The driver is always at fault: if you hit a moose, pay a fine of 40 thousand rubles

Fine for hitting a moose on the road in 2021

The Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) does not provide for liability for a downed animal. The inspector will not issue a fine if he sees a driver hit a moose or comes later to inspect the scene of the incident.

But for a downed moose, compensation is awarded for the damage that the driver caused to the natural resources of Russia.

Conditions for imposing a fine. Compensation is determined by rangers - representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia.

Who will pay the money depends on whether the driver has an MTPL policy:

• If you have a policy, the insurance company pays. An accident with a moose hit on the road is an insured event. The policy insures the driver's civil liability and helps compensate for damage in such a situation. The huntsmen will take the driver’s data and request money from the insurance company.
• there is no policy or its term has expired - the driver pays. The owner of the car is responsible for the risks associated with driving the car and the damage caused by the car. If there is no policy, liability is not insured - you will have to pay yourself. There is such a case in judicial practice.

A man was driving from Novosibirsk along the road past a forest; an elk crossed his path. The driver hit the animal. After the collision, the man called the traffic police; when checking the documents, the inspector found out that the MTPL policy had expired. As a result, the judge decided to fine the man 800 rubles for lack of insurance and 80,000 rubles for killing a moose.

In order for the insurance company to pay compensation, an accident with a moose must be registered by traffic police officers. They will take into account the circumstances of the case, draw up a certificate of the accident, a protocol and a determination that there is no administrative violation. The driver will receive copies of documents.

Amount of the fine. Compensation for killing an elk without a license is 80,000 rubles. To find out what the fine is for a downed moose, you need to look at the order of the Ministry of Natural Resources - it lists the animals and the amount of compensation that the culprit must pay. Here are the compensation amounts for the most commonly hit animals:

If the animal is killed on the territory of the reserve, then the amount is multiplied by a factor of 7. For example, the fine for shooting down a roe deer on the territory of a state reserve will have to be paid as follows:

40,000 × 7 = 280,000 rubles

40,000 is the base fee for a roe deer, and 7 is the coefficient for hunting on the territory of a state reserve or wildlife sanctuary.

The elk shot down in the Moscow region could not be saved

photo: Anton Zhuravkova
Veterinarians of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region tried to save the life of an elk in the Volokolamsk clinic, which was hit on the road in the urban district of Lotoshino, reports the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region.

“Veterinarians in the region gave an immobilizing injection to a moose that was involved in an accident near the village of Brenevo in the Lotoshino urban district. The animal is young - he is one and a half years old. As a result of the collision, the moose received severe injuries, in particular an open fracture of the hind limb,” said Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region Sergei Voskresensky.

According to Voskresensky, after examining the animal, veterinarians concluded that the elk would not have survived with such injuries in nature, but they still tried to save the animal.

“A volunteer was found - farmer Alexey Sedoy from the Shakhovskaya urban district. After the operation, he is ready to pick up the moose from the veterinary clinic and leave the injured animal. If this had not happened, the animal would have had to be euthanized,” Voskresensky explained.

The question was raised about amputating the moose cow's leg. At the same time, experts were looking for a way to save the animal’s limb. At the same time, the moose felt good before the operation. Unfortunately, the animal died.

From the editor:

With depressing regularity, the editors receive questions regarding road accidents with animals. The liability of drivers with valid MTPL policies raises especially many questions.

Different subjects of the Russian Federation interpret the law differently. One thing is certain: a collision with an animal is an accident and you cannot leave the scene of the collision without officially documenting the incident.

Only the statements regarding responsibility differ. Sometimes it is reported that a driver with a valid MTPL policy will not compensate for damage for a downed elk (unintentional damage, for an elk - 80 thousand rubles), the insurance company will pay for the driver. In this case, the car will have to be repaired at your own expense.

Other constituent entities of the Russian Federation claim that the driver controls a source of increased danger and is fully responsible for damage caused to wildlife and the MTPL policy does not cover such risks.

