You can not be fined for driving: exceptions may be made for child seats
Motorists who transport a child without a child safety seat may be released from liability for this traffic violation if the use of a restraint device is medically impossible. Relevant amendments to the legislation are being prepared by State Duma deputies. With a number of diseases, a child simply cannot be transported in a child seat, doctors say. In these and some other situations, drivers should not be fined for violating the rules for transporting children, experts agree. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Tighten, but exclude
The State Duma adopted amendments to the Administrative Code in the first reading, toughening responsibility for violations of the rules for transporting children in a car. Information about this has been published on the parliament's website. According to the bill, the fine for transporting a child without a child safety seat will increase from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles. For officials, the fine will increase from 25 thousand to 50 thousand rubles, and for legal entities — from 100 thousand to 200 thousand rubles. However, along with tougher penalties for this offense, it is planned to introduce amendments that exclude liability in situations where transportation of a child in a child restraint is impossible.
— There are real cases when police officers fine parents transporting a child with cerebral palsy for not having a child safety seat. Technically, from the point of view of the law, the police are right. There are also facts that taxi drivers refuse to transport such children for fear of receiving a fine, Yaroslav Nilov told Izvestia.
In a conversation with Izvestia, the deputy clarified that the relevant amendment would be introduced into the bill during its second reading. In 2022, similar amendments were already submitted by Nilov to the State Duma, but were rejected.
"We propose to supplement the bill with a note on the exemption of the driver from administrative responsibility for the absence of a child safety seat, if for medical reasons it is impossible to use a child safety seat," Yaroslav Nilov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, said during the discussion of the document in parliament.
Contraindications for chairs
The positions of doctors regarding the use of child seats in the presence of a child with certain diseases differ. According to Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, a neurologist at the Hemotest laboratory, there are no medical diagnoses that would completely eliminate the need to use special restraints when transporting a child in a car. Special orthopedic restraint car seats have been developed even for children with severe motor impairments, such as those with cerebral palsy, she said. Child safety seats are also not contraindicated for cognitive disorders accompanied by tantrums, the doctor noted.
— The key point is not the rejection of fixation, but the correct selection of equipment. For children who cannot sit, there are reclining chairs that provide safety and comfort. Spontaneous motor activity or panic attacks are not a reason to abandon the chair, but, on the contrary, a direct indication for its use: an unfixed child in the cabin poses a huge danger to all participants in the movement, Ekaterina Demyanovskaya told Izvestia.
Sergey Atlanov, a methodologist of physical therapy and a rehabilitologist, holds a different point of view. He agrees that for a number of diseases, children should be transported in a recumbent or semi-reclining position, including using special medical devices.
"But since they are not child restraints, their use in a car is a violation from the point of view of the law," he told Izvestia.
Stalemate situation
Such medical devices are indeed not child restraints, confirms Denis Zagarin, head of the FSUE NAMI Testing center. There is a problem with the transportation of children with certain diseases and its solution is quite difficult, he notes.
— On the one hand, transporting a child without a child safety seat is a very big risk. Even in some kind of emergency situation on the road, not to mention an accident, the probability of serious injury or death is extremely high. On the other hand, there are diseases in which a child really cannot be transported in a restraint device. Adding special medical devices to the list of such devices is not the best option. This may lead to the de facto legalization of "adapters", "pads" and other surrogates that were recently banned. The deputies' proposals may well resolve the situation with the transportation of children with certain diseases," Denis Zagarin told Izvestia.
The parents of such children are actually in a stalemate: the child cannot be transported either in a chair or without it, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, notes.
— Obviously, the safety of the child should be a priority. And the child safety seat provides it — this has been proven repeatedly. However, in cases where a child with a particular diagnosis is involved, it is probably worth providing for the exclusion of liability for transporting him without a child safety seat, if this is not possible for medical reasons. However, medical specialists should have the last word on this issue," Maxim Kadakov emphasized.
You can't foresee everything
Transporting a child with cerebral palsy or other ailment without a child safety seat is just one example, says Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. It is simply impossible to provide for all possible situations when such transportation is justified in the legislation, he notes.
— What about a child who is in a wheelchair due to a serious injury? What should I do if the baby needs to be urgently taken to the doctor, but there is no child safety seat? What if a mother and child vote at night on a deserted road in the cold or in a downpour? You won't be able to register everything exactly. In such situations, traffic inspectors may well adequately assess the situation and not fine the violator on a formal basis," Igor Morzharetto believes.
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