30.06.2016
Motorcyclists in Russia are a separate caste of untouchables. Why do police turn a blind eye to massive traffic violations? Is it because the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev himself loves to "drive a bike"?
Motorcyclists are the only category of drivers that actually exists outside the rules of the road. They are practically not caught for speed, they rush between the rows in violation of the rules, they drive with unreadable, inverted license plates, they are not punished for straight-through mufflers, when the noise of a speeding motorcycle goes off scale and is comparable to the roar of a freight train.
Summer is a great time. But as soon as it starts, as soon as the snow melts and the grass turns green, they appear. Like horsemen of the apocalypse, they rush into our cities and roar past our windows with a wild roar. True, comparing motorcyclists with God's punishment is still too much. For most citizens, they are more like shameless frostbitten hooligans who simply interfere with a normal life.
The image of a motorcyclist is covered with romance. A straight, stretching highway and a carefree rider rushing over the horizon. But all this is great when under the wheels of a Route 66 motorcycle, and the expanses of the Texas prairie rush past. But when this whole thing happens somewhere on Dekabristov Street in the city of Noginsk, at three in the morning, and the roar of engines is reflected not by the slopes of the canyon, but by the walls of the high-rise building opposite, multiplying this sound, then what kind of romance is there?
In general, it seems that motorcyclists in our lives are beyond the reach of the law. Just look at how they attach license plates to their bikes, sometimes just upside down. Excuses that motorcycles of foreign manufacturers do not have a regular mount for Russian-standard license plates are nothing more than nonsense. Customizing, that is, remaking a stock vehicle into something unique, is common in the motorcycle environment like no other. This is done both by interest clubs, somewhere in a garage on the outskirts of Solntsevo, and serious brand workshops. And if a person has the money to order spoked wheels for himself, or an unusually shaped gas tank, then it is hard to believe that he will not pay for the work of a master who will make him a decent registration number holder. But is it necessary for the motorcyclist himself, because riding with an inverted number is both a position and a challenge. And inaction - the police in this regard, only cultivates this state of affairs. Can afford...
"Strelki ST" - cameras for video recording of speeding for about five years have become commonplace on our roads. But the only type of vehicles that they don't "catch" in Russia are, of course, motorcycles, which have only one number - on the back. In order to start capturing motorcyclists, you just need to deploy the cameras in the direction of the traffic flow. But such cameras appeared only this year and only in Moscow! In total, according to the Center for Traffic Management, a little more than forty of them have been installed in the capital. 40 cameras capable of capturing motorcyclist violations throughout the country! For comparison: there are 805 “car” cameras in Moscow, and by the end of 2016 another 600 will be added to them. Naturally, this state of affairs is the main reason that people riding motorcycles allow themselves to challenge society and drive around the cities on wild speed and with a roar exceeding any reasonable limits.
At the same time, these problems are practically not discussed in society. All riders flinch when a sportbike speeds past them at 150 km/h, almost everyone grimaces at the roaring engines of motorcycles, but in general, the attitude towards these riders remains at the level of the hashtag #theychildren.
“These motorcyclists got it!”
Here is what ordinary people write, here are just a few remarks from the Doskazhalob.rf website.
Authors:
Since the beginning of the motorcycle season, the traffic police has received 19 applications for bikers who do not allow sleep
Kazan has turned into a real mototrack, where almost with impunity at any time of the day or night (especially at night) those who consider themselves bikers drive in violation of all conceivable rules. Motorcycles with "co-current" do not let anyone sleep, and fines for noise are scanty. At the same time, many bikers do not approve of night races through the streets with the roar of engines. The traffic police, alarmed by the growth of offenses by motorcyclists, was forced to start conducting regular raids. In addition, the police are waiting for calls about noisy motorcyclists from citizens.
“Those who ride at night without “Glushaks” compromise all motorcyclists”
The rumble begins to grow in a few seconds, then it reaches a deafening crack, turning into a roar until the windows tremble - a standard picture of a “calm” Kazan night. The city center and the new avenues of sleeping areas have long turned into a large motor track. Everything would be fine, but some fans of fast and, most importantly, noisy riding bikes are not embarrassed by the time of day, nor the rules of the road, nor the peace of other citizens.
The roar of motorcycle engines at night is not at all a factory problem of powerful motors, but, as a rule, the result of tuning equipment by individual "outstanding" representatives of the two-wheeled "brotherhood".
People put direct-flow mufflers, because of this there is such noise, din, crackling, - says Nikita Beresnev, master of sports in motocross, motorcycle driving instructor. - A person does this to show the “toughness” that he has a powerful motorcycle. Such powerful motorcycles must ride in specially designated places - on tracks, on race tracks. The city should have minimal noise and minimal power. A powerful motorcycle in the city is generally very dangerous and not needed. And so they want to show that "I'm the coolest, I make noise."
