Administrative responsibility
According to clause 12.8 of the traffic rules, drivers are prohibited from leaving children under 7 years of age alone in the car without the presence of another adult. But in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation there is no fine for this particular violation, but they can be charged under Part 1 of Art. 12.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, according to which the violator faces a fine of 500 rubles. For residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the fine increases to 2,500 rubles.
This measure is applied if, as a result of the violation, the child was not injured and was not in significant danger. You can leave him alone for up to 5 minutes: for example, if you need to refuel your car at a gas station. If more than 5 minutes have passed, the inspector has the right to fine the driver upon discovering an offense.
Example:
A man and a 5-year-old child went to the park by car. On the way, he stopped at a store, thinking he would do his shopping quickly. Concerned passers-by noticed the child alone in the car and called the traffic police. The inspectors arrived quickly, before the parent returned. The total time the child was alone in the car exceeded 20 minutes.
When my father returned, the inspectors were already waiting for him. A protocol was drawn up on the spot, and a few days later I received a resolution and a receipt to pay a fine of 500 rubles.
In this situation, the child was not in any danger; there was no open danger for him. But the law is the same for everyone, and for the slightest violations you will have to pay a fine.
Forgotten in the parking lot
He proposed amendments according to which violators would face a fine or deprivation of their driver’s license for six months. According to the Children's Ombudsman, in order to tighten sanctions, it is necessary to make amendments to two documents.
Firstly, it is proposed to include in paragraph 12.9 of the Traffic Rules a ban on leaving children under 12 years of age in a car without parents or “other persons over 18 years of age.” At the same time, the ban will apply to both cars and trucks, and will apply both in case of parking and in case of stopping vehicles (up to 5 minutes, according to traffic regulations). Secondly, similar wording is proposed to be added to Article 12.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, supplementing it with sanctions for violating the ban. It is proposed to impose a fine of 5 thousand rubles, and in case of systematic violations - deprivation of a driver's license for a period of 6 months.
The explanatory note to the bill states that now only Article 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses on “failure to fulfill duties for the upbringing, protection of the rights and interests of a minor” can be applied to parents who leave a child alone in a car. But the fine for it is only 500 rubles.
Let us remind you that Pavel Astakhov first came up with the initiative to fine parents for leaving their children in the car in July 2015. Then he proposed even tougher sanctions than now - deprivation of a driver’s license for up to 2 years.
As the office of the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation explains, such tightening is necessary due to the increasing frequency of incidents in the regions. In particular, in the Saratov region, a one-year-old girl recently got caught in her seat belts in a car and died. In Ulyanovsk, a six-year-old girl strangled herself with a window regulator, and in Vladimir, one of three children died, suffocating from smoke after a short circuit in the car.
Most drivers, according to Pavel Astakhov, simply do not take into account that a car with children can be towed, stolen, rammed, and the child himself can suffocate in it, become hypothermic or overheat.
Experts generally support the Ombudsman's initiative. True, with some reservations. For example, the coordinator of the “Blue Buckets” movement, Petr Shkumatov, commenting on the bill, gives an example of a situation for which one will also have to be fined - an infant is sleeping in a chair in the back seat, and a person needs to go to the toilet.
Saint Petersburg. The child is in the car, and the mother spends half the day in the beauty salon. Photo: 5-tv.ru
Let us recall that previously a similar bill was introduced to the State Duma by deputies from the LDPR party. According to their document, parents who leave a child (a minor under the age of 14) in a vehicle should be punished by deprivation of a driver’s license for a period of one to two years and a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles. This document is still within the walls of the lower house of parliament. The Children's Ombudsman initially supported the Liberal Democrats' bill, but then decided to do everything himself. According to Pavel Astakhov, liability should be proportionate to what drivers are exposed to as a result of the evacuation of the car. “Because most often we see that the child is left so that the car is not towed. After all, it’s really impossible to evacuate a car with a person inside,” explained the children’s ombudsman.
