Although attempts have been made recently to combat bribery, this problem in Russia is not decreasing. There are still situations when, by violating traffic rules, the driver tries to evade responsibility. Then they are offered a bribe by the traffic police. Employees, for their part, often agree to tempting offers. But not all drivers are aware of the legal consequences that may arise if they give a bribe. This explains the still frequent cases of bribery. In our country, it is better to be legally literate so that one day you do not have to bear serious punishment under a criminal article.
What is a bribe to a traffic police officer?
This act is understood as remuneration of an official, which is of an illegal nature, for him to commit illegal actions or not to perform an action that is required by law. When a traffic police officer stops the violator’s car, communication takes place between them. It is during this time that the bribe is given. The driver’s goal is to quickly resolve the problem and continue driving without completing the procedure, as required by law.
The illegal act in this case is two-sided. It is committed both by a law enforcement representative and by the driver.
Varieties
The bribe, and with it the liability, varies depending on its size:
- A small size is considered if it is less than twenty-five thousand rubles.
- A significant amount can be for an amount from 25 to 100 thousand rubles.
- A large bribe is qualified if it is given in the amount of 150 thousand rubles or more.
- Particularly large-scale bribery is recorded when a bribe is more than one 1,000,000 rubles.
Evidence of a crime
Punishment for this offense occurs only when the person has received a bribe. It is considered a decent amount of money that was transferred without any reason. If the parties can prove the transaction, then it will be impossible to accuse them of bribery.
A traffic police inspector who has been offered a bribe has the right to issue a report against the negligent driver. But he must have documentary evidence confirming this fact, namely:
- video, photo or audio recording;
- testimony of witnesses who saw the offense committed.
On the other hand, the driver may try to accuse the traffic cop of bribery, although in this case the latter behaves extremely carefully and rarely mentions a specific amount of money.
What to do if you are accused of receiving or giving a bribe
If the culprit is “caught in the act” and is charged with a crime under Articles 290 or 291, it is necessary to act as follows.
When accused of transferring a bribe:
- Find a good lawyer to defend yourself against false accusations.
- provide maximum assistance to the investigation in the hope of reducing the punishment.
- prove the fact of extortion (if it took place) using video recordings, audio, witness statements, photographs.
Please note that charges of transferring a bribe can only be brought by law enforcement officers, taking into account their existing competencies.
If you are accused of receiving money or extorting it, you must:
- Hire a lawyer who is a professional in the field of corruption crimes.
- prove the fact of provocation of a bribe (if the cash was planted without the knowledge of the official).
- use the entire evidence base - testimony of colleagues, camera recordings, documents, videos and other data.
In the absence of direct evidence, you need to appeal the results of the investigation to a judicial authority, because the fact that money has been identified does not mean anything.
If a person actually broke the law and took money, it is better to admit guilt and use the experience of a lawyer to reduce the punishment. Difficult financial situation, family problems, etc. may be mitigating circumstances.
What responsibilities are provided?
The punishment that the parties may face, as indicated above, varies depending on the amount of money transferred. It is as follows:
- Giving a small bribe to a traffic police officer is punishable by a fine fifteen to thirty times the amount, or forced labor lasting up to 3 years, or a fine ten times the amount of the bribe with loss of freedom for a period of up to 2 years.
- A significant bribe is punishable by a fine, twenty to forty times higher, or a fine fifteen times higher, along with loss of freedom for a period of up to 3 years.
- A large bribe can be punished with a fine of sixty to eighty times the bribe and the inability to hold a certain position for a period of up to 3 years, or a fine of sixty times the bribe, along with loss of freedom for a period of five to ten years.
- Giving or taking a bribe on an especially large scale is fraught with punishment in the form of a fine exceeding it by seventy to ninety times, and the inability to hold certain positions for up to 3 years, or a fine exceeding seventy times the bribe, and loss of freedom for a period of seven to twelve years old.
Important! Also, not only the two parties involved in giving and receiving a bribe can be punished, but also during mediation. Criminal punishment for the latter crime is punishable by loss of freedom for a period of up to 12 years.
Is it possible to give small bribes?
As you understand, no one gives bribes to traffic cops in large or especially large amounts, and motorists do not consider small amounts to be a serious reason for a criminal case. At the same time, significant bribes are quite common, for example, to avoid liability for drunk driving. In such a case, you face up to 5 years.
Also, many believe that no one will be punished for a small bribe of 500-1000 rubles, but this is not entirely true. Of course, the consequences are not so serious, but still unpleasant. Giving even such a small bribe to a traffic cop can lead you to court as a defendant.
And we note that the corpus delicti according to the law is formal. Thus, the crime is committed even if the employee does not take the bribe from you when you offer it to him. If the traffic cop is able to prove your illegal actions, you will be punished according to the law!