Nikita Beresnev: “A person does this to show the “coolness” that he has a powerful motorcycle. Such powerful motorcycles must ride in specially designated places - on tracks, on race tracks. There should be minimal noise and minimal power in the city.” Photo soviet-moto.rf
However, there is another point of view: noise is a way to protect yourself for motorcyclists, who do sometimes get into accidents, not only because of high speeds, but also because car drivers often do not notice them.
I also ride "forward": this is my passive safety, it is a guarantee that they hear me. They don't see me, but they hear me, - explains Gadel Shakirov, a businessman and biker. However, he immediately stipulates that because of this he tries to get home before 22:00, so as not to disturb the citizens of Kazan.
Therefore, I don’t support those who ride at night without “Glushaks” and I think that they compromise all motorcyclists. Our freedom ends where it begins to violate the rights and freedoms of others. I live like this.
A motorcycle can make noise at night, but only without violating GOST
At the same time, it turns out that the illegality of loud driving is a rather controversial issue.
The issue of ensuring the peace of citizens and silence at night is regulated by regional legislation, - says Anna Zernitskaya, lawyer, head of the practice of the UNEX legal agency, - In particular, the law of the Republic of Tajikistan dated 12.01.2010 No. hours is prohibited; The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Tajikistan provides for liability for both individuals and legal entities. Regarding the driving of vehicles at night, no restrictions have been established by the said law - those that exist relate to the sound signals of vehicles, burglar alarms, etc.
Nevertheless, there are still complaints about noisy motorcycles. According to Zernitskaya, some provisions of the traffic rules can be applied to them: “In accordance with the Rules of the Road in the Russian Federation, the noise level of various types of vehicles must be within the limits allowed by the relevant GOSTs. The operation of vehicles whose noise level exceeds the established values is prohibited, entails a warning or a fine of 500 rubles. (Article 8.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
Urban motorcycles, scooters must come with mufflers so that they meet decibel standards, Beresnev believes. Photo drive2.ru
"Hours of silence" or decibel limitation?
However, a fine of 500 rubles is unlikely to stop a person who could afford a motorcycle for 500-700 thousand rubles.
Gadel Shakirov believes that it is necessary to introduce “hours of silence” for the city: “There should be a temporary restriction. There should be night raids: a week to be on duty at night on the main streets of the city and night ... there will be less.”
And according to Nikita Beresnev, this measure will not be effective and it is necessary to tighten the requirements for the technical characteristics of motor vehicles, as for cars: “There must be certain standards for decibels. Urban motorcycles, scooters must come with mufflers so that they meet decibel standards. If there are such frames, there will be no such noise. This is the same as with cars: "forward currents" were set up and thundered. As long as there are no restrictions, there will be noise. They wanted to introduce a ban so that motorcyclists would not ride until 10 or 11 o'clock. But it is impossible to forbid people to move. Let's say someone has a night activity, he will still drive. Therefore, the only option is to introduce standards, register a motorcycle and, when registering, be sure to check the noise level. For example, at competitions in Europe, conventional mufflers are not used, which, for example, are produced in the States. They have a certain level of noise."
Noisy bikers are chased by their "motor brothers" with shoulder straps
In the meantime, the traffic police catches particularly noisy bikers for violating the existing rules.
The legislator has defined requirements, standards, and there is such a requirement as the operation of mechanical cars, vehicles in excess of pollutant standards or noise level standards, - explains Mikhail Savin, police lieutenant colonel, deputy commander of the Kazan traffic police traffic police regiment. - First of all, it is understood that the motorcycle is noisy, which means that it is not regulated, which means that it comes with certain violations. Our technical supervision specialists, traffic police inspectors, if such standards are exceeded, draw up administrative materials and prohibit the operation of such motorcycles. Unfortunately, given the maneuverability of vehicles such as motorcycles, it is not always possible for us to work quickly and catch up with this category of vehicles.
To catch violators on bikes, they even created a separate specialized detachment. Photo vsluh.ru
At the same time, they are fined for everything that happens: for lack of rights or registration, for speeding, but more often for disobedience. The fact is that many motorcyclists use the ban on their pursuit in cars, which the traffic police had to introduce after several deaths when bikers crashed while escaping the chase. Nevertheless, this year alone, 495 motorcycle drivers were brought to administrative responsibility, 118 bikes were impounded. And in order to catch violators on bikes, they even created a separate specialized detachment.