In the United States, many states allow passers-by to break car windows if they find a child left in them. In Russia there is no such rule, so in such cases emergency services should be called. This summer, an information campaign was held in Moscow to draw the attention of parents to the dangers of children being unattended in a car. Commenting on the action, Pavel Astakhov noted that over the past six months, several children left in a car have died. “They died only because parents believe that a car is some kind of impregnable fortress where they can leave the child and go their own way.” affairs,” noted Astakhov.
Criminal liability
Things are much more complicated when a child is in danger of being left alone in a car. In this case, the culprit will be charged not under the Code of Administrative Offenses, but under Art. 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, where the fine is much higher - up to 80,000 rubles.
Instead of a fine, they may be required to undergo correctional labor for 12 months, assigned to compulsory labor for a period of up to 360 hours, arrested for three months, or imprisoned for up to one year.
Deprivation of liberty is used extremely rarely: for example, when a minor is injured as a result of being left in danger. Mostly, the perpetrators are fined or assigned correctional labor.
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Even if the driver is fined under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, he will still have a criminal record in the future. Therefore, it is recommended to be more attentive to children and not leave them alone in the car. In addition, the ban is provided for their own safety.
What is taken into account when considering a case?
It is not so easy to prosecute under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The employee who discovers the offense will examine several circumstances:
- Vehicle parking location. If a car is left in violation of traffic rules on a busy road, this poses a danger to the child. For example, an illegally parked car may be driven into;
- Weather conditions and temperature in the cabin. If it is too cold there or, on the contrary, stuffy, this will play a bad role for the person responsible for the minor;
- Driver absence time. If he was absent for no more than 5 minutes, there is a high probability that he will not be held accountable.
Other circumstances that pose a danger to the life and health of the child, both physical and psychological, may also be taken into account.
What is the penalty for leaving a child in the car?
Traffic police officers and random witnesses can identify the fact that children are unattended in a car. If there are no accompanying persons in the car, car doors may be opened and glass broken to ensure the safety of the child. If the driver does not approach the car, the minor may be temporarily taken under the supervision of a guardianship specialist or another government agency.
Upon leaving a child unattended, a protocol is drawn up. If there is no visible harm to health, the protocol will indicate the circumstances of the violation:
- car parking place;
- temperature conditions inside the car, weather conditions;
- the period of time before the arrival of the driver or other accompanying person;
- other circumstances.
Find out more Protecting the rights of those responsible for an accident
If the child was in a dangerous situation, or harm to health is obvious, he will be taken to the hospital for examination. Based on the results of the doctors’ conclusions, a decision will be made on the qualification of the driver’s actions and the initiation of administrative or criminal cases.
At what age can you leave a child alone in a car?
As mentioned earlier, leaving children under 7 years old in a car without the presence of an adult is prohibited. Therefore, if a child has reached the age of seven, he can already be left alone.
But the courts take into account not only the age, but also the level of development and thinking of the child. In many cases, illnesses are also taken into account. For example, if a minor is diagnosed with mental retardation at the time of the violation, and he is over 7 years old, being left alone may pose a danger to him.
Why is it forbidden to leave children in the car?
We must admit that our government should have done this after the first emergency with a child left in the car. But, unfortunately, until a wave of similar incidents swept across the country, our government was in no hurry to introduce into the traffic rules a ban on leaving a child in a car without the presence of adults.
For example, in Izhevsk, in the heat, young, clueless parents left a sleeping baby in a cradle in the car. Moreover, the parents slightly opened the window in the car. But, alas, this did not help. Upon the parents' return, the child no longer showed signs of life.
Also in Russia, cases have been repeatedly recorded in which children had their heads pinched by glass as a result of accidentally pressing the window lift button. And there were even deaths. There have also been cases of children being suffocated by seat belts.
But more often than not, children left alone in the car became the culprits of road accidents. For example, there have been several known cases of children somehow removing the gearshift knob from speed, causing cars to roll away. In particular, in the Oryol region, a small child went to the bottom along with a car that rolled down a slope after he shifted the gearbox from speed to neutral. It was only by luck that the baby’s father noticed in time that the car was sinking and managed to save his child.