There are court decisions both in favor of the driver, when the insurance company pays for the damage, and decisions when the driver paid for damage to wildlife and repaired the car at his own expense. One thing is clear: without a compulsory motor liability insurance policy, the driver will definitely pay.

Officials also create a lot of confusion. In September 2021, the former Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow Region Andrei Razin, to whom the Moscow region state hunting inspectors reported, reported that:

“...the accident occurred on Saturday night on a highway in the Pushkin urban district. In the area covered by the “Wild Animals” road sign, a driver in a car hit an elk. The main cause of road accidents is failure to comply with the speed limit. The driver received various injuries and was hospitalized.

The animal died... and the car was also damaged as a result of the accident... The driver of a vehicle that collided with a moose will have to spend money not only on restoring his car, but also pay a fine - compensation for damage to nature. In this case – 80 thousand rubles...” (link)

I would like to get clarity and unambiguity on this issue, wouldn’t I? For me, personally, this question is still open...

PS An hour after writing... Calling familiar state hunting inspectors in several constituent entities of the Russian Federation raised hope. Many confidently confirmed the chain of interaction between the subject “hunting departments” and insurance companies regarding compensation for damage in the event of an accident with wild animals under the MTPL policy, which is good news.

The insurance company pays for damage to wildlife; car repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance are not provided in this case (and the courts reject the repairs). Although, it would be better to pay for the elk ourselves, for example, and have the repairs covered by insurance... But these are just my “wants and dreams”...

I described in detail how to calculate the amount of damage caused to hunting resources in this article.

The amount of payments for unintentional damage to wildlife, for example, for an accident

Semin Mikhail February 9, 2021 at 1:54 pm

When the driver is at fault in an accident with a moose

Presence or absence of a warning sign. The “Wild Animals” sign only warns that elk or roe deer may appear on the road. This is not a prescriptive or prohibitive sign - it cannot be violated. If a driver hits a moose in the area covered by such a sign, this will not be an aggravating factor.

Driver compliance with all proper traffic rules. By law, you cannot leave the scene of an accident. If a driver calls the traffic police after an accident, he avoids the violation. The inspector will come to the scene, interview the driver, witnesses, if there are any, and look at the recording from the recorder. If the driver did not violate the rules, the inspector will draw up a ruling refusing to initiate a case. A copy will be given to the driver.

Collision time. Night time or poor visibility will be a mitigating factor if the inspector, when interviewing the driver, will clarify the causes of the accident. The best evidence will be a video recording. If it is not there, you can record a video or photograph the scene of the collision immediately after the incident.

Such a sign is placed in a forest belt or in places where wild animals may come onto the road. This is just a warning, the driver is not required to reduce speed

Will there be an administrative fine for moose?

Formally, the sanction of 80,000 rubles does not fall under the administrative liability provided specifically for drivers.

Therefore, a fine for an elk hit by a car in the area covered by a special sign can be issued for ignoring road signs. Today its size is 500 rubles.

We already said a little higher that if a driver hits an elk and then drives on, then such actions are equivalent to leaving the scene of an accident.

Then the driver is subject to the punishment provided for in Part 2 of Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. These include both deprivation of a driver’s license for a period of up to one and a half years, and arrest for 15 days.

Therefore, the final measure of liability will depend on the circumstances under which the accident involving the animal occurred.

If the elk went into the forest on its own, then it makes sense to call the traffic police only if the damage to the car is significant and it is possible to receive a CASCO payment. In another situation, you can continue to follow further.

Why do you need to call traffic police when you collide with a moose?

To document the fact of the collision. This is necessary to prove the driver’s innocence and obtain documents for the insurance company. This way you won’t have to pay compensation yourself.

In addition to compensation, the traffic police may issue an administrative fine for violating traffic rules. The fine will be reduced if the driver violated the rules due to avoiding a collision with a moose.