As a result of the specifics of working with such vehicles, we created motorcycle outfits: our motorcycles are driven by the guys from the traffic police with category “A” on Kawasaki, Honda motorcycles (that is, with an engine capacity of 150 cc), - says Savin. - During the night pursuit, they stop motorcycles that violate order, disturb the sleep of citizens, severe sanctions are applied to them - evacuation and placement in a special parking lot.
The traffic police was forced to start and conduct special raids.
Let's take yesterday's raid as an example, - Savin recalls. - During the raid, we had the following problem: somewhere from Vosstaniya Street, a motorcycle did not obey our motorcycle outfit. During the pursuit, they began to catch up with him. He drove very far, he was caught in the city center - at Tukay, 64. The Honda driver was detained. 8 materials were issued for the driver, the motorcycle was placed in a specialized parking lot. As it turned out, it was faulty, was without numbers. Add to this the inconsistency of documents, disobedience, violation of traffic signs, violation of the rules of location on the roadway, a driver without a policy. This is one of those events. The night before last, a Suzuki motorcycle was detained, which was technically faulty and which exceeded the noise level standards. This vehicle was also placed in a special parking lot.
According to Savin, this year, 19 applications were received in 6 months, on which traffic police officers worked. Photo prokazan.ru
You can complain about noisy bikers
Kazanians, for their part, can also start a fight against the “noisy bikers”. According to Anna Zernitskaya, “individual and (or) collective complaints can be sent to state bodies and local self-government bodies, which must be considered in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006.” But you can act faster.
In order for us to react more mobilely, we need to call the duty unit, so that the duty officer directs the crews located near the problem area, and the crew takes measures to ensure safety, Savin recommends.
True, Anna Zernitskaya clarifies that it will be difficult to prove her case in such a situation: “Obtaining confirmation that the level of external noise of a motorcycle that has passed under your windows exceeds the permissible standards will be extremely difficult - the fact must be recorded by a duly authorized person.”
Despite this, there are already examples of effective public struggle. According to Savin, this year, 19 applications were received in 6 months, on which traffic police officers worked.
Dmitry Semyagin, Gulandam Zaripova, Albert Bikbov
July is the high season for bikers and the peak of discontent for those who get in the way of motorcyclists.Many residents of Odintsovo swear at motorcyclists, not embarrassed in expressions.
The confrontation between motorists and motorcyclists escalates every summer. Drivers of cars complain that bikers quickly scurry back and forth, not particularly paying attention to the markings and speed limits. The approach of a motorcyclist is not always noticeable in the mirrors of the car, and unpredictable behavior on the road provokes emergency situations. In turn, bikers are indignant that motorists cut them off or block the passage between the rows in traffic jams. Say, I'm standing, well, you'll stand. Lack of mutual respect and poor driving culture often lead to accidents with victims. One of the latest happened on Saturday, July 13, on Mozhayskoye Highway next to McDonald's in Odintsovo, when a motorcyclist flew over a Lada.
But motorcyclists cause inconvenience not only to motorists, but also to passers-by. “With the onset of summer, it is impossible to walk around the Central Square. Crazy teenagers fly on their scooters- writes mestnaya on the Odintsovo-INFO forum. — They do not understand at all that they create a danger to pedestrians, it is dangerous to walk with children. On the weekend at the Ice Palace, these youngsters almost demolished the stroller with the child, pulled it back in time, the child was in shock. At the pond, one of them "showed off" on the rear wheel of the scooter, lost control and fell, while his scooter flew to the side, where several children were feeding pigeons. Apparently, when there is an accident, only then the administration will pay attention to it. And in the late afternoon, the so-called "bikers" come to the pedestrian zone. And arrange their drunken rides all over the square. Again it becomes impossible to walk and walk.
Dissatisfaction is also expressed by residents of Odintsovo, who are kept awake at night by the roar of engines. “Two in the morning. The child is sleeping. It is almost quiet, as quiet as it can be in a house facing Mozhayskoye Highway. And then, both - WOW!!! With a roar, some scoundrel rushes past. Behind this scoundrel, a second scoundrel and a third scoundrel rush through - WOOAAAA!!! WOOAAAA!!! The daughter woke up, cried, her face was frightened, she did not understand anything. That's because freaks, well, what are you doing, huh? Lych asks in a blog post on Odintsovo-INFO. — It’s a thrill for you to drive - well, drive somewhere on the track where there is no one. And through the city, like bastards - well, why are you doing this? You are cool, right? Are motorcycles powerful? Do you want to draw drawings? What about your children, what have they done to you? One such freak will sweep through the whole city - and all over the Mozhaisk highway, weeping muzzles, snot and crying, ghouls, ghouls, mothers jump up, soothe their children.
