Parked cars in courtyards create obstacles for the operation of emergency vehicles, road maintenance, and utility services

A car is no longer a luxury item. It occupies an increasingly larger place in the lives of citizens, and not only in a figurative sense. Our courtyards, filled with vehicles, serve as confirmation of this.

However, when parking their "iron horses" closer to home, to the entrance, their owners, for their own convenience, forget and openly ignore the requirements of the traffic rules regarding stopping and parking of vehicles.

Often, cars are parked in places where they create obstacles for the movement and operation of emergency vehicles, road maintenance, and utility services: entrances and exits to courtyards, passages under arches, narrow local passages, places for storing household waste containers, etc.

At the same time, citizens do not take into account that such stopping and parking of a car negatively affects the work of specialized services, and also constitutes a violation of clause 143.17 of the Traffic Rules and entails administrative liability under Article 18.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus. Parts 1 and 2 of Article 18.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus provide for liability for such offenses in the form of a warning or a fine of 1 basic unit, and for repeated commission thereof – a fine of 2 basic units.

Thus, in 2016, in the cities of Polotsk, Orsha, Novopolotsk, and Vitebsk alone, 239 reports were received by the traffic police from road maintenance and utility services regarding obstacles created by parked cars for their movement in courtyards. As a rule, such reports were received during the daytime and were related to parked vehicles obstructing territory cleaning and waste removal. 4 cases of cars parked in a way that hindered the passage of ambulance services were also registered.

In total, in 2016, for the aforementioned violations of legislation in the cities of Polotsk, Orsha, Novopolotsk, and Vitebsk, where this problem is most acute, 392 drivers were brought to administrative responsibility (Vitebsk – 78, Orsha – 75, Polotsk – 59, Novopolotsk – 180).

Taking into account the significance of this issue, the traffic police authorities, in order to

For preventive purposes, raid events are systematically carried out to inspect yard areas for violations of stopping and parking rules by car owners. These raids are also conducted with the involvement of a tow truck.

When leaving their vehicle parked in violation of the rules, citizens must be aware of the consequences and be prepared to bear responsibility for violating the current legislation.

In connection with the instruction of the Prosecutor of the Vitebsk Region, this issue and law enforcement practice have been taken under special control.

I. Kryukovskaya, I. Yanukovich