According to Russian laws, minors over the age of 16 are allowed to drive only mopeds and motorcycles with a limited engine capacity. To do this, you need to undergo training and obtain a license; otherwise, if detained by State Traffic Inspectorate officers, the teenager will be subject to administrative liability under one of the articles of the Code of Administrative Offences.
Some teenagers cannot wait to reach their desired age and get behind the wheel ahead of schedule. Others drive with a license but are drunk, which further increases the risk of an accident. Still others may decide to drive a passenger car, having access only to category M or A1.
In the article we will talk about what responsibility is provided for minor violators and those who allowed control to be transferred to them.
What punishment awaits a minor for driving without a license?
There are several articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses under which teenagers are prosecuted for driving a vehicle and car owners who allow this situation to occur. To begin with, we note that liability under the Code of Administrative Offenses begins at the age of 16 under Part 1 of Article 2.3. However, under Part 2 of this article, persons from 16 to 18 years of age who have committed a minor offense may be released from liability as minors.
So, the sanctions imposed on minors without a license for driving various vehicles may be as follows:
- Fine 5-15 thousand rubles. A teenager who gets behind the wheel without a license will have to pay (under Part 1 of Article 12.7 of the Administrative Code). You can pay for it within 20 days with a 50% discount.
- Fine 30 thousand rubles. or detention for 10-15 days - awaits a teenager who does not have a driving license and gets behind the wheel while intoxicated, under Part 3 of Article 12.8. If you have a license, then for driving while drunk, a minor over the age of 16 is subject to a fine in the same amount and confiscation of his driving license for 1.5-2 years (under Part 1 of Article 12.8).
In all of the above situations, the vehicle will be confiscated and sent to the traffic police impound lot.
Let us note that, according to Part 2 of Article 32.2 of the Administrative Code, if a teenager does not have his own source of income (and most often this happens), the amount of the fine will be collected from his parents or other legal representatives. In addition, they can be held accountable for ignoring the responsibilities of raising a child under Part 1 of Article 5.35.
What happens if the underage driver is drunk?
The punishment for driving a vehicle by a minor is aggravated if the driver was drunk while driving. What fine the owner of the car faces is also indicated in the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations. In this case, the owner of the vehicle will have to pay a fine of 30 thousand rubles and may be deprived of the right to drive a car for a period of one and a half to two years .
If the offense is recorded a second time, the amount of the fine will increase - 50 thousand rubles, and rights can be deprived for up to three years. Administrative arrest is not applied to a person who has not reached the age of majority and, accordingly, does not have the right to drive a car, and who was in a state of intoxication at the time of driving the vehicle.
In this precedent, according to Art. 12.8 Part 3 of the Administrative Code, a minor violator faces a penalty of 30 thousand rubles .
Video: About minors driving in a TV program
Punishment of a driver who handed over control of a vehicle to a teenager
A situation may arise when the initiator of the idea of driving without a license is not the minor himself, but the owner of the vehicle. Or the latter does not realize the danger of the teenager’s request and easily makes concessions. Be that as it may, this poses a threat to the security of the DD. Therefore, when violators are detained by traffic police representatives, both will be held accountable.
There are several possible scenarios:
- Fine 30 thousand rubles. The driver who handed over control to a drunk teenager will pay into the budget, and will also lose his license for 1.5-2 years (under Part 2 of Article 12.8 of the Administrative Code). There is no discount on the payment of the fine, since the violation is serious.
- Only a fine of 30 thousand rubles. threatens the driver for transferring control to a teenager who simply does not have a license (except for cases of driving with a driving instructor in a specially equipped car) - if he knows about this, says Part 3 of Article 12.7 of the Administrative Code. It is possible to pay the fine with a 50% discount.
If the driver can prove that the teenager deceived him, for example, by providing a fake ID, then no punishment will be applied to the driver.