Ways to avoid punishment
Thus, both the attempt to take and the receipt of a bribe are equally illegal and threaten both parties with criminal liability. At the same time, there are cases when liability does not arise for one or the other party. These include the following situations.
If the driver gave a bribe, but then he himself admitted to committing the crime. Moreover, he repented of this and is ready to help in investigative activities.
If a traffic cop incited to give a bribe, and the violator was able to film this fact using modern technical means, this will become a real evidence base when accusing the corrupt official.
Inspectors try not to take money into their hands. The usual option is to play a scene during which funds are “lost” in the traffic police car or directly in that part of it that the DVR camera does not perceive.
Ways to prove the guilt of the driver or inspector
A motorist can be caught giving a bribe by:
- video recording of a conversation with an inspector;
- witness statements;
- photo and audio materials of the conversation between the parties.
If the service officer turns out to be honest, he has the right to draw up a report on the attempt to bribe him right at the place where the vehicle was stopped and add evidence to it during the trial of the case.
It is more difficult to confirm the extortion of money by an inspector, since dishonest police officers do not make direct demands and do not take banknotes or an envelope in their hands. A video recorder or audio recording device will help you obtain evidence.
To be able to use them, the driver should not change into a traffic police car to talk. It is better to talk near your car and in front of witnesses. It is also necessary to immediately find out the employee’s name, rank, and badge number immediately after stopping the vehicle, so that you can contact the CSS if he demands money.
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Incitement
Probably, most drivers have encountered situations where giving a bribe is actually provoked by a traffic police officer. Of course, no one will directly offer to give a certain amount. But the inspector pushes the driver to make the “right” decision.
For example, the protocol is deliberately slowly drawn up, and the driver who violated the traffic rules is vividly described the consequences that await him, and in a very exaggerated manner. The old “good” trick can also be used, when one of the traffic cops stops the offender (the evil policeman), and the other offers to resolve the issue with his intractable partner (the good policeman). Many drivers fall for this trick and voluntarily give money instead of suffering the prescribed punishment. But we must remember that this incitement is illegal, and such situations can be avoided. Here are some recommendations that will ensure that the employee acts within the law.
They record, for example, on the phone. If the traffic cop took the money and it was recorded on camera, it will become evidence in court. And with an open recording format, the employee does not have the right to demand that it be stopped.
You should not go into the inspector’s car, where it is easier for him to apply pressure. The law requires the driver to transfer to a patrol car only when making a lawful detention or arrest of a citizen.
Before leaving, you need to copy down information about the inspector who was involved in extorting a bribe, namely, his name, rank and number on the badge. Next, you should call the security service using the special traffic police helpline.
How do they actually pass the traffic police exams?
According to experts, 30% of all those who received a license in Russia paid bribes to pass the exam.
Photo: Yulia Loza
Using the keywords “traffic police, bribe,” Google will return a bunch of links to news - traffic police bribe-takers are caught literally every day. But, if you believe the news, inspectors who evaluate novice drivers are saints. The police captain from Kirov, who took 15 thousand rubles from a student, turned out to be almost the only black sheep - over the past six months, there have been only a couple of reports in the media about the capture of a bribe-taking examiner from the traffic police.
But there are many more people trying to hit you during the exam. In the Altai Territory, Rostov-on-Don, and Moscow, naive poor fellows tried to hand over money to the police right under the camera in an official car. Did the video and audio recording equipment installed in the examiners’ cars really make the driving test absolutely fair?
KP's sources and recent driving school students unanimously say: inspectors are still willing to take money for help with the exam - consider getting a license.
HOW MUCH DOES INSURANCE
Back in the early 2000s, a friend of mine was given a driver’s license for her birthday: in an envelope with a ribbon. Today this is impossible - the future driver’s personal presence at the exam is necessary. Moreover, you will have to learn the theory and pass it yourself. It is taken on a computer under cameras: it is impossible to have another person take it for you and falsify the results. KP's source in the police said that no one is interfering with the operation of the digital system - attempts to interfere will leave traces that will be discovered by the very first check. Corruption opportunities remain only during the practical driving test.
Last year, at a motorcycle school, two of the three instructors who taught me offered to “help” me pass the exam.
- Oleg, if you don’t want to waste time on a retake, just tell me. The test can be simplified,” the mentor said at the end of the lesson, when I got off the training motorcycle.
For everything he asked for absolute nonsense: 14 thousand rubles. (despite the fact that all training for category A cost 16 thousand). A quick survey of friends with little experience driving cars showed that literally everyone was offered to pay.
“We had not yet left for the city, and the mentor had already begun to convince me that I myself would not be able to pass the exam,” Muscovite Natalya told KP. “In the end, I agreed to give a bribe. I passed my license in February 2021 in Maryino.
