Is it now compulsory to wear seat belts in the city? | Moscow

Fine for not wearing a seat belt

Who is required to wear a seat belt? In short, everyone in the car wears a seat belt - the driver and passengers. According to traffic rules, the driver does not transport passengers if they are not wearing seat belts. If the car is designed with belts, you cannot drive without them.

These rules are not a formality. According to the traffic police, in 2021, 19% of drivers killed in car accidents did not use seat belts. Among passengers, 22% were also not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. Driving without seat belts increases the likelihood of a fatal accident, so they must be worn at all times.

Who is fined? You can be fined:

• driver - for driving without a seat belt, unbelted passengers or a child without a child seat;
• the passengers themselves - for not fastening their seat belts.

How is a violation detected? Traditionally, a traffic police inspector fines someone for not wearing a seat belt. He sees that the driver is driving without a belt, stops him and draws up a report.

In Moscow, since the end of 2021, fines from cameras for seat belts have appeared - 8 devices in different areas of the city can record this violation automatically. The camera takes up to 25 photos per second and sends them to the server. The materials are studied by a computer that has been trained to identify the steering wheel, hands and seat belt in the photo. If the belt is not visible in the pictures, the computer generates material about the violation - based on it, the traffic police officer draws up a resolution.

If the fine for not wearing a seat belt comes from a camera, the resolution will contain a photo of the violation. The driver’s face is not visible on it, but the traffic police keeps the original photo in case of appealing the fine

Do not throw the belt

When getting into a car, some drivers throw the top strap over their heads and pass the belt behind their back, tightening it only at the lower back. They convince themselves that in the event of an impact they will be able to hold themselves in place with the help of their hands resting on the steering wheel or the dashboard. Well, the belt on the lower back will not allow you to jump out of the chair. Indeed, the first seat belts were two-point and held the person only by the lower back.

However, when you rest your hands on the steering wheel or on the dashboard, the load will be concentrated in the radial bones, which is why there is a high risk of breaking them. For the same reason, you should not rest your feet on the floor and hold the door handles with your palms. The entire body load must be borne by the seat belt and absorbed by the deployed airbag. In this case, injuries may be minimal.

Fine amount in 2021

Fine for not fastening a seat belt for the driver. For driving without a seat belt or transporting unbelted passengers, you will be fined 1,000 rubles. This amount does not increase if passengers in addition to the driver are not wearing seat belts. But a decree can be issued several times a day at different posts if, after the first fine, the driver does not wear a seat belt.

The exception is when the car is not structurally provided with belts, as, for example, happens on vintage cars. If the car has belts, but they have been removed, the driver will be additionally fined 500 rubles for the malfunction.

Fine for not fastening a seat belt for a passenger. If a passenger does not wear a seat belt, he is violating traffic rules. The fine for this is 500 rubles or a written warning. Each unbelted passenger can be fined individually.

Fine for unbelted children. If you transport a child under 7 years old without a child seat, the driver will be fined 3,000 rubles. For legal entities, such as taxis, the penalty is stricter - 100,000 rubles. We wrote in detail about fines for driving without a child seat.

Let's look at all possible situations.

Using seat belts

Many adults who cannot tolerate children's disobedience often threaten children with a belt. But at the same time, it would be nice if they remembered about belts for themselves. We will talk about seat belts, thanks to which you can postpone the meeting with your forefathers indefinitely.

Human nature is such that, even after familiarizing ourselves with the statistics of road accidents and realizing the dangers of driving a car, we cannot accept that the worst can happen to us. All these accident victims and cars turned into a pile of metal are out there somewhere - so far away that it has nothing to do with us. And we persistently continue to ignore basic safety rules and do not fasten our safety belts. And this is a mistake. Sometimes fatal.

Scenario of events during an accident

Immediately after the collision, the driver's body begins to move sharply forward. Already after 0.044 seconds. The driver's chest hits the steering wheel. After 0.068 sec. in the case of “folding” the steering wheel, the driver hits the instrument panel with a force of 9 tons. After 0.093 sec. he hits his head on the windshield and is fatally injured. After 0.011 sec. the driver is thrown back, already dead. All of this could have been avoided if the driver had worn a seat belt.

Volvo installed the first seat belts on its cars.

photo

A little history

They say that brakes were invented by cowards. If we discard the irony and take this as a statement of fact, then the question immediately arises - who came up with seat belts then? There are suggestions that the pilot Adolphe Pegu from France used seat belts for the first time. Already on September 1, 1913, he made the first ever long flight upside down in his plane, largely thanks to seat belts. Volvo cars were first equipped with three-point seat belts in the late 1950s. As for the very first two-point belts, they began to be used back in the 1930s. Their inventor was aircraft designer Niels Bohlin, who worked on the creation of an ejection seat.

Benefits of seat belts

In the event of a collision or emergency braking, the inertial force is so great that it throws a person forward, and this can lead to serious injury. Scientists have calculated that a small “runabout” that weighs no more than one ton at a speed of 50 km/h has a kinetic energy of 100 J. During a collision, this energy is used to deform the front part of the body. The deformation ranges from 30 to 50 cm depending on the design of the machine. In a collision, the magnitude of the force that acts on the driver and passengers is determined by Newton’s second law using the formula F=ma , where m is the driver’s mass in kilograms, and is acceleration or deceleration in m/s2.

Automakers regularly crash test seat belts.

photo

Let's do some simple calculations. If a car moving at a speed of 50 km/h collides with a stationary obstacle, and the deformation of the front part of its body is 50 cm, then the deceleration value will be equal to 385 m/s2. If we take an average driver whose mass is 80 kg, then at that moment he will be subject to a force equal to 30,800 newtons. What does it mean? This means that in the event of a collision, the driver's weight increases by 40 times! There is hardly any need to explain what injuries can be sustained in such a collision. At a minimum, incompatible with life.

