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.
What is the fine if you are caught driving drunk for the first time?
The legislative framework in the case of the first prosecution of a motorist for drunk driving is presented in Articles 3.3 and 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Violations. These provisions stipulate that the perpetrators will be subject to both primary and additional punishment.
The main preventive measure is a fine of 30 thousand rubles. An additional measure includes depriving the motorist of a special right to operate a vehicle. It is worth noting that until the fine is paid in full, the driver cannot claim a refund of the license. Also, for fines for driving under the influence of intoxicants, there is no possibility of payment at a discount.
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.
What is the punishment for repeated drunk driving?
Repeated offenses in the auto sector always involve a more severe measure of liability compared to those committed for the first time. Because driving while drinking is considered a serious offense and not a misdemeanor, the driver will face serious consequences if caught again.
After revealing the fact of drunk driving not for the first time, a motorist can be brought not only to administrative liability, but also to criminal liability. For the driver in this case, a much more attractive option would be to proceed through administrative proceedings. The period that has elapsed since the return of the driver's license can largely influence the extent to which a motorist will be held liable.
Administrative responsibility
The essence of bringing to administrative responsibility for drunk driving is to use legal regulation to convince the driver not to commit similar actions in the future. This type of influence has its own characteristics.
From the moment the court decision is made, the driver will be forced to put up with the inconveniences that arise as a result of the seizure of the license and pay a fine. However, after the expiration of the period of deprivation of rights and payment of an administrative penalty, the driver will not change his status as an offender for another 12 months.
Having offender status means that the driver is still subject to administrative penalties. This feature allows you to track malicious lawbreakers and apply tough measures to them. Only after a year from the date of return of rights will the status lose its force.
Ignoring the sober driving rule within the first year after receiving a revoked license will result in criminal liability. If the driver is caught driving drunk even after a year and two days, he will again be subject to an administrative penalty similar to what he received the first time.
There are often cases when a drugged driver does not have a driver's license at all.
This situation is possible in two situations:
- the motorist previously received a driver's license, but was deprived of it for any violation (except driving while intoxicated);
- the person has never previously had a driver's license.
Such cases are regulated by part 3 of the article. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences. According to the law, the offending driver will be subject to a fine of 30 thousand rubles. If, for objective reasons, payment of the fine is impossible, the person is subject to administrative arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days.
Criminal - if caught for the second time in a year
Article 264.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains rules for bringing to responsibility for repeated offenses. That is, this article covers motorists who are detained for drinking alcohol while driving for the second time within a year.
This action will be considered as a violation committed during the period of the previous administrative punishment.
According to the standards prescribed in the article in question, the driver may be subject to one of the following penalties:
- a fine in the prescribed amount (200-300 thousand rubles);
- a material penalty in the amount of the salary (or other legal income) of the guilty person for 1-2 years, taking into account the deprivation of the right to occupy specific positions or carry out certain activities for a three-year period;
- engagement in compulsory work for a period of 480 hours, taking into account the impossibility of occupying certain positions and carrying out a certain type of activity for a three-year period;
- involvement in forced labor for a two-year period, taking into account the deprivation of the right to occupy specific positions and carry out certain activities for a three-year period;
- imprisonment for a two-year period, as well as deprivation of the right to carry out certain activities or to occupy specific positions.
The punishment is determined individually depending on the specifics of the case in each specific situation. The outcome of the proceedings is also influenced by the actions taken by the accused subject and the professionalism of the lawyer involved.
If there are casualties in an accident
Causing harm to the life and health of people is considered a serious offense (especially if the incident occurred due to the fault of a drunk motorist). The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely parts 2, 4, 6 of Article 264, considers the specifics of actions that entailed such consequences.
Drunk drivers whose actions lead to intentional or unintentional murder risk being imprisoned for a term of 5 to 12 years. A similar penalty will also be applied to motorists who were intoxicated and left the scene after an accident in which people died.
In addition to the basic punishment, offenders will not be able to hold certain positions and carry out specific activities. These sanctions are prescribed in parts 2 and 4 of Article 264.
The period of imprisonment depends on the individual characteristics of the traffic accident. Thus, a nine-year sentence is imposed in cases of murder of two or more people by driving while intoxicated. If two road users die, the culprit will not be able to hold certain positions for a period of up to 3 years.
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.
How is a drunk driver punished?
If a drunk driver is “caught” by a traffic police inspector, the punishment for drunk driving will be as follows.
- A fine of 30 thousand rubles.
- Deprivation of rights for up to 2 years.
By the way, the same thing threatens a motorist who did not drive the car himself “under the influence”, but transferred control to another drunk citizen.
The decision to deprive a person of rights can only be made by a court - the traffic police inspector does not have such powers.
If a citizen has committed a similar offense a second time, the punishment for a drunk driver will be much more significant. The motorist faces the following consequences.
- A fine of 300 thousand rubles.
- Loss of driver's license for 3 years.
- Prison term up to 2 years.
The motorist's troubles will not end there. If he intends to get behind the wheel again after the end of his disqualification, he will have to go to a driving school again, undergo training, pass internal tests and a traffic police exam.
A driver who hits a pedestrian while driving drunk will definitely not get away with a fine. Such a motorist will be tried to the fullest extent of the Criminal Code. The punishment in this case depends on the degree of damage that the offender caused to the pedestrian’s health through his actions.
- If the victim remains alive, but is seriously injured, the offender can spend 4 years behind bars. The alternative is 3 years of forced labor plus deprivation of rights for the same period.
- If the pedestrian is killed, the driver faces a 7-year sentence and a 3-year license deprivation.
- If 2 or more people are killed in an accident caused by drunk driving, the motorist risks going to jail for 9 years and also losing his license for 3 years. Imprisonment can be replaced by 5 years of forced labor.
Unfortunately, all the listed measures of criminal liability are maximum. Perhaps the court will decide to impose a less severe punishment on the offender.
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.
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.