Anastasia, who was taking an exam in the capital’s Izmailovo, was also offered help for 20 thousand rubles. - this was at the end of 2014.
“I refused, and the instructor began to put pressure and humiliate me,” says Anastasia. “I went to another teacher and told him that I wanted to buy the rights.” All my friends, as far as I know, also paid a bribe.
Examiners at the traffic police never take money directly - they act through friends, most often driving school instructors.
“In 2021, students in Moscow were charged 25-30 thousand rubles,” driving instructor Nikolai told KP. — The examiner at the traffic police gets 15 thousand rubles from them. In the provinces, prices are lower: 5 - 10 thousand rubles.
Paying a police officer is called “safety net,” since a bribe does not provide a 100 percent guarantee of success. But the traffic police inspector will help.
The examination is filmed (recordings are then stored for at least a month), so the appearance of work must be created in any case. In the blind spot of the lens, the inspector shows with his hand which direction and how much the steering wheel should be turned. The examiner, using the second pedals, insures the student, preventing him from stalling, over-throwing or rolling away in the wrong direction. Sometimes the traffic cop even uses the handbrake himself.
Only the timer cannot be fooled. If a novice driver is wildly stupid and does not meet the required 10 minutes, then he will fail the exam. True, he will still be guaranteed “safety net” during the retake.
KP's sources and recent driving school students unanimously say: inspectors are still willing to take money for help with the exam - consider getting a license.
Photo: Ekaterina MARTINOVICH
IF YOU CAN'T TEACH, CONVINCE YOU TO PAY
The bribe system helps driving schools earn good money. On average, training for a category B license in Moscow now costs 20-30 thousand rubles. Most of this amount is the payment to the driving instructor.
10 - 15 thousand from each bribe received doubles his earnings. It is clear that it is beneficial for the instructor not to prepare for the exam, but to promote him as a “safety net.” However, not all instructors are generally able to teach riding. According to the owners of driving schools, many teachers simply buy certificates to teach driving.
“Each fictitiously trained instructor spreads his own driving mistakes to hundreds of his students, who, having received a license, will repeat these mistakes for decades,” say the Russian Union of Driving Schools.
If you wish, you can not study at all - agree with the driving school to prepare a package of documents for the traffic police without attending classes. However, you will still have to pay for the training course. Not all schools do this, but many do. And then the scheme described above: you pass the theory yourself, and pay for the driving test. The total cost of such a package is about 60 thousand rubles.
Chairman of the Board of the Guild of Driving Schools Sergei Lobarev states that 30% of all those who received a license in Russia paid bribes to pass the exam. Other experts interviewed by KP agreed with this assessment.
According to the traffic police, in 2015 in Russia 1.6 million people passed their licenses. It turns out that 450 thousand of them gave a bribe of an average of 20 thousand rubles. That is 9 billion rubles!
WHY DO PEOPLE AGREE?
In reality, there are no obstacles to passing the exam honestly - traffic police inspectors do not intentionally fail anyone. Money just makes the process easier. Here are the main things people are willing to pay for:
Speed. Unsuccessful attempts to retake driving can last up to six months, after which you will have to take the theory test again. It is precisely those who do not want to spend six months running through exams who pay for the opportunity to receive a certificate immediately.
Calm. As was the case with my friend Nastya. A bad teacher literally drilled into his head the idea that a novice driver could not pass on his own. Then a bribe is a reason to get rid of the phobia.
Comfort. During the exam, all students stand outside and wait for their turn to come. It is unknown who is renting to whom. Therefore, you can’t leave; they can call you at any moment. In summer, people spend hours baking in the sun. In winter people freeze. Those who have paid are often allowed in first.
BY THE WAY
Fraudsters are hunting for passport data
There are many advertisements on the Internet offering to buy a license without appearing for the exam at all - just send your details, photos and 15 - 40 thousand rubles. A brand new used item will be delivered directly to your home. You should not get involved with such offers: they will simply sell you a fake ID made on homemade equipment.
“The first traffic police inspector will identify a fake,” a source in the traffic police told KP. “When thousands of licenses have passed through the hands of a guard, the linden is felt instantly. Moreover, the authenticity of the ID can be checked on site using the database. And then the driver with the forgery faces fines of about 100 thousand rubles: for driving without a license, plus for using a fake document.
“Ads for the sale of rights are often created to collect personal data,” Anton Novikov, detective officer of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the South-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow, told KP. — Credit fraud is just one of the options for using someone else’s passport data. You can register a fake company or someone else’s property in the name of the victim. Yes, a lot of things. The main thing is that the information obtained can be used for illegal purposes. And this is bad in any case.