Using seat belts can reduce the risk of death:

● 2.3 times in a frontal collision ● 1.8 times in a side collision ● 5 times in a rollover

The Moscow Automobile and Highway Institute conducted research that found that most often passengers and drivers of passenger cars suffer injuries to the chest and head. At the same time, the source of injuries to people who are driving is the steering column in 68%, the windshield in 28.5%, the instrument panel in 23.1%, the side pillar in 12.5% ​​and the roof in 3% .

Passengers in the rear seats must also wear seat belts.

photo

Swedish scientists analyzed almost 30 thousand road accidents involving both cars equipped with seat belts and cars without them. Below is a table analyzing the injuries sustained.

The nuances of using seat belts in different countries
Switzerland . Since seat belts became mandatory in 1976, the number of serious injuries resulting from road traffic accidents has decreased by 5 times. Japan . Seat belts became mandatory after scientists calculated that their use helps avoid death in about 75 cases out of 100. By the way, in many countries, drivers who do not wear seat belts cannot count on insurance in the event of an accident. There are also states in which the use of seat belts increases the insurance amount by 25%.

Types of seat belts

According to their design, all seat belts are divided into lap, diagonal and combined. If the lap and diagonal types of belts are not able to provide complete fixation of the torso, then the combined one, which includes both the lap and diagonal straps, guarantees complete safety. In turn, combined three-point belts come in two types: inertial and non-inertial. Inertia seat belts are used on all modern cars. Such belts are retracted by a special device when not fastened.

A seat belt is a guarantee of a long and happy life

photo

Today, automakers are trying to improve safety systems as much as possible, including seat belts. Today, seat belts with pretensioners are very popular, the signal for which is the emergency deceleration of the car. They pull passengers and driver into the seatbacks and react even faster than airbags.

Many modern cars are equipped with special devices that turn off the ignition system or cut off the fuel supply if the driver or passengers forget to fasten their seat belts.

Today, the use of seat belts is regulated by Article 12.6 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which states that “driving a vehicle by a driver not wearing a seat belt, transporting passengers not wearing seat belts, if the design of the vehicle provides for seat belts, entails the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 500 rubles ."

Photo

In what cases is a fine subject to appeal?

A fine for driving without a seat belt or an unrestrained passenger can rarely be contested, especially if the driver actually violated the rule. But there are four situations when it's worth a try.

Another person was driving. It happens that a car owner gave a car to a brother or friend, but he violated it. The owner of the car will receive a fine for driving without a seat belt. In order not to pay for another person, send a complaint to the traffic police and attach to it the evidence of the real driver and a copy of the insurance policy, if the offender is registered there.

I received a fine for selling a car. This often happens when the buyer signs an agreement, transfers money, but does not re-register the car in his name. The previous owner continues to receive fines. To correct this, attach to the complaint the purchase and sale agreement and the vehicle acceptance certificate, if any. At the same time, deregister the sold car - we wrote about how to do this.

The driver took off his belt after stopping. Sometimes the inspector notices that there is no belt after the car has stopped. The reason may be that the driver unfastened it to get documents. It is difficult to prove the case in this situation - you need recordings from a video recorder that records what is happening in the cabin.

The camera was wrong. With the advent of cameras that record fines for belts, there will certainly be erroneous decisions. If the photo shows that the driver’s belt is on or it blends in with dark clothing, feel free to complain.

How to appeal a fine

Appeal procedure. You can file a complaint against a fine decision within the first 10 days from the date of the document. The complaint will have to be sent by regular mail to the regional traffic police department.

If the complaint is rejected, you can go to court. Before doing this, we recommend that you contact a lawyer who will file a claim.

Sample complaint. In your application please indicate:

• addressee - the position and name of the head of the traffic police department, whose employee issued the protocol. It can be clarified by phone on the document or you can simply send a complaint to the regional head of the inspection;
• your details - name and phone number;
• circumstances - when and where the inspector recorded the violation and why you do not agree with it;
• a request to cancel the decision;
• applications that prove innocence.

Sample application to appeal a fine from a camera

Remember: responsibility for not fastening your seat belt

1. In the car, the driver and all passengers are fastened in the front and rear seats.
2. If you don’t wear your seat belt, you will be fined by the traffic police inspector, and in Moscow you may receive a fine from a camera.
3. The fine for the driver is 1000, for the passenger - 500 rubles.
4. For transporting a child under 7 years old without a seat, you will be fined 3,000 rubles.
5. You can appeal the fine if you were not the driver, the car has already been sold, you removed the belt after stopping, or the camera made a mistake.
6. To challenge the decision, send a complaint to the traffic police and attach evidence to it. If you receive a refusal, go to court.

All articles by the author: Ilya Novikov

Fine for passengers not wearing seat belts

According to Article 12.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, passengers in a car without a seat belt fastened also bear administrative responsibility for this violation. The fine imposed on vehicle passengers for driving without a seat belt is 500 rubles. Also in this case, the driver is fined 1,000 rubles, regardless of how many passengers are not wearing seat belts. By analogy with the punishment that drivers face for not wearing a seat belt, a passenger can be fined several times for the same violation committed on the same day.

Fines are imposed both on citizens sitting in the front passenger seat and on passengers sitting in the back.

If a citizen is a passenger in a fixed-route vehicle (for example, a bus or minibus), he is also required to wear a seat belt.

In some cases, at the discretion of the police officer, the passenger may be issued a written warning instead of a fine.