Overtaking a vehicle that has flashing lights
In general, we can say this: there are very few situations when a motorist actually has to overtake special vehicles. Therefore, the driver himself, when faced with circumstances, cannot remember what he needs to do. Citizens believe that it is better to play it safe and not overtake these types of cars at all. Although in practice there may be different situations that allow overtaking.
What can cars with flashing lights do?
If you study the current traffic regulations, they say the following: the driver cannot overtake those vehicles that have special patterns with flashing lights on the surface. In this case, the color of such beacons is blue or red, and the car moves with the sound signal on.
Based on this norm, you might think that any overtaking of such a vehicle is prohibited. But it is not so.
Several conditions must be met simultaneously, including:
- the machine itself must have special color schemes. Alternatively, everyone will recognize the color of the ambulance.
- The vehicle is required to drive only with the sound signal on.
- movement must be carried out with the flashing signals turned on.
All specified conditions must be met simultaneously.
If any of them are not observed, then the norm regarding overtaking does not apply. This is important for every driver to know. Background information : the car can move simultaneously, including blue and red beacons. This means that the motorist does not have the right to overtake both this type of transport and other types of vehicles that are accompanied by special vehicles.
Three conditions when overtaking a traffic police car is PROHIBITED
All moments when it is prohibited to overtake a traffic police vehicle are clearly stated in paragraph 3.2 of the traffic rules:
“3.2.
It is prohibited to overtake a vehicle that has special color schemes applied to the outer surfaces with a blue flashing light and a special sound signal turned on. It is prohibited to overtake a vehicle that has special color schemes applied to its external surfaces, with blue and red flashing lights and a special sound signal on, as well as the vehicle(s) it is accompanying.” That is, overtaking is prohibited if THREE CONDITIONS are met at the same time:
1. The car must have a special color scheme
— that is, the car must be clearly identifiable as a traffic police vehicle, an ambulance or a fire truck, for example.
2. The car must have flashing lights turned on
blue or blue and red.
3. The car must emit a special sound signal
— the siren should work.
Also note that if a traffic police car with the beacons on is accompanying any vehicle, then it is prohibited to overtake both the traffic police car itself and the escorted vehicle.
Situations in which it is possible to overtake a vehicle with a signal
Overtaking can be carried out if at least one of the previously mentioned conditions is not met. True, there are some nuances here too.
Situation 1. An official’s car is driving along the highway, which has a lit beacon and a sound signal. Is overtaking possible?
Yes, since the third condition about the applied special color scheme is not met.
Situation 2. The movement is carried out by a patrol car, which has turned on a flashing signal. But the movement is carried out without a special signal turned on. Is overtaking allowed?
According to the law, purely theoretically, yes, such actions are allowed. In practice, if the patrol police officers want, they can challenge your actions. And the problem arises: how can you prove your innocence, because the sound is not always audible on the DVR.
Therefore, it is better to take into account many factors, including the rational need for overtaking. The policeman is also a person, and if he is out of sorts, then after overtaking he can simply turn on the sound signal and prove your guilt to you. Try to refute this fact.
When is overtaking a car with flashing lights prohibited?
Let's consider paragraph 3.2 of the traffic rules:
It is prohibited to overtake a vehicle that has special color schemes applied to the outer surfaces with a blue flashing light and a special sound signal turned on.
It is prohibited to overtake a vehicle that has special color schemes applied to its external surfaces, with blue and red flashing lights turned on and a special sound signal, as well as the vehicle(s) it is accompanying.
Please note that it is prohibited to overtake only vehicles with the following characteristics:
1. Special color schemes must be applied to the car. We are talking, for example, about special painting of traffic police or ambulance cars.
2. The car must have flashing lights (blue, or blue and red).
3. A special sound signal must also be turned on.
Only if all three of these conditions are met simultaneously, overtaking a vehicle with flashing lights is prohibited.
Note: If the blue and red flashing lights are turned on at the same time on an operational vehicle, then overtaking is prohibited both the vehicle itself and the vehicles accompanying it.
Responsibility for overtaking
If we consider this case exclusively, then in the traffic rules and in the Code of Administrative Offenses there is no special responsibility for overtaking. But Article 12.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses can be applied separately here. According to this article, the driver may be subject to administrative liability in the form of a monetary penalty. Amount – 5 thousand rubles. Your license may also be confiscated for up to six months.
The subject can be stopped again for the same violation (an act that is committed a second time within a year is considered repeated). And then the measure of responsibility increases - the subject remains without rights for a period of up to 12 months. True, if such a situation is recorded not by an inspector, but by a video camera, then the punishment will only be carried out in the form of a monetary penalty - 5,000 rubles.
Penalties for overtaking
Punishment for overtaking a traffic police crew is provided for in Parts 4 and 5 of Art. 12.15 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Russian legislation establishes that violation of Art. 3.2 Traffic rules - overtaking a special vehicle of the State Traffic Inspectorate, which is moving with flashing lights and an audible signal (siren), will lead to a fine of 5,000 rubles. or deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle for a period of 4 months to six months.
If the offense is committed again, the driver will be deprived of his license for 1 year. At the place where the administrative offense was committed, a protocol must be drawn up.
On the other hand, failure to provide priority to vehicles with special light and sound signals turned on, according to Part 1 of Article 12.17 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, is punishable by a fine of 500 rubles.
By correctly assessing the road situation and following traffic rules that stipulate rules for overtaking a special traffic police vehicle, you can avoid a fine, as well as deprivation of your license for a long period of time.
My car caught up with the traffic police, what should I do: overtake or not?