See also: This life hack can save your child’s life in an accident
There have been cases where irresponsible parents left the keys in the car, resulting in children starting the car and causing accidents.
And there are many such examples. Moreover, the introduction of a ban on leaving children under 7 years of age did not improve the situation in the country. It is still common for careless parents to leave their children alone in the car. That is why it was recently proposed to introduce direct liability for this type of traffic violation, raising the fine to 5,000 rubles. There were also proposals to introduce criminal liability.
Analysis of different situations
There are controversial situations when a parent, if leaving a child over 7 years old alone in a car, can still be prosecuted:
- The child is left alone in the car in the sun or severe frost. In the first case, after half an hour the cabin will be too stuffy, and there is a possibility that this will adversely affect his health: for example, he may lose consciousness. In the second case, the car gradually cools down over time, and the interior becomes cold. It is logical that the child will not be able to start it and turn on the stove, so after a while he may freeze and at least get sick;
- The child was left in the car with an adult, the driver went about his business. If subsequently the adult also gets out of the car and something happens to the child, he will bear responsibility, and not the driver who trusted him.
As can be seen from the above, it is better not to leave a child under 7 years old or suffering from serious illnesses of a different nature. Even if the driver does not violate anything, it is recommended to carefully consider every action to ensure safety.
Can a driver avoid punishment for leaving children in a car?
If the child is already 7 years old, leaving him in the car while parking or stopping will not violate traffic rules. However, this does not eliminate liability for a potentially dangerous situation in which a minor may find himself. For example, due to the sun or frost, other weather or other factors, a child may suffocate, lose consciousness, or suffer other harm to health. In such situations, punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation will follow, even if there is a child over 7 years old in the car.
There is another interesting point when the driver will be able to defend his innocence in court. If, at the time of placing the car in the parking lot, the car owner complied with all traffic regulations, he cannot be held accountable. For example, when leaving a car with a handbrake in an official parking lot, the driver can leave the child with an accompanying adult (another passenger). If the accompanying citizen subsequently leaves the child alone in the car, the driver will not be at fault. However, it is extremely difficult to prove such a fact unless all events are confirmed by photo and video cameras and witnesses.
How to challenge a decision to prosecute?
If a decision on administrative liability has already been made, but the driver does not agree with it, to challenge it, you can file a complaint with the head of the traffic police or go to court at the location of the inspection.
It is necessary to provide comprehensive evidence confirming that the child was alone for no more than 5 minutes.
If a citizen is prosecuted under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this becomes more complicated.
Instead of a decision, a sentence is passed, and it can only be appealed before it comes into force through the appellate authority. Here, too, you will need evidence of the innocence of the adult who left the child in danger. Why is it dangerous to leave a child in a car alone Leaving children in a car, why is it dangerous when a child is alone in a car
What place in a car is considered the safest according to statistics?
According to inexorable statistics and realities of life, any vehicle in the event of a serious accident (collision, coup, etc.) is subject to varying degrees of damage. Manufacturers of passenger cars are trying to protect passengers by creating a kind of increased safety field around them, trying to reduce body deformation in the area of passenger seats.
Thus, the safest seat in the car is located where the likelihood of overloads hazardous to health and body deformations is minimal. In other words, this is the place in the car where the chances of surviving a serious accident are much higher than in the rest.
Many drivers still consider the safest place for a passenger to be behind them, but this is not true. This version has long been debunked and there is a lot of evidence for this. The main arguments for such a statement are the driver’s instinctive removal of danger from himself, which consists in removing his side from the trajectory of the impact, exposing the opposite side. There is also a popular version that the child is safest behind the passenger seat.
Both options do not take into account the likelihood of a side impact and vehicle rollover, leading to deformations of the side parts of the body.
To identify the safest passenger seat, many studies have been carried out, including a thorough study of statistics on road traffic accidents with victims.