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There are different ways to control the volume of a motorcycle: reduce or add a "voice" - the owner decides. However, in general, drivers do nothing to make their motorcycle quieter, on the contrary - more often they try to add noise to the technique. Loud riding for motorcyclists is not only an indicator of coolness, as many believe, but also a means of safety. Some bikers believe that there is a big plus in loud riding. A motorcyclist on the road is often overlooked, and when he has a loud muffler, he is at least heard.
15/08/2016
Petersburg hosted a big motorcycle festival - the Harley Days festival. Thousands of motorcyclists occupied the city center - staged a parade, shows and various competitions. During the day, the townspeople rejoiced at the holiday. And at night, bikers were habitually cursed for roaring through the streets and waking up the whole neighborhood. Why are they making such a noise? - tried to understand "City 812".
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Every resident of the center or the owner of an apartment whose windows overlook the avenue, at least once in his life and a motorcycle outside the window. It's especially annoying at night. "City 812" asked the bikers themselves - what is the point of such a loud and unpleasant ride for others?
President of the Crazy Snails RC club Alexander Podgribasov:
- I have a rather loud motorcycle, but it is noisy within the norm: the exhaust pipes are certified. We need the volume for passive safety - so the bike is better visible on the road. And at night, I try not to go into residential areas at all. And those who anneal to the fullest when everyone is sleeping, I do not understand. Adrenaline, apparently, they get from it. This is how young people usually have fun. They don’t have much money, they saved up for a simple used one. motorcycle, the muffler was cut off and got a high sound, like a chainsaw. This one is especially annoying. Low-frequency sounds are more easily perceived by the ear. In a truck, for example, the volume is even higher in decibels, but no one complains about them.
Vice President of the Bedouins MCCAnton:
- I have a quiet bike. I drive with music - it screams instead of exhaust. Someone just likes a loud sound, in some ways it is an element of culture. And they go at night, because during the day it is impossible to ride in our beautiful city. I agree that this is somewhat inconvenient for the residents, but even I will not advise you how to deal with it. No one is fined for this and, I think, will not be fined for a long time.
The head of the St. Petersburg motorcycle club Werewolf MC Mikhail Nekrasov:
- This question has been raised year after year for perhaps twenty years. But still no answer. There is no fashion for the roar of a motorcycle. Normal bikers ride competent mufflers. And it gives the young crazy people a sense of coolness, in their opinion. But I assure you, it passes very quickly. For more than one or two days, this cannot be endured - it becomes unpleasant for yourself, your head starts to hurt. It seems pointless to me to completely ban driving at night. Bikers will start to bend - they, on the contrary, will resist. We need prevention, work with youth. We plan to apply to the city authorities with a request to create several motoposts in St. Petersburg located on key routes, for example, on outbound highways - Tallinn, Kiev, Moscow highways and so on. This would reduce injuries among motorcyclists. At the posts, it is possible to monitor the serviceability of motorcycles, to introduce control of the level of noise, exhaust, etc.
A clear answer - why are they making noise? - none of the bikers did not give. According to the psychiatrist, such behavior is characteristic of all professions or occupations associated with risk.
So they feel like they belong to a certain “caste of the chosen ones”, which is allowed to break the rules. Any action that involves risk is fraught with the temptation that you will begin to consider yourself an elite. I think this is such an intracultural show off, emphasizing that you belong to a certain elite or supposedly an elite, - says Associate Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Narcology of the North-Western State Medical University. Mechnikov Sergei Zinoviev.
The problem of "night roar" has repeatedly tried to solve at the legislative level. State Duma deputy Mikhail Serdyuk proposed to ban drivers of noisy vehicles from driving in residential areas, in areas located in close proximity to schools, clinics, hospitals, etc. Another deputy, Mikhail Bryachak, proposed introducing a fine of 10,000 rubles for owners of motorcycles that make noise at night. Today, a fine of 500 rubles is also provided for such behavior.
But none of their proposals of these deputies found support among colleagues. Perhaps because many parliamentarians are notorious bikers themselves.
By the way, the permissible noise levels for motorcycles are determined by UN standards - no more than 73-77 decibels, depending on the ratio of the mass and power of the motorcycle .
As you know, with the onset of the spring-summer period, motorcyclists who like to organize motorcycle races along the streets of the city become more active. The deputies put forward a proposal to limit the activities of bikers, but have not yet come to a common solution to the problem.
