Fines for parking on lawns will be reduced for Moscow drivers

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Published: 11/07/2018

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If it was not possible to resolve the conflict peacefully and the car owner continues to violate the law by parking his car in the wrong place, then eyewitnesses of such a violation have the right to complain about him to the appropriate authorities.

• Where should I complain? Contacting the traffic police
• Complaint to the district administration
• Online resource “Angry Citizen”

In order for the appeal to be considered and the culprit punished, the applicant will need to provide evidence. You can confirm the fact of parking a car on the lawn using photo and video materials. There are also some requirements for photographs and videos, only if they are met can such materials act as evidence. So, when planning your appeal, you need to consider that:

1. The photo or video must be shot in good quality so that the registration number of the offender’s car can be clearly seen in the frame.
2. In a photo or video, not only the car, but also the surrounding area should be included in the frame . It should be clear from the material where exactly the vehicle is located. You can record a house number or another nearby object.

A driver can avoid punishment for illegal parking in the following cases:

• it is impossible to establish a link between the location of the car and the residential area;
• there is no grass or other green space on the lawn;
• According to the project, the place where the car is parked is not a lawn.

Under certain circumstances, parking on the lawn is permitted:

• if the site is not recognized as a lawn in accordance with regional legislation;
• if the lawn is sown with damage-resistant vegetation;
• if there is a sign permitting parking or permission from a traffic police inspector.

It is worth noting that the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) or traffic rules does not define what a lawn is. If we focus on GOST 28329-89 clause 38, then, according to this document, a lawn is considered to be a grass cover sown with special grasses, which acts as a background in park structures and is an element of landscape compositions.

In regional regulations, the concept of “lawn” can be interpreted differently.

When is stopping on the lawn allowed?

The traffic rules established in Russia consider options for permissible stopping. Parking is allowed along the road or on the border with the sidewalk. There is no direct indication in the traffic rules that parking on the lawn is prohibited. However, such a standard is contained in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely in Art. 12.19. This article reflects the prohibition of such an act by defining specific penalties for the offending citizen.

Here, paragraph one talks about a verbal warning or a fine for a citizen in a certain amount for ignoring parking rules. Specifics regarding lawns or other plantings are not specified, however, fines are applicable in these cases. At the same time, in federal subjects the fine is 5 times higher and amounts to 2,500 rubles . Accordingly, for other entities the fine is only 500 rubles .

A difficult issue for many applicants is the definition of an area with a lawn. In fact, any unpaved fragment bordering a roadway or pedestrian area can be considered such a site. Thus, a lawn should be understood as a plot of land in municipal or common property, even without the presence of specific vegetation on it (since this implies the possibility of growing it).

Where to complain about parking on the lawn in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, as a city of federal significance, has its own law No. 273-70 “On Administrative Offenses” dated May 31, 2010. The document regulates the amount of monetary punishment for placing vehicles in green areas:

• for ordinary citizens from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles;
• for officials 5,000 - 40,000 rubles;
• for legal entities – 150,000 – 500,000 rubles.

Article 32 of this legal act has been repeatedly challenged in court and, in its current version, precisely indicates in which territories it is prohibited to leave vehicles. To avoid confusion in terms, the word “lawn” is not used here to avoid confusion with different interpretations of its meaning.

Residents of the northern capital have several ways to file complaints about illegal parking:

• Unified portal for citizens' appeals https://letters.gov.spb.ru/ – where a citizen can send his message to the Administration of the desired district;
• Portal Our Petersburg - allows citizens to send complaints of any content about the work of housing and communal services, improper parking, and other administrative offenses;
• Another way to report violations is to submit an online complaint through the Beautiful Petersburg website, where you need to go to the appeals/green spaces/lawn parking section.

In addition, there is also a federal law in force in St. Petersburg, according to which you can contact the local traffic police department or the City Administration.

Parking in winter

Indeed, in the Russian region, unlike many other countries, in winter it can be extremely difficult to see both the markings on the roads and, in principle, the location of organized parking spaces for parking cars in the private sector or near organizations. This has always been a kind of reason for citizens to circumvent existing legislation, attributing their offense to a lack of cleanup work.

However, in addition to markings on the road surface itself, organized parking lots often also have special signs that rise significantly above ground level and indicate places where you can park. Unfortunately, such signs are often absent in the courtyards of residential areas. Moreover, they cannot be detected in the absence of organized marked parking spaces and cars are parked simply on the asphalt area.

