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- Traffic concerns: fines for violations in the transportation of children can be significantly reduced
Traffic concerns: fines for violations in the transportation of children can be significantly reduced
In Russia, fines for violations during transportation of organized groups of children can be significantly reduced. Such a bill with amendments to the Administrative Code was developed by the Ministry of Economic Development in order to reduce the burden on business. The initiative involves dividing violations into two categories, depending on their impact on transportation safety. For smaller ones, it is proposed to impose milder penalties — from 3 thousand to 10 thousand rubles. At the same time, they intend to maintain the current fines of up to 100 thousand rubles for those capable of endangering the life and health of children. Business representatives are ready to support the initiative. Experts, in turn, warn that mitigation of liability may lead to an increase in violations when transporting children.
Why do they want to soften the punishment for trucking
The Ministry of Economic Development has developed amendments to the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for a more lenient punishment for violations during organized automobile transportation of children, which, according to the agency, do not affect the safety of travel.
According to the draft law reviewed by Izvestia, such violations include the absence of a chartering agreement containing information about the parties to the carriage, the vehicle and the duration of the trip, as well as lists of children and accompanying persons. In addition, they want to include in this category the inconsistency of information about teenagers on the bus with accompanying documents and the absence of a certified signature of the person responsible for the trip. It is proposed to impose fines from 3 thousand to 10 thousand rubles for non-compliance with these requirements.
— The initiative aims to impose penalties depending on the severity of the offense: reduced penalties for formal errors, and high fines for violations affecting safety. According to the industry community, such an approach is long overdue and will allow for a more flexible approach to assessing offenses, without mixing minor documentary errors with more serious cases, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development explained to Izvestia.
They also noted that the bill was developed on behalf of the government and received the support of key federal agencies, including the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Justice. The topic was worked out with the participation of the industry community — tour operators, carriers, organizations involved in child transportation, the press service of the department said.
During the preparation of the document, the position of all interested parties was taken into account. Thus, as the ministry emphasizes, the initiative is based on a broad consensus from both regulatory authorities and the business community.
The explanatory note says that the purpose of such a measure is to "optimize the administrative responsibility" of citizens, legal entities and sole proprietors.
"The relevance of the draft law is due to the increased administrative burden on organizations involved in the organized transportation of groups of children," the document says.
As the developers explain, now Article 12.23 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the rules of transportation of people" provides for the same penalties for non-compliance with requirements that do not affect safety, and those that create corresponding risks. The first, which the ministry classifies as "formal", includes the absence of a transportation agreement containing information about the parties, the vehicle and the duration of the trip, lists of children and accompanying persons, etc.
Violations affecting safety include the lack of traffic police notification of transportation, requests for escort by patrol car, a medical professional or escort, as well as unbuckled seat belts.
Currently, the same penalties are provided for all of the above: 25 thousand rubles for officials and 100 thousand for legal entities.
"In this regard, it seems advisable to amend Article 12.23 of the Administrative Code and establish a differentiated fine depending on the severity of the offense," the developers specify in the document.
The government's press service told the editorial board that the initiative had not yet been submitted to the Cabinet for review. Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to give their assessment of the bill.
"For" and "against" mitigation of punishment for transportation of children
Business and auto experts evaluate the bill differently. Oleg Kuskov, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Associations of Road Carriers and Entrepreneurs "Regions", said he was not familiar with the document. At the same time, he noted that the child transportation industry has actually been driven underground and many carriers are abandoning such routes.
— There have been many times more administrative barriers for transporting children in recent years. It has already reached the point where teachers with children or tour organizers, if possible, prefer to take the subway rather than the bus," an industry representative explained to Izvestia.
According to him, the bill does not fully explain to him the mitigation of punishment for the lack of documentation, since, in fact, it confirms the fact that the trip was agreed. At the same time, Oleg Kuskov believes that the requirements for carriers need to be relaxed. For example, the current speed limit for transporting children is 60 km/h, but this speed may not be safe on a high-speed highway, he noted.
The National Automobile Union holds a different point of view.
— Indeed, the legislation regarding carriers is very bureaucratic. But we know, and this is clearly evident from the accident statistics, that the bus is the most dangerous mode of transport in Russia, accidents with which lead to a large number of victims," Anton Shaparin, vice president of the association, told Izvestia. — Accordingly, when it comes to children, I am not sure that reducing responsibility towards travel organizers and carriers will be a positive step. Of course, business needs to be supported, but even Russian President Vladimir Putin says that there are many semi-criminal elements in bus transportation.
On August 10, 2026, during a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council, the head of state stated that there are still many unscrupulous or even semi-criminal structures in the field of public transport that violate transportation rules and profit by reducing safety. The President called on the government to restore order in this area.
As Izvestia found out, after examining data on recent accidents involving carriers of organized groups of children, such incidents occur regularly in Russia. In July of this year alone, more than three high-profile incidents were recorded. For example, in Tatarstan, a bus carrying a children's hockey team collided with a passenger car. Two incidents occurred in the Krasnoyarsk Territory at once: a bus with 29 children aged 10 to 13 years old, heading to the Kosmos children's health camp, went into a ditch, and the bus driver with 27 children from the Sports Training Center, trying to get away from an oncoming car, overturned.
There are also cases when inspectors of the State Traffic Inspectorate detected the transportation of groups of children without the necessary documents. In 2023, an accident occurred on the Perm–Yekaterinburg highway with a minibus carrying schoolchildren after visiting the Deer Streams Nature Park. As a result of a collision with a passenger car, 15 children were injured. The inspection showed that no transportation contract had been concluded, the bus lacked the "Transportation of children" identification mark and a yellow flashing light, and the transportation itself had not been approved by the traffic police.
— I'm not sure that this bill deserves support. Control is necessary. If the fines are reduced to the minimum, this may become a reason not to apply for travel documents at all: you paid 10,000 rubles and you continue to violate them, making a much bigger profit," said Anton Shaparin.
He admitted that the number of violations in this area could increase dramatically.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