Regardless of the condition of the teenager and whether he has a license, if the owner of the car is present in the car, is sober and has a valid insurance policy, the traffic police will not seize the car.
How to avoid a fine for passing the steering wheel
Drive with an instructor. From the age of 16, this is legal: you can drive on the site of a driving school and even around the city if the car has backup pedals for the instructor. At the age of 17 you can take your license.
Prove that you did not know the child’s age. The condition of the fine for the owner of the car is that he knowingly knew that he was handing over the steering wheel to a minor. If the opposite can be proven in court, the fine may not be paid. But the minor driving or his parents will still pay from 5,000 to 15,000 rubles.
Pay half. Fines for handing over the steering wheel to a minor can be paid with a 50% discount if done in the first 20 days.
At what age are driving licenses issued?
Previously, according to the law, it was possible to drive a vehicle with an engine capacity of up to 50 cc. see persons over 14 years of age. No rights were required in this case. Since then, the rules have become stricter, since it is not safe for a child who has not undergone special training to be on public roads. However, some people continue to remain in the dark.
In fact, now in order to drive even a low-power vehicle (moped, ATV, electric scooter), it is necessary to obtain a category M license. Persons aged 16 years or older are allowed to take the exam. Thus, a 14-year-old does not have the right to drive a vehicle, after amendments were made to the traffic rules dated 04/08/2014.
From the age of 16 you are also allowed to take a test to drive a light motorcycle with a capacity of 50 cc. cm, which belongs to category A1. From the age of 17 you are allowed to drive a more powerful motorcycle, up to 125 cc. cm.
Category B and cars become available only from the age of 18, although training can begin earlier.
Driving public transport, which requires categories D, Tm, Tb, is permissible only after reaching the age of 21.
Such requirements are determined by the characteristics of transport (in terms of complexity of control) and the consequences that may occur in the event of an accident. Thus, an accident caused by a bus will entail much more severe consequences than an incident involving a moped up to 50 cubic meters, in which mainly the moped driver will suffer.
The right to drive a vehicle as a minor
If you read the offer from driving schools, it will become clear: you can get a license from the age of 16. From this age, an official document is issued based on the results of training. But this does not mean that a minor, having received a license, can drive any type of transport. No. From the age of 16 you can only drive a motorcycle whose engine does not exceed 123 cc. All other types of transport are prohibited.
The right to drive a car only arises at the age of 18. You can drive public transport from the age of 21.
Fine for lack of insurance
If a teenager is under 16 years old, he cannot take out a MTPL and CASCO policy, just as he cannot be included in them as the owner of any vehicle.
If a minor offender is detained, he will be issued a fine for driving without a license, and the owner of the vehicle will be fined for lack of insurance for the person who was driving. In 2021, it is 800 rubles, according to part 2 of Article 12.37 of the Code of Administrative Offences. It also includes the possibility of paying at a discount within 20 days.
Additional penalties
It is necessary to understand that the owner of the vehicle must perform the functions established by federal law regarding civil liability insurance and driving the vehicle. Accordingly, a teenager driving a car due to being a minor cannot be included in the MTPL insurance policy, and this is already a violation of Art. 12.37 part 2 of the Administrative Code. What is the penalty for violating this paragraph of the Code? Violations of this paragraph of the Code of Administrative Offenses are fraught for the owner of the car with an administrative penalty in the amount of 800 rubles .
If a minor traffic violation offender does not have independent income, then according to Article 32.3 Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the fine will be levied on the parents or any other legal representatives. In addition, material about the offense may be transferred to the commission on juvenile affairs.
Also, parents or any other representatives of a minor authorized by law may be brought to administrative liability in accordance with Art. 5.35 part 1. Code of Administrative Offences. It says that for failure to fulfill or dishonest fulfillment of their obligations to raise and support a minor, parents or other legal representatives of a teenager, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses, may be given a warning or a fine in the amount of 100 to 500 rubles. After all, it is not anyone else, but parents who are responsible for the actions of their children.
Any parent thinks that children get into accidents by accident, and will blame anyone for what happened, but not themselves. Dear parents, you and only you will be to blame if your child ends up driving, since you bear full responsibility for him.
If there is an accident involving a minor
If you have rights and have reached the age of 16, the teenager should not be afraid of serious consequences. The accident will be registered in the usual manner, and the insurance company of the culprit will compensate for the damage caused to the victim. Of course, we are talking about situations that do not involve a criminal offense.
When a young driver does not have a license, he - or, most likely, his family - is subject to a number of fines for traffic violations, which have already been described earlier. It also compensates for all expenses from personal funds, since the driver was not included in the MTPL or CASCO policy (under Part 3 of Article 26 of the Civil Code).
If, during an incident, people were seriously injured or killed at the hands of a minor (in this case, a person under 18 years of age), the culprit will be sent to a children's colony for a period depending on the severity of the consequences of the crime.
Stopped a drunk minor driving a car
In this case, the consequences for everyone will be almost the same as described above:
- no fine for a minor driving a car (including while drunk),
- fine of 30,000 rubles for transfer of control,
- evacuation to the impound lot if there is no one in the car who can drive it.
But there is still a difference between whether such a person is caught sober or drunk - if a minor is under the influence of alcohol or, even worse, drug intoxication, then with a high degree of probability he will be registered with a psycho-neurological dispensary with all the ensuing consequences from this.
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Penalties for minors
This is stated in Article 12.7 of Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences, according to which a person who does not have the right to drive a vehicle (does not have a driver’s license at all or has a “crust” that does not correspond to the type of transport being driven) will be held administratively liable and undertakes pay a fine in the amount of five to fifteen thousand rubles.
In addition, the vehicle driven by a minor offender will be towed and placed in a impound lot.
What kind of transport can you drive under 18 years of age?
Despite the fact that you can learn to drive in most driving schools from the age of 16, upon reaching this age mark you can only drive a moped (category M) and a motorcycle with an engine capacity of up to 125 cm3 (category A1).
In all other categories, rights can only be obtained from 18 years of age. And only for such means of transportation as buses, trams or trolleybuses can you get the coveted plastic driver card at the age of 21. Driving a car is a difficult and dangerous task. Especially for a child. For this reason, children who get behind the wheel themselves or with the permission of their parents very often get into accidents, putting many lives at risk, not only their own, but also those of other people. Therefore, you should not indulge capricious desires or try to teach your son to drive on your own. A better decision would be to wait until he reaches adulthood so that he can send his child to a driving school. Or, if there are children's institutions that teach driving, use this opportunity to satisfy the teenager's interest in cars.
Negative comments
A short video of a young child driving a taxi has spread across the Internet. Within a few days, the video was watched by tens of thousands of people. And there were no people willing to approve the driver’s action. In the comments below the topic, people are actively discussing what happened. Most are outraged by the behavior of the taxi driver and wonder who we trust with our lives when we call for cars.
“We return again to the issue of the adequacy of taxi drivers,” writes Alexey Fantazer.
The taxi driver who put the baby behind the wheel did not find support from his colleagues either. According to Dmitry Sheikin, such driver behavior is unacceptable. He risked the lives of not only the people in the car, but also other road users and even pedestrians. It is unknown what could happen if a car with a child ran into a zebra crossing or a stop.
Taxi drivers did not approve of their colleague's action
- This shouldn’t happen at all. These people don't think with their heads at all. I don't even have words. It would never have occurred to me in my life to put a child behind the wheel with me, especially such a small one,” taxi driver Dmitry Sheikin explained to Prizyv. - This shouldn't happen. And these things must be stopped, otherwise it can lead to bad consequences.
At the same time, Dmitry himself doubts that the incident will reach the taxi aggregator. This means that measures on the part of the employer will most likely not be taken. And the driver who allows a child to drive will not be blocked.