Winter parking

In Russia and other countries with cold climates, those who like to leave their car in the wrong place often attribute their negligence to poor visibility due to snow: they say, sometimes in winter it is impossible to distinguish not only a legal parking space, but also the markings on the roads. This is where special road signs can come to the rescue, clearly limiting the parking space. But not every residential yard has such signs, and even more so there won’t be any if there are no parking spaces at all in the residential area.

Where to go if your car is parked in the wrong place

If a violator wants to park near a residential building, the easiest way for residents is to contact their local police officer. His responsibilities include ensuring similar law and order in the territory entrusted to him. In order not to distract the traffic police on this issue (since real victims of road accidents can expect the service to arrive), it is allowed to complain here online on the official website.

Since, when refusing a call, a person misses the fact that a violation was recorded by an official body, he should independently verify the described situation with evidence in the form of photo or video materials. The online window on the site allows you to attach files of various formats here. With special principles, a person is still not prohibited from calling a traffic police inspector to the place of the alleged violation.

Proof

Evidence is the main guiding link in this problem. Before punishing a driver guilty of his negligence, it is necessary to provide a photo or video confirming his illegal parking on the lawn .

Based on the available evidence, you have the right to demand that the authorized bodies record the violation and further proceedings with punishment or a fine.

By law, a negligent driver is required to be held accountable and pay a fine as punishment in the amount of 1,000 to 5,000 rubles. This type of punishment is prescribed in the local Administrative Code, which provides punishment for violating the improvement of residential areas.

However, many drivers, not wanting to be held accountable for their actions, try to explain their violation by the lack of a parking lot near their home. A driver can be released from liability for a fine for parking on a lawn only in the following cases:

• There is no connection to a residential area;
• There are no green spaces and grass on the lawn;
• There is no children's playground;
• According to the project, the area is not a lawn.

Quality of evidence

However, not all photos or video materials can be considered by authorized bodies as evidence of an administrative violation. Therefore, when collecting evidence, keep in mind that:

1. The photograph or video recording must be of such good quality that number of the offender’s car is clearly visible ;
2. The photo or video should show more than just the vehicle on the lawn. It is important that there is some kind of objective reference in the photographs or video recordings, i.e. It would be correct to capture in the frame the address sign of the house or some landmark that will not be difficult for employees of the authorized bodies to identify;

If you want to send a complaint by mail and are not sure where to send a photo or video, then contact the district police department. The staff of the institution will tell you how best to behave in this situation.

Video: Society for the Protection of Motorists' Rights - how to file a complaint for parking on the lawn yourself

Who has the right to fine

As for the powers of the district police officer, he cannot issue fines. Rather, he will record the fact of a violation when parking the car on a green lawn and issue a resolution, which will be sent further to the court if the person is unwilling to pay the fine voluntarily. In this situation, only the court can satisfy or deny the requirements. In the first case, the resolution will go to the bailiffs for implementation.

The preparation of protocols and resolutions is also carried out by the traffic police with the help of official or video recording of offenses. In the second case, an important condition for issuing a resolution is a clear image of a car with individual license plates standing on the lawn. After the decision is issued, it goes to the violator. He has the right to pay the fine or complain to the court to have it cancelled.

If a person does not appeal the decision made against him in time, he risks the initiation of legal proceedings regarding his desire to park on a prohibited lawn. The meeting can also be held behind closed doors, after which the person will only receive notice of the decision made by the judge himself (based on the evidence presented by the prosecution).

Where should I complain?

If a citizen who finds a car parked on the lawn is unable to resolve the issue with the driver peacefully, he has several options where he can turn for help.

As mentioned above, the fact where exactly the illegally parked car was found plays a significant role.

You can restore justice by contacting:

• traffic police authorities;
• city ​​administration;
• commission to combat illegal parking;
• organization that manages the residential building.

How to solve a problem yourself without conflict and fines

Indeed, if citizens are adequate, the problem can be solved simply by asking them not to park on the grass or on land without an actual lawn. In this case, a similar request will have the greatest effect, for example, from a neighbor who is the owner of an apartment on the first floors when parking someone else’s car on the lawn directly under the windows of his property.

If the car owner switches the topic to the lack of organized parking for cars, it should be calmly explained that this issue should have been thought about before making a purchase. The responsibility for organizing a parking space rests not only with the executive authorities, but also with the owner of the car. An alternative is to buy a garage to store your car.

In the conversation, you should carefully emphasize the violation of the rights and interests of others by this car owner, mentioning a specific legislative article banning parking on lawns. The difficulty in this case can be caused by the actual absence of plantings or natural vegetation in the place where the machine is placed. However, the lack of a lawn is often associated with long-term parking.

Eco-parking

There is a case when you cannot force a driver who parks his car on a lawn to be fined if the lawn is modern. A modern lawn means a green surface that is resistant to trampling and everyday parking of a passenger car. Such lawns are installed in large cities and allow drivers to freely leave their car for the required time.

The eco-parking is a specially developed area that was created on the site of an old lawn using geosynthetic fabric.

Also, you will not be able to punish the driver if a law enforcement officer personally allowed him to park the car on the lawn. But before you trust the driver's word, ask him to provide documentation or permission that matches his words.

Remember! When the lawn is located in a designated parking lot, it is awarded the title of a “designated area” in which you can park.

Reporting illegal parking on the lawn is not only a right, but also a necessity for socially responsible citizens. Never be afraid to contact the authorized bodies with complaints against offenders, since the law must be on the side of the citizen.

Which institution regulates violations?

Based on the foregoing, it is obvious that parking of cars on vegetation/lawn is regulated primarily by law enforcement agencies represented by the local police officer or highly specialized traffic authorities. In this case, it is possible to involve judicial institutions or supervisory authorities in the work.

Who fines for parking cars on the lawn (makes a decision on imposing fines on persons who park illegally):

• district commissioner within the territory he serves;
• traffic police inspector;
• an ordinary police officer temporarily vested with appropriate powers.

As for the desire to complain to the court, this action is carried out either by a direct law enforcement agency or by the violator to appeal the charges against him. Also, to conduct inspections of institutions and the activities of their officials, a person can complain directly to the prosecutor’s office: territorial, and then general, canceling the decisions of previous authorities.

Alternative options for addressing the problem of cars on the lawn are public organizations that can actively conduct their main activities in the Internet space. Such services are often welcomed by government agencies. For example, the same traffic police sends a user to record traffic violations using the SafeRoads.rf portal.

This portal is designed to transmit reports of violations (including parking on lawns) in the field of traffic and the quality of road surfaces. Violations about parking on the lawn are not entirely appropriate here. However, even in this case the problem can be solved indirectly. For example, if you have to park on the lawn due to problems with the asphalt surface in the immediate parking area.

It is worth noting that the service, which is suitable for expressing opinions about offenses, was developed for citizens of Moscow. Its name is Moscow Helper. Here you can complain about cars on the lawn by attaching a photo of the identified episode directly from your smartphone. In this case, the photograph must comply with the standards. So the car should be well lit, the angle should display the make and color, as well as the individual number of the car.

Download Moscow Helper applications

Let's move from words to action

If your warning was ignored and the offender’s car continues to park on the lawn as usual, you should take more drastic measures.

3. First of all, you will need to take a photo of the car parked on the lawn. This needs to be done from different angles so that the photographs clearly depict the given area, the license plate of the vehicle is clearly visible, the curbs are captured, etc.

Photographing is necessary so that the violating motorist cannot prove his innocence and get away with it.

4. After you have taken the required number of photographs from all angles, you can begin to write the statement itself against the violator. The text of the application can be in absolutely free form. The main thing is that you need to provide as many facts as possible: • date and time of photographic recording; • exact address of the violation; • location of the violation (near the front door, for example, from the playground, etc.); • vehicle registration number; • make, model and color of the car;

In addition, you can indicate the presence of witnesses and their names, this will only support your statement with evidence.

The text of the statement may be something like this: “I (full name), ask to be held accountable for parking the above-mentioned car on the lawn in such and such a place.” Of course, you can come up with something of your own. Don't forget to include your phone number where they can call you to clarify some details.

5. Now that you have photographs and an application, you need to go to the Beautiful Petersburg.rf website, in the “Green Spaces” / “Parking on the Lawn” section. There you need to attach a statement against the violating motorist with photographs of his vehicle.

You can also complain to the district administration, again through the website.

