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Deputies of the State Duma are going to increase fines for violations that provoke traffic jams and traffic jams (we wrote about this in ZR, No. 5, 2011). Then the bill passed only the first reading, and we had no idea what kind of “speckled ace” the authors of the project were holding up on: they unexpectedly offered separate fines for residents of Russian capitals! For example, for parking and stopping with a prohibition sign or marking, you will have to pay 1, 500 rubles, and if the violation happened in Moscow or St. Petersburg, the car owner will pay twice - 3 thousand! Why such difference? Where did she come from? But what about equal rights for everyone, regardless of place of residence?
Article 19 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees equality, regardless of the place of parking. Then why does one have to pay differently for the same violation in the capital and in the province? The authors of the law substantiate their position with the varying severity of the violation, which is caused by the traffic situation (in the capitals the traffic is much denser than in Saransk) and … global practice. Like, in different states of the USA different laws. The piquancy of the situation lies in the fact that this idea belongs to the party with the speaking name “United Russia”.
Yes, our Constitution provides for the possibility of restricting rights, but only by federal law and only with the aim of protecting the foundations of the constitutional system, morality, ensuring the country's defense and state security. What threat to the country's security are violators of parking rules, the deputies did not explain. And if you follow their logic, it’s right to legitimize the cutting off of hands for theft, say, in the Rostov region - there these figures are higher than in the country as a whole. Vote?
In fact, according to rumors, increased fines for two capitals were introduced at the urgent request of their mayors: for Moscow and St. Petersburg, the problem of traffic jams (and spontaneous parking as one of the main reasons for their occurrence) has become almost the main one. It is clear: what accumulated over two decades cannot be decided in a month or a year. For example, within the Moscow Garden Ring there is not a single municipal parking - neither paid nor free. There are only roadsides and courtyards where parking is not prohibited. Until. It is easy to predict that by the summer of 2012, when the new rules come into force, these territories will be decorated with prohibition signs. And the highest fines from a measure of education will turn into a great way to replenish city budgets, as well as the pockets of different service people …
It cannot be otherwise: Moscow, for example, today lacks “only” 3 million parking spaces. And this, if we consider only local cars, without transport, residents of the Moscow Region and guests of the capital who come to work … The Moscow City Hall plans to organize over 500 thousand parking spaces per year. Well, this has never happened! Only these places will appear for the most part in place of existing ones - in the yards, and in the sleeping areas. This event will not solve the general problem. In the city center, there were no plans to build new parking lots. High fines, however, impose from July 1!
Recently, the idea of putting things in order on the roads with the help of large fines has been turning into a farce. Deputies have long considered administrative penalties for drivers as the only and most effective measure to solve all traffic problems. But what about the promise in parallel with this to build roads and underground passages, to change the organization of traffic and the structure of the traffic police? These promises were left overs …