To avoid getting a fine for leaving the scene of an accident. From the point of view of traffic rules, a collision with a moose is an accident.
If a driver hits a moose, leaves the scene of the accident, and this is noticed by eyewitnesses or video recorders of passing cars, the driver may lose his license for a period of one to one and a half years.

What you should pay attention to

The above fine for a shot down elk on the road applies if the incident occurred on the territory of a hunting area or protected area.

This presupposes the presence of a special sign on the section of the route. In the traffic rules it is listed under number 1.27.

And if there is no such indicator, then you should definitely make a note about it in the protocol. Then there is a chance to challenge financial claims from animal welfare services.

Even if a driver hits a moose, you should not neglect to call traffic police representatives to the scene of the incident. Their participation and documentation of the event are necessary for two main reasons.

Considering the size of the animal, the car will probably be damaged. This means that the issue of payments under CASCO insurance will arise (MTPL insurance does not apply to the case in question).

And here it is important to formalize everything correctly so that there are no problems with the insurance company in the future. Therefore, not only traffic police officers, but also representatives of the insurance company should be called to the scene.

Hitting a moose is still considered an accident. And if so, then you need to support the event with documents so as not to be subject to administrative liability for leaving the scene of a traffic accident.

What to do when you hit a moose

Before leaving for the highway. Check the validity period of your MTPL policy. If there is no policy or it is expired, you will have to pay for the downed animal, not the insurance company. After all, it is the MTPL policy that insures the driver’s civil liability.

If you hit an animal. Let's figure out what to do at the scene of the accident:

1. Get out of the car and place a warning triangle 30 meters before the car.
2. Call the traffic police.
3. Take a photo or video of the accident scene while the inspector is driving - this will help if the moose suddenly wakes up and runs into the forest.
4. When the traffic police crew arrives, explain what happened and check that the words are exactly recorded in the protocol.
5. Keep a copy of the determination that there is no administrative violation that the inspector will issue. It will be useful if the insurance company has questions for you.

Hit a moose - was it an accident or not?

A collision with any animal on the road is a traffic accident. The very definition of an accident from the traffic rules tells us this:

“Road accident” is an event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road and with its participation, in which people were killed or injured, vehicles, structures, cargo were damaged, or other material damage was caused.

"Stop! — you will say, “a moose is not a person and not a load.” And you'll be right. Elk is property. In general, any animal in the context of road traffic is considered property. This is what Article 137 of the Civil Code prescribes:

General rules on property apply to animals to the extent that the law or other legal acts do not provide otherwise.

And since an elk is property, then it must have an obligatory attribute - an owner. And, if everything is clear with domestic animals, then with moose... it’s also not complicated. In particular, this moment is regulated by Federal Law No. 52 “On the Animal World,” Article 4 of which regulates that the owner of wild animals is the state. And it is the state that must compensate for the damage for an elk that was shot down to death.

Thus, an accident with a moose on the road is an accident with all the ensuing consequences and obligations not to leave the scene of the accident, put up an emergency stop sign, turn on the emergency lights and call the traffic police.

OSAGO in an accident with a moose

Why can a compulsory motor liability insurance policy cover a fine for a moose? An accident is an event in which vehicles were involved and people, equipment, or property were damaged. Compensating for this damage is the driver’s civil liability; it is insured by the MTPL policy. The damage has been caused to the state: all wild animals on Russian territory are state property. Therefore, the insurance company can compensate for the damage that the driver caused to the state by hitting the moose.

What to do to avoid paying for a downed elk yourself. You must have a valid MTPL policy. We wrote about how to calculate and apply for compulsory motor liability insurance online.

After an accident, call the police and take a photo or video of the accident scene. If you drove without violating the rules, the inspector will issue a determination that there is no administrative violation. Save this document.

Who will pay for car repairs? The driver will have to compensate for car damage. The fact is that a moose cannot be at fault in an accident. And the state is not responsible for the actions of wild animals in the event of an accident.

