The State Duma did not seriously change the process of moving cars to the impound lot

As a result of the confrontation between the capital's mayor's office and United Russia, the State Duma abandoned the idea of radically limiting the rights of the Moscow authorities to use tow trucks as part of the fight against traffic violations. In return, the deputies put forward a number of new standards to regulate the work of forklifts, but much less stringent. United Russia members call this option a “compromise,” but independent experts believe that drivers “lost the war” of the capital’s mayor’s office.

The final version of the bill limiting the use of tow trucks was discussed yesterday at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on State Construction. We are talking about a package of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, developed by deputies of United Russia and other factions after a number of scandalous incidents related to the use of forklifts. All of them took place against the backdrop of the massive use of tow trucks by the authorities of Moscow and other cities against violators of parking rules. Drivers' dissatisfaction was caused, in particular, by the fact that cars were moved to the impound lot without interfering with the movement of other vehicles and pedestrians.

The central provision of the bill is a ban on regional authorities using tow trucks to move cars parked in the area of a sign prohibiting parking. There has been a heated public debate around this norm recently. Deputies and social activists accused, in particular, the Moscow City Hall of officials putting up prohibitory signs and evacuating cars en masse, thus filling the city budget (evacuations cost drivers an average of 5 thousand rubles). The mayor's office insisted that tow trucks were needed to relieve congestion on the streets and combat traffic jams. As a result, a sharp political struggle developed over the fate of the initiative. Some heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Transport took the side of the capital authorities, and the traffic police and public organizations, including the Human Rights Council under the President, sided with the deputies. Even President Vladimir Putin intervened in the controversy, who at the end of 2014 called for the use of forklifts “in moderation.”

Until the last moment it was not clear who would prevail in the confrontation. Discussion of the amendments in parliament was postponed. Yesterday, the LDPR faction again tried to achieve a postponement of consideration of the bill, but the head of the committee, Vladimir Pligin, insisted that “there are no more grounds for postponing.” “Despite the difficult emotional background around the bill, a lot of work has been done,” he said. “People are waiting for it.” Even the first deputy chairman of the committee, Vyacheslav Lysakov, who acted as the main opponent of the Moscow authorities, admitted that the amendment prohibiting the towing of cars from under the sign “holds back the work, but we need to move on.” In the end they abandoned it.

“To be honest, I was surprised to see how the position of the United Russia deputies has changed,” deputy chairman of the State Construction Committee Vadim Solovyov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) commented to Kommersant on the decision of his colleagues. “Probably, the Moscow mayor’s office put pressure on them after all.” LDPR deputy Sergei Ivanov agrees that “the committee followed the lead of the Moscow Transport Department.” Vladimir Pligin and Vyacheslav Lysakov yesterday denied any pressure.

The press service of the capital's Department of Transport told Kommersant that they "support the decision" to abandon restrictions on tow trucks, since this could "seriously worsen the road situation."

United Russia presented the bill recommended by the committee for consideration as a compromise option. The fact is that over the course of several months it has acquired a set of amendments limiting the movement of vehicles to the impound lot. In particular, the driver can pick up the car from the tow truck as long as the loader does not move. To do this, the inspector who arranges the evacuation is required to monitor the entire process from the start of loading to the departure of the tow truck. In addition, Moscow will have to adjust evacuation tariffs in accordance with the methodology of the Federal Tariff Service (a document is being prepared). This could lead to lower costs for offending drivers. In addition, the authorities have made it obligatory to carry out the process of moving a car only if there is an information sign “A tow truck is working” installed under the “Parking is prohibited” sign. “They can be installed in the center of Moscow and on outbound highways where evacuation is required,” explained Mr. Lysakov. “But on a quiet street without traffic there is no need to evacuate, there you can limit yourself to a fine.”

City officials have already promised to “take all possible measures” to install information signs. The first deputy head of the mayor's office, Alexey Starovoitov, said that the authorities would spend about 300 million rubles for these purposes, but did not give the possible number of such signs. Monitoring carried out by Kommersant showed that the cost of producing one sign varies from 500 to 1 thousand rubles.

“This is not a compromise option, motorists lost the war to the Department of Transport,” says Pyotr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets movement. “Now the mayor’s office will cover the whole of Moscow with signs.” “But United Russia will be able to report to voters, saying that they protected car owners as best they could,” supported him by the president of the Moscow Collegium for the Legal Protection of Car Owners, Viktor Travin. Vyacheslav Lysakov yesterday promised, within the framework of the All-Russian Popular Front (the deputy is co-chairman of the Moscow branch), to monitor the work of the Department of Transport based on the results of 2015, and then return to the topic of restrictions for tow trucks.

Ivan Buranov

The tow trucks moved in place