Penalty for a phone in hand while driving: preparation for the second reading

Drivers will be fined for talking phone and texting in messengers while driving. Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses in the first reading were adopted by the Supreme Council on July 8. Today, deputies of the relevant committee on legislation prepared law-in-draft for consideration in the second, final reading. There are no amendments to the document.

The authors of the law-in-draft - deputies of the Supreme Council Galina Antyufeyeva and Vitaly Kalin - proposed to introduce administrative responsibility for using a telephone while driving, which is not equipped with a device that allows you to talk without using hands. The ban is spelled out in the Pridnestrovian Traffic Rules, starting in 2017. But statistics show that most drivers ignore this rule. According to the State Traffic Inspectorate, 25% of road accidents in the republic over the past few years are due to the use of a telephone while driving. In 2017, 384 such cases were recorded (21%), in 2018 - 528 (25%), 2019 - 650 (27%), and over the current six months - 103 cases (10%). The Committee on Legislation has repeatedly received appeals from Pridnestrovians who have suffered in road accidents.

According to the authors of the amendments to the Administrative Offenses Code, Galina Antyufeyeva and Vitaly Kalin, the introduction of responsibility will discipline drivers. There is a fine of 5 MW (92 rubles) for the first offense, and for the second offense - 30 MW (552 rubles). Traffic militia officers cannot use video fixation tools and other electronic devices to establish such an offense.

Another law-in-draft, proposed by the deputies of the Legislation Committee Galina Antyufeyeva and Grigory Dyachenko, concerns the amendment of the law “On the State Emblem of the PMR”. The amendments were developed after the receipt of a request to the Supreme Council from the Accounts Chamber. The law-in-draft establishes that the state emblem of the PMR can be placed on the service cards of persons holding public positions, and employees of state bodies, bodies of state power and administration, local government bodies and local self-government bodies. According to the current law, the state emblem can be placed on the certificates of public servants. The list of civil servants does not include all employees of state authorities. For example, employees of the accounting department or the economic department are not members of the civil service of the republic. The legislative changes proposed by the deputies will allow such employees to receive a service certificate. It is proposed to extend the provisions of the law-in-draft to legal relations that have arisen since December 2013. Amendments to the law “On the State Emblem of the PMR” will be recommended for adoption in two readings at one of the plenary sessions.