If you take the animal's body with you

Many motorists, under the influence of a stressful situation or other reasons, try to hide traces of a collision by placing the body of a downed moose in the trunk of a car. However, such a step is fraught with negative consequences.

First of all, the driver risks being subject to criminal liability for illegal hunting, which is prescribed in Art. 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for both a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles and arrest for 6 months.

Therefore, if a driver plans to move through hunting or protected areas, then it is useful for him to know in advance if he hits an elk on the highway he will have to pay a fine.

In addition, in order to avoid a collision with an animal, you need to take into account not only traffic rules, but also the lifestyle of moose.

They are most likely to be seen on the road in the fall, when the animals are heading to their upcoming winter camp site. Therefore, it is important to adhere to the established speed limit, location on the road, and headlight operation.

How to avoid a fine for hitting a moose

In most cases, you will not have to pay a fine. The main thing is to comply with the conditions:

• have a valid MTPL policy;
• Call the traffic police to the scene of the accident.

Most likely, the inspector will not record violations of the rules in your actions. He will draw up a ruling on this, write out a protocol and give copies of these documents to the rangers.

Subsequently, the rangers will contact the insurance company that sold the OSAGO policy to the driver - it will pay compensation for the downed moose.

OSAGO and CASCO insurance in case of an accident with a dog

In accordance with Article 4 of Federal Law No. 40 “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”, the policy protects a person’s civil liability. It can occur as a result of causing harm to the life, health or property of others when using vehicles. In accordance with Article 137 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, animals are recognized as property. Therefore, receiving compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance after an accident with a dog is acceptable.

The reverse rule does not work. The owner of a car that was damaged as a result of an accident with a dog cannot count on receiving compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance. The fact is that the law does not oblige owners to insure animals. Therefore, in most cases there are no policies. Compensation is paid personally by the owner of the animal.

If the owner of the car has CASCO insurance, he will be able to receive payment for damage caused to the vehicle, regardless of who is at fault for the accident. The rules apply only if the situation that occurs falls into the list of risks, upon the occurrence of which payments are due. The procedure for providing compensation is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the contract. The owner of the dog cannot be paid compensation under CASCO. Insurance only protects the driver's property.

How to properly appeal a fine

There is no administrative fine for a downed moose, which means there is nothing to appeal. The Ministry of Natural Resources will demand compensation, which will be paid by the insurance company where the driver purchased the MTPL policy. She will do this without driver participation.

Appear in court if summoned. If the insurance company finds out that there was no policy or the copy of the protocol indicates that the driver violated traffic rules, it will pay compensation to the Ministry of Nature, and then demand this money from the driver through the court.

What to do at trial. If for some reason the insurance company refuses to pay compensation to representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources for the downed moose, they will try to collect it from the driver. At trial, two factors can work in the driver’s defense:

1. bad visibility;
2. absence of a “Wild Animals” sign. To prove this, you will need a DVR recording.

What to do if the court decides to pay a fine. You can appeal the decision within a month from the date of the judge's decision. It happens that during this period the driver finds evidence of his innocence - for example, recordings of other drivers at the scene of an accident or testimony of witnesses.

, fill it out, attach evidence and send it to court.

The complaint will be considered within two months

Remember

1. There is no fine for a moose hit by a car, but there is compensation - 80,000 rubles. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation takes it for damage caused to nature.
2. Compensation for a downed moose is paid by the insurance company from which the driver purchased the MTPL policy.
3. In order for the insurance company to pay the fine, you need to call the traffic police after a collision with an animal and file an accident report.
4. If the driver does not have a policy or its term has expired, the driver will have to pay compensation.

All articles by the author: Evgeniy Lesnov

How to Avoid Responsibility

With the increase in the number of vehicles, the number of victims among representatives of the animal world increases proportionally. Moreover, the statistics take into account victims among both wild animals and domestic pets who suffered from human carelessness and inattention.

As judicial practice shows, it is almost impossible to prove one’s innocence in such accidