The State Duma Committee supported the return of the permissible alcohol norm for drivers

The State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building supported the amendment on the permissible norm of alcohol for drivers, RIA Novosti reports. The Committee received a letter from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in which the department recommended introducing the norm that took into account the error of the devices, as well as the influence of external factors when measuring the degree of intoxication of drivers.

The deputies emphasized that the amendment does not mean permission to drink at the wheel. The bill includes a note that focuses on the fact that the "dry law" is certainly valid. It is stipulated that "the use of substances causing alcohol or narcotic intoxication, as well as the use of psychotropic or other intoxicating substances, is prohibited."

As the first deputy of its head Vyacheslav Lysakov stated at a meeting of the committee, in fact a criterion is introduced to punish people who are driving while intoxicated. This criterion, he explained, makes it possible to apply sanctions to drivers when there is really a "established fact of drinking alcoholic beverages, taking into account the possible total measurement error."

The amendment determines that the state of intoxication will be considered "the presence of absolute ethyl alcohol in a concentration exceeding the possible total measurement error", namely 0.16 or more than a milligram per liter of exhaled air, or 0.35 or more gram per liter of blood. For drugs and psychotropic substances, this level will be established by the government.

In accordance with the bill prepared for the second reading, driving in a state of intoxication entails a fine of 30 thousand rubles with deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle for a period of 1.5 to 2 years. If the driver is drunk and has no rights or deprived of them, he is facing an administrative arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days or a fine of 30 thousand rubles. With a repeated violation, the fine increases to 50 thousand rubles. The term of deprivation of rights is three years.

The amendments will be considered within the framework of the second reading of the bill that strengthens liability for violations of traffic rules. The relevant committee recommended that the law be considered in the second reading on July 2.

On April 17, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking in the State Duma, proposed to introduce the concept of "insignificant amount of ppm" to the law, RIA Novosti reports. In his opinion, the level of ppm can be set at 0.1. "My position on the use of alcohol before getting behind the wheel is the same: it is impossible to drink, it is harmful and dangerous," Medvedev said. "Therefore, in the rules of the road, this must be fixed that the use of alcohol is incompatible with driving as a source of increased danger," Medvedev emphasized.