The noise from the roar of the motorbikes does not give rest to civilians, whose windows overlook the city highways. Appeals of residents for assistance in solving this problem of the police did not give any results. And now complaints rained down on the heads of the State Duma deputies. The other day, United Russia party deputy Mikhail Nenashev made a proposal to end the riots caused by bikers. His idea was supported by the head of the Transport Committee Sergey Shishkarev. So far, the officials have not figured out how to scare the bikers, so they are open to any proposals that have already begun to come from the officials themselves.
So, they propose to ban motorcycle racing at night and even install special badges on the roads where they usually take place, but which ones have not yet been invented. The second proposal is to fine the perpetrators of the noise. I liked the idea of a fine, and they are even thinking of imposing fines for speeding, since it is speeding that causes the roar of the engine. Recall that the opening of the racing season among bikers took place on Sunday.
Deputies appeal by the fact that motorcyclists often become the culprits of road accidents due to excessive speeding. Therefore, if an amendment to the code "On Road Safety" is adopted, this reason will become an aggravating circumstance during the clarification of the causes of an accident. Officials plan to start adopting amendments to the legislation immediately after the May holidays. But they intend to take into account and even consult with representatives of biker clubs to preserve the rights of all segments of the population.
Events to restrict the movement of bikers at night will be held not only in the capital, but also in other major cities of the country. Previously, this problem has already been tried to be resolved by banning racing competitions. However, motorcyclists simply ignored this ban. Whether bikers will be able to calm down this time, it will become clear when officials unveil measures to curb biker races.
Among the opponents of this idea, in addition to the troublemakers themselves, there are also suppliers of "iron horses". Thus, the Irbit Motorcycle Plant is a major manufacturer of motorcycles. Every year they sell a huge number of bikes to customers throughout the country, especially in the south of the country and in the capital. Sales of the domestic market are growing by 50 percent on average per year, which once again proves the consumer demand for this type of product. Now, with the introduction of parliamentary bans, motorcycle sales will drop sharply, which will negatively affect the supplier of bikes.
The bikers themselves expressed dissatisfaction. They believe that residents of houses with windows overlooking the roadway have long equipped their apartments with noise-insulating double-glazed windows, so the noise from the roar of engines simply cannot bother them. Also, motorcyclists assure that they have long been riding noiseless foreign bikes and domestic-made motorcycles that meet all European safety and quiet standards. Therefore, they believe that officials have created a storm in a teacup and it is not known what goals they are pursuing.
In the meantime, both experts and analysts of the motorcycle world and local human rights activists consider measures to prevent noise at night from racing bikes to be quite reasonable, but difficult to implement. They believe that a complete ban on roaring motorcycles is simply ridiculous, as it will cause a massive wave of protest from bikers and thereby exacerbate the problem. And if you round up bikers, then the sirens from police cars chasing night troublemakers will wake up the whole city. Moreover, the latest generation of motorcycles, especially imported ones, shows maximum acceleration in a matter of seconds and an unprecedented driving speed, so attempts to catch up with a biker will fail in the very first minutes of the chase. And the mufflers that racing and sports bikes are equipped with will help the owner to easily get lost in some courtyard after breaking away from pursuit.
Another problem after the introduction of a ban on riding noisy motorcycles can be a trivial problem of bribery. That is, many, not unreasonably, believe that the introduction of a ban will give law enforcement agencies an extra reason for profit. Activists are afraid that close attention to bikers will continue not only at night, but also during daylight hours. And if fines for speeding are set, then by doing so the city authorities will only untie the hands of traffic police officers, since the practice with motorists has been developed here for years.
However, it remains unclear what measures the deputies will resort to, and whether they will resort at all. It seems that they themselves do not imagine how this problem can be solved, so they are trying to delay the deadlines for its implementation. The second reason for some uncertainty in resolving the issue is the uncertainty that awaits them after the amendments to the legislation. Officials have no idea what they will have to face after the implementation of the bill.
If, nevertheless, such a decision is made, then not only biker clubs will suffer, but bike manufacturers, both domestic and global concerns, who import a large amount of their products into our country, will also suffer damage. In general, some kind of incident has been happening recently with the adoption of new laws and amendments. Recently, they decided to fine drivers of slow-moving vehicles and at the same time toughen the administrative penalty for speeding. Moreover, in the capital, all fines, again according to the new amendment, will be many times higher than fines for the same offenses in the regions of the country.
What they will come to this time, what means they will invent to deal with bikers, remains a mystery. Everyone is looking forward to the denouement. Whether members of biker clubs will organize demonstrations and protests like societies of car owners or will simply ignore the attempts of the authorities, we will find out after the amendments to the code come into force. It remains to be hoped that this will not bring a sharp resonance and a new confrontation between society and the authorities.
With ergey Vasilenkov
