Parents of children with disabilities often have to violate the rules of the road when traveling by private vehicle.

According to them, there are no rules for the transportation of disabled people in the law.

In accordance with clause 22.9 of the SDA, children under 7 years of age can be transported in a car equipped with seat belts or seat belts and an ISOFIX child restraint system on which a car seat is attached.

And from 7 to 11 years old, transportation using child restraint systems or seat belts is allowed, and in the front seat - only using child restraint systems that correspond to the height and weight of the child.

Children over 12 years of age can ride in the front seat wearing a seat belt if they are taller than 150 cm.

According to the memo of Rosstandart published on the website of the State Traffic Inspectorate, child restraints are divided into 5 weight groups: a group 0 “cradle” car seat for children weighing less than 10 kg, a group 0+ car seat (less than 13 kg), a group I car seat (9-18 kg) , car seat group II (15-25 kg), car seat group III (22-36 kg).

At the same time, the department emphasizes that the “guide strap”, “adapter”, “retainer” and “triangle” are not child restraints.

For violation of the rules for transporting children, a fine of 3,000 rubles is imposed on the driver, 25,000 rubles on officials, and 100,000 rubles on legal entities.

Problems are not solved

A resident of the city of Tryokhgorny, Chelyabinsk Region, Alexander S. tells RT that he faced the problem of transporting his minor daughter Anna.

The girl has cerebral palsy (ICP), she cannot sit on her own.

The man improved the interior of his car so that it became possible to lay out the seats in a lying position and transport the child.

“There are inspectors who understand our situation,” Alexander says.

- But there are those who can formally issue a fine, because I violate the rules of the road, because the child is not fastened and lies.

At the same time, it is not written anywhere how to transport a child who cannot sit in personal transport.

Special car seats for the disabled are more expensive than normal ones, we cannot afford such a purchase.

They are not included in the list of technical means of rehabilitation.

According to Alexander, his daughters allocate vouchers for treatment in a sanatorium.

Tickets to the health resort are paid by the state, but to get them, you need to go with the child by car to the local Ministry of Health, which is located in Chelyabinsk.

Oksana S. from the Arkhangelsk region is raising her 10-year-old son Savely, who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy.

She also had to pay a fine more than once for transporting a child without a car seat.

“When the child was very small, he could not sit.

Besides, we can't afford a special car seat.

Once we were fined for this, although we told the inspector that we were taking our son to the hospital.

Now Savely has grown up and can sit in a chair for a short time, so when we are stopped, we are not fined.

But now we don’t go somewhere so often, ”says Oksana.

Anfisa S., a resident of the city of Lysva in the Perm Territory, has two children with disabilities.

At the same time, according to the woman, she has never received a fine for transporting them in a lying position.

“We have no problems with the road patrol service (DPS), says Anfisa.

We ride in the back seat lying down, watching cartoons.

I specifically asked the inspectors if it was possible to transport the child in this way, given that he was lying down.

I was allowed, only asked to fasten.

On the windshield we have a sign "disabled", with a certificate.

And we have never been fined.

Not a single inspector, seeing a lying child, asked anything.

We always drive according to the rules and carefully.

But that doesn't fix the problem.

There is no clause in the law that if a child is disabled, then he can be transported lying down.

Whether they are fined or not depends on the inspector, or rather on his conscience.”

Circumstances decide everything

The development of rules for the transportation of children with disabilities was actively discussed in 2016 after a high-profile incident that occurred in the city of Ulyanovsk with the Kastolins family.

Spouses Alexander and Svetlana are raising their 11-year-old son Misha, who is diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

They were stopped by a traffic police officer when they left the hospital in a private car.

The boy was in a car without a car seat.

The head of the family tried to prove that the child could not sit in a chair for medical reasons, but he was still fined 3,000 rubles.

After publicity in the media, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation promised to develop rules for the transportation of children with disabilities, however, according to parents, no changes have been made to the law so far.

As Svetlana Kastolina told RT, the discussions lasted three to four months, but no decision was made.

“Apparently, they came to the conclusion that the harm exceeds the benefit,” Svetlana comments.

- And if you do not fasten it, then it is much more dangerous.

Although there are children who, for medical reasons, cannot be fastened.

For example, a child with autism starts screaming because of this, and it is morally and physically difficult for a parent to follow the rules of the road in such a situation.