A citizen can apply by writing a letter by hand and sending it to the specified address, but it will be faster by email. And you can also duplicate the application to the Committee on Law, Order and Security of St. Petersburg. (https://www.zakon.gov.spb.ru/about/contacts)

After you have submitted your application, you just have to wait for a response from the officials. You may be invited to the district administration to sign a witness statement that is needed to issue a fine to the violating motorist.

Punishments in different areas

Often, law enforcement officers can limit themselves to a verbal warning. However, the law allows them to issue fines in the name of the car owner who allows himself to park directly on the lawn. The size of such monetary penalties varies several times depending on the status of the subject: a city of federal significance or other subjects: ordinary cities, urban and rural settlements.

Moscow region

It is much easier for citizens to complain in the capital and achieve the desired result regarding illegal parking of cars on lawns. This is explained by the presence of specialized public portals for sending messages about the presence of cars on lawns and other violations, as well as the location in Moscow of the central offices of all government agencies (Rospotrebnadzor, the Prosecutor General’s Office, etc.), where citizens are allowed to complain.

However, the scale of Moscow and the Moscow region also determines the number of problems that arise here with cars on lawns and careless car owners who want to park in the wrong places. That is why a certain balance is maintained in opening the necessary services and applications to maintain the operation of the government system and initiating public control.

The farther from the Moscow region, the fewer questions need to be resolved regarding car owners and their unlawful attempts to park on growing lawns. And in connection with this, the level of need for additional measures to control the conscientious performance of their duties by motorists and the direct powers of public authorities is also reduced.

Other cities

In other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the prerogative options for sending complaints about cars on so-called lawns are standard state executive authorities of territorial significance, as well as bodies of the supervisory and judicial system. In general, the scale of the problems here is not so extensive (relative to Moscow) and does not require the global development of additional resources for complaints.

Complaint about parking on the lawn: step-by-step instructions

Digital technologies and services that help improve urban spaces are already working well enough to act as an effective mediator in communication between a dissatisfied citizen and government agencies, which can be very difficult to reach through conventional means. An approximate plan with which you can most conveniently complain about those who want to leave their car on green spaces looks like this:

• We try to talk with the motorist, find out whether he is ready to listen to the residents of the house and take care of solving the problem on his own, without involving government services.
• We choose the most convenient format for contacting: an application developed specifically for your region, or a personal call from a local police officer or traffic police inspector to record a violation and draw up a protocol.
• If you choose the format for reporting a problem online, carefully read the rules and nuances of the service. Usually the format of the photo or video is most important; sometimes it is necessary to describe the problem in a few lines of text.
• We are waiting for the car owner, who continues to park in the wrong place, to receive a fine.
• We continue to record violations and report them if one punishment does not convince a citizen to change his behavior.

Whatever method of filing your application you choose, you need to take into account that after its registration, the executive authority by law has thirteen days to process your application. This process can be speeded up - non-anonymous messages that contain the most complete information about the applicant usually simplify the matter. But a longer process is also possible; this happens when your situation requires additional expert opinions, or if the addressee of the complaint was chosen incorrectly.

How to report a violator yourself

In the age of digital technology and the abundance of online services (including for complaining about those parking on the lawn), citizens have numerous opportunities to contact the authorities and resolve issues of violation of their rights and interests remotely. Complaining online is allowed directly through the official websites of government agencies or with the assistance of intermediary organizations.

How to complain about car owners who want to park on lawns:

1. Select the recipient of the complaint and send an email here with an attached photo of the car parked on the lawn (check the rules on photo format in advance) or call an employee to the scene to write a report.
2. Wait for the decision to issue a resolution to the owner of the car who periodically parks on the lawn and the latter’s further actions.

It is worth noting that with any of these methods, consideration of the application must take place in a standard format. If the message is not anonymous and has contact information about the applicant, then the complaint will be accepted and verified after registration within thirty days. Postponements are possible, but only in a complicated situation that requires additional expert opinions, or if the recipient is incorrectly chosen.

But the police can do it too!

Let's move on to federal legislation. It can also be used to pinch lawn parkers. Responsibility specifically for stopping and parking (but not driving) on ​​the lawn is established by Article 12.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the rules for stopping or parking vehicles” from paragraph 12.1 of the Traffic Regulations). For St. Petersburg and Moscow, the 5th part of the article applies, which refers to the first part (applied to other regions of the Russian Federation). So, the police (traffic police) have the authority to fine those who park on lawns under Article 12.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Punishment – ​​imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 2500 rubles .