Penalties for dirty numbers (unreadable) have always been. This is an urgent problem that many drivers who do not monitor the cleanliness of their car can face. How much fine will a driver have to pay for a dirty room and how to determine the degree of pollution? We are talking about this.
Dirty Room Criteria
The license plate of the car should be clearly visible at any time of the day and from different angles. A similar requirement is in the law on administrative offenses. If the license plate is not visible from a distance of 20 meters, then this is a violation. By the way, this is the main criterion, which can be the basis for a fine for a dirty number. There are other rules, according to which the number can be readable, but still fall under certain violations.
Violations occur in the following cases:
- A dirty number that can be distinguished from a distance of 20 meters, but which is not fixed by photo and video equipment.
- There is a lot of pollution on one side only. It so happens that the dirt does not make it possible to clearly distinguish at least one digit on the sign. And although due to the bulge the sign can still be determined, the traffic police inspector has the right to write a fine for a dirty number.
- For any other reason, at least one character on the number plate cannot be distinguished from a distance of 20 meters.
It is worth noting that in the dark, only the cleanliness of the rear license plate of the car is taken into account. And if the front sign is dirty, then this violation is not taken into account. Keep this in mind when the traffic police inspector fines for dirty rooms at night. However, practice shows that quite rarely drivers can get a fine. Most often, such a violation is eliminated by the driver on the spot within five minutes, and everything ends only with an oral warning of the inspector.
What is the penalty for dirty car numbers?
Dirt on the number plate is a minor violation. Therefore, for drivers who are driving a car with dirty numbers, there is no liability. However, liability is possible if the number is completely unreadable. Punishment is provided for this:
- Simple verbal warning and subsequent elimination on site. There is no penalty for dirty rooms in this case. In 90% of cases, traffic police inspectors do just that. This is normal practice, because they understand that the driver might not have noticed how he got the number plate dirty.
- Fine. Rarely are drivers fined. If the number cannot be determined due to dirt, then the traffic police inspector has the right to fine the driver for 500 rubles. This is exactly the size of the fine for dirty rooms in 2017.
Intentional pollution
There are drivers who deliberately stain license plates, so that in case of violation, the camera could not fix the number of the car. For this punishment may be more severe:
- A fine of 5,000 rubles.
- Deprivation of rights for 3 months. This is the maximum term of deprivation of rights that is possible with such a violation.
The difficulty in this case is the proof of intentional pollution of the number by the driver. He can deny everything and say that the number was dirty in a natural way. So quite rarely, drivers receive such serious fines for the specified violation.
Avoidance of liability
It is believed that liability for an unreadable number plate can be avoided if there was rain or snowfall during the detection of a violation. In this case, the driver has a chance to prove his innocence in court and not pay a fine of 500 rubles. To do this, he needs to make an official request to the weather center, get weather data on the day of the violation and provide this data to the court. In this case, there is a chance to avoid punishment, but this cannot be guaranteed. However, this practice does not take root, since it will take a long time to wait for data from the weather center, and no one will sue for 500 rubles.
What if the inspector stops you due to unreadable numbers?
If a VDS employee stops the car and asks to clean the room of dirt, then what he asks for should be done. Driving with an unreadable sign is a violation. Most often this is exactly what happens, but in some cases the traffic police inspectors insist on drawing up a protocol, which will entail a fine. In this case, it is worthwhile to ask the inspector if he has a photo or video evidence of a violation. If there is, the driver has the right to ask him to provide. If the inspector refuses to show evidence of a violation or immediately admits that it is missing, the driver can quickly clear the license plate on the spot. The traffic police officer is no longer entitled to detain the driver, as the numbers are clean and there is no evidence of a violation. Therefore, most often the traffic police inspectors dispense with an oral warning.
If there is evidence in the preparation of the protocol, do not interfere with the traffic police officer, as he acts according to legislative norms. In this case, liability cannot be avoided unless the court finds sufficient grounds for canceling the fine. The weather may serve as such a basis, but this is rare.
Protocol writing
When compiling a protocol, you should be vigilant. Sometimes inspectors use the legal illiteracy of drivers and indicate in the protocol that the driver intentionally hid the license plate with mud. In this case, the size of the fine will be 5,000 rubles, and even the deprivation of a driver’s license for a period of 3 months is possible. Therefore, before you put your signature on the protocol, you must carefully re-read it.
Some dodgy drivers enter their comments in the protocol, indicating violations that occurred when the driver stopped. However, experienced drivers can do this. A novice driver most often does not even read the protocol and signs what he is asked to sign.
Conclusion
Now you know what penalty for dirty numbers is possible in 2017. Most likely, this norm will remain in 2018. Such a small amount of the fine is due to the fact that stain the number in the city, and even more so in the country, is easy. At the same time, drivers cannot know whether their license plate is currently dirty or clean, and for many, its unreadability is really a surprise.
Fortunately, the traffic police inspectors enter the position of drivers and ask to eliminate the violation on the spot, after which they wish a safe journey and let the driver go. Such a reaction is common, but there are harmful and principled inspectors who draw up protocols on violation. Therefore, before you get into the car, it is worth checking the condition of the numbers and rinsing them if they are so dirty that they are generally unreadable. This will help to avoid a fine.