivation of rights for the same period.
Some drivers, having lost their license, may decide that now they are knee-deep in the sea: what can they be deprived of if the punishment has already taken place?
But it is not worth repeating the same violation: if the traffic police detains a person who has already been deprived of his rights, and even drunk, then he will face a second punishment in the form of arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days . If, for some reason, the driver cannot serve the arrest, he will again face a fine, and again for 30 thousand rubles. However, this only applies to those cases where the license was not taken away for drunkenness. Why - this will be discussed later.
Let us note in passing that punishment can await not only a drunk driver, but also someone who drinks after an accident. Even if you were in an accident, miraculously survived, your nerves are on edge and you urgently need to calm down somehow - you cannot drink a single gram of alcohol before being examined by a narcologist. The traffic rules clearly prohibit doing this - and here the rules of Part 3 of Art. 12.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The punishment will be the same as for drunk driving: without a driver's license for one and a half to two years - and a fine of 30 thousand.
How to evade punishment
If the driver is stopped by an inspector, first of all you should not refuse an examination, especially a medical one (in the latter case, refusal means an admission of guilt).
During the inspection process, it is recommended to carefully monitor the actions of the traffic police officer. Any error must be reflected in the protocol.
An important point related to the examination is that witnesses must be present during this procedure.
Amendments made to the legislation in 2014 made it possible to use video recording instead of witnesses. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the camera films the entire process.
If the driver has complaints about the results of the initial examination, he has every right to demand that the traffic cop deliver him to a medical facility and conduct an additional check within its walls.
If the driver is really drunk, the only thing he can hope for is that the traffic police inspector made a mistake during the examination or drawing up a report. This will provide an opportunity to challenge the punishment in court and receive an acquittal. In this case, the driver will only face a fine for using a vehicle without a license. Its maximum amount is no more than 30,000 rubles.
Without a license and drunk driving - punishment
So, we all know that driving without a license and while drunk is a serious violation. However, when the car owner allows them at the same time, in this situation he will have to answer to the fullest extent of the law. To begin with, the traffic police officer is required to conduct a medical examination. If you refuse it, it will automatically be equated to the fact that you yourself admitted that you were drunk.
Today, driving drunk without a license is punishable according to Part 3 of Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which entails administrative arrest for 10-15 days or the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 30 thousand rubles.
Important!
During a medical examination, witnesses must be present or video recording must be made.
Repeated driving without a license while drunk
If the offender gets behind the wheel without a license and while drunk again, then he will have to answer to the law in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In July 2015, a new rule came into force in criminal law, which involves punishing drivers who have repeatedly committed a violation related to drunk driving:
- Penalties in the amount of 200-300 thousand rubles;
- Mandatory work up to 480 hours;
- Two years of forced labor;
- Two years in prison.
As you can see, the prospect is completely bleak, so there is only one conclusion here - you can’t get behind the wheel of a car while drunk, much less drive it without a license.
ATTENTION!
Due to recent changes in legislation, the information in this article may be out of date! Our lawyer will advise you free of charge.
Fine for driving drunk and without a license
Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides that a car owner caught driving drunk is subject to penalties. As noted earlier, the amount of this fine today is 30 thousand rubles. It should be noted that according to this article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, punishment for driving while intoxicated without a license is provided not only to the one who drives drunk while driving, but also to the one who allowed another drunk driver to drive. In this situation, you will also have to pay money and say goodbye to your rights for a long time.
Important!
If the driver’s financial situation does not allow him to pay the fines immediately, the court may defer payments for a period of no more than 3 months. But you should know that this measure is allowed only in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation. If a foreigner or stateless person is fined, deferments are not allowed by law.
For those car owners who, in addition, while driving while drunk, committed an offense that resulted in the death of citizens, the sanctions were also tightened: the death of 1 person - a minimum sentence of 2 years; If 2 people die, you will have to serve at least 4 years.