Probably everyone has been in a situation where a traffic police car is moving ahead. Some people think that the best way out of this situation is to follow the patrol officers, because they will always find the reason for the stop. But this is not entirely the right approach. If, for example, the DPS is moving at a low speed, and you have range for overtaking, then feel free to do it. In the traffic rules there is no responsibility for such an act, because you eat within the limits of what is permitted.
The second situation: you realize that you are driving along with a patrol car at the maximum speed that is allowed in this area. Ideally, you should not exceed the speed limit and thereby overtake traffic police. In practice, there may be different situations. And you can overtake. After all, if you carefully study the legislation of the Russian Federation, there is not a single word anywhere about punishment for speeding up to 20 km/h.
Therefore, you can overtake a traffic police vehicle, but only within the speed limit on the highway + no more than 20 km/h. And don’t think that no one can accurately determine the speed of your movement. Modern cars are equipped with radars that do this with ease.
Blue-red ban
To answer this question, it is necessary to turn to the traffic rules and focus on those cases that force special vehicles with “flashing lights” to move slower than the flow of traffic.
The most common case is escorting a convoy of trucks or buses. A traffic police or Military Traffic Inspectorate (VAI) patrol car may be in front or behind the column. When the flashing lights are turned on, the column acquires a special legal status. It is strictly forbidden for other traffic participants to integrate into it. Moreover, escort vehicles have the right to choose the desired speed limit necessary to ensure the safety of the convoy. They can drive 40 km/h or less, and other drivers have to put up with this inconvenience.
Who is entitled to a police motorcade? More details
Article 3 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation states that when encountering a patrol car, motorists “are prohibited from overtaking a vehicle that has special color graphics applied to the outer surfaces, with blue and red flashing lights turned on and a special sound signal, as well as the vehicle or several vehicles it is accompanying.” Vehicle".
Thus, if trucks are carrying non-standard large cargo, explosives or other dangerous products, traffic police patrol cars and even VAI can slow down the flow of traffic to ensure traffic safety. In this case, the driver overtaking a patrol car faces a fine of 5 thousand rubles under Article 12.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation or deprivation of rights for a period of 4 to 6 months.
Responsibility for exceeding the permissible speed when overtaking traffic police
Whether a fine will be issued for overtaking depends on the situation. If during a maneuver the driver actually exceeded the speed, then the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses will be applied to him and a monetary penalty will be issued for the primary violation. If there was no speeding when overtaking, then no one has the right to punish in any way.
It also all depends on which traffic police car you overtook. You can even be guided by a visual sign: new cars are equipped with radars, there are many of them in the capital and metropolises, but there are still older cars plying on regional highways. Therefore, when overtaking such a vehicle, the inspector will not even be physically able to measure the speed. It is necessary to prove that the excess exceeded the permissible error of 20 km/h.
But be prepared to prove that you are right when you stop. They may search you and ask you to show documents. After all, they also need to somehow justify the very fact of stopping.
What is the danger of overtaking a traffic police car?
But the law is the law, and practice is practice. And, unfortunately, inspectors also sometimes want to make money in a not very honest way. And there are even special scams where inexperienced drivers can get into money. Of course, no one talks about gross and obvious violations, when everything is already clear. But we’ll talk about some tricks further.
DVR
If your car does not have a DVR, then advice: it is better not to overtake a traffic police car. Indeed, in practice, the inspector is always right according to the law. And therefore, his words and your verbal evidence can be assessed differently. The inspector can simply stop you, say that you crossed the solid line after overtaking, and issue a decision against you. It is difficult to prove the opposite situation.
You should also not rely on the opinion of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which considers such a situation unacceptable. An explanation has already been given, which said: the presumption of innocence of the driver should be used, and not the initial categorical rightness of the inspector. But so far practice works differently.
Police trap
Another trick is turning on signals and beacons at the moment when the driver has already started overtaking. The inspector already understands that the maneuver has begun and cannot be avoided, and purposefully turns on the siren.
The faster the traffic police officers get their bearings, the less chance the driver has. Although this situation is not fair, in almost most cases it is punishable by a fine. But since the initial goal of the traffic police in this case is not to fill the budget, the amount of the monetary penalty may be less than 5,000 rubles.
You can prove your innocence only if you have a DVR that also records sound.
Other situations
Of course, the inspector knows the traffic rules better than the driver knows them. Or rather, not so: the inspector knows better what can be punished for. Therefore, it is better for the drivers themselves to thoroughly study the rules than to pay fines and be without a license.
In what other situations should you not overtake cars with beacons:
- the police car turned on its left turn signal;
- when overtaking, your car will interfere with another vehicle;
- if you understand that a special vehicle is also trying to overtake another vehicle;
- overtaking is prohibited in the pedestrian lane;
- there is a car behind you that is currently trying to overtake another vehicle;
- overtaking is not possible according to traffic regulations in tunnels or before a railway crossing, on a bridge.
If you follow these simple recommendations and overtake official vehicles only when necessary, and have a DVR, then there will be no problems. Moreover, there is not even a punishment for such an act.
Punishment for overtaking in violation of traffic rules
There is no separate article on punishment for overtaking a traffic police car. The driver’s actions in this case fall under the sanctions of parts 4 and 5 of Art. 12.15 Code of Administrative Offences.
According to this law, overtaking a traffic police car while simultaneously turning on beacons and sound signals leads to a fine of 5,000 rubles, or to deprivation of rights for a period of 4-6 months. If the violation is recorded again, the sanctions are toughened and the driver may lose his license for 12 months.
A traffic police car is a vehicle like any other. But when special signals and sounds are turned on, overtaking it is prohibited. If the crew moves only with flashing lights, then you can safely overtake it without violating traffic rules. Getting ahead of the traffic police crew is possible in any situation.