They have to break the law, because there is no window in the legislation that would allow them, under certain conditions, to transport a child unfastened.”

As an alternative to private cars, regional authorities are trying to expand the public transport fleet for people with limited mobility.

However, as Svetlana notes, some families raising children with disabilities cannot use it for health reasons.

“In our city, trams have appeared that have a low platform, but in fact it is physically difficult to lift a stroller onto it alone,” Svetlana gives an example.

- Children with autism are very loud and the public does not understand them - parents are often reprimanded, from which the children get scared and start screaming more.

When diagnosing epilepsy, they make a withdrawal from vaccinations and traveling in public transport for children with this disease is dangerous for their health.

According to Svetlana, certain diagnoses or the condition of children could be enshrined in the law, in which they would be allowed to be transported lying down or without using a seat belt.

“Parents understand that they are breaking the law, but they have circumstances that outweigh everything,” explains Misha’s mother.

- For example, you need to take your child to the clinic.

For children with cerebral palsy, doctors will come to the house, but not for autists.

In our region, inspectors have become kinder.

I don't hear about fines.

But until you face this problem live, it is difficult to understand it.

Svetlana believes that a social taxi can partially solve the problem of transporting children with disabilities in accordance with the traffic rules.

At the same time, she says that today in the region where her family lives, there is a shortage of cars.

Misha can use the social taxi only three times a month, while any rehabilitation in the medical center lasts at least 10 days, the woman claims.

“We really need a social taxi that could take us regularly, but there are few cars in the region,” says Svetlana.

- We were in rehabilitation in St. Petersburg.

There social taxi can be used without restrictions.

If there are not enough cars, they negotiate with carriers and pay them extra.

Depending on the severity of the disease for the disabled, there are fares for travel.

It's comfortable.

The child can be loaded into the car in a stroller.

They usually have a high roof.

He rides seated, strapped in.

He is calm.

But not all regions, apparently, can cope with such a burden on the budget.”

  • Blue Bucket Society Coordinator Petr Shkumatov

  • RIA News

  • © Alexander Natruskin

Piotr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets movement, believes that there are not enough special vehicles in the regions for transporting people with disabilities due to the fact that two different types of transportation are mixed.

“Regions buy both special and ordinary cars for the social taxi service, because it is used not only by the disabled, but also by other socially unprotected groups of citizens: veterans, large families,” the expert argues.

— But in the place of the state, I would focus on the transportation of people with disabilities who cannot use a regular car, since this is a more complex service, and I would transfer the rest of the transportation to existing taxi aggregators.

People would receive codes for free or discounted trips and use the service.

And the released funds could be used to purchase special vehicles and increase the fleet specifically for the needs of people with limited mobility.

So far, in most regions, social taxis exist rather for show, since no one is dealing with this topic.”

Re-pay attention

As RT was told in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there were no legislative initiatives regarding the transportation of children with disabilities for consideration by the department.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Yaroslav Nilov, in an interview with RT, promised to re-draw the attention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the existing problem.

“This is not the first time this issue has been raised, and there really is a problem,” the parliamentarian comments.

- I believe that the traffic police officers are sympathetic to what is happening.

Of course, such cases must be resolved individually without administrative consequences for the driver transporting a child with a disability.

We hope that in the light of possible adjustments to the concept of "dangerous driving" and other changes in traffic rules, this issue will be resolved.

At one time, thanks to our appeal, changes were made, according to which citizens with limited mobility using electric wheelchairs received the right to ride on sidewalks without punishment.

Previously, this was considered a violation of traffic rules.

At the same time, according to Petr Shkumatov, the introduction of amendments to the traffic rules will entail a large number of amendments to the current regulatory legal acts.

“Since the SDA is a government decree, to make changes to it, you need to adopt a new one,” the expert explains.

- Technically, this is not easy, as it entails difficulties in terms of bureaucratic and legal work.

There are a huge number of references to traffic rules in a variety of documents.

The new resolution will have a new number, which means that references in all federal laws, regulations, legal acts of ministries and departments will need to be changed.

It would be more logical to carry out such an initiative through amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (CAO).

Now the discussion of the Code of Administrative Offenses 2.0 is just coming to an end.

This is a newly written code, and I think that fines for the transportation of people with disabilities could be abolished in this document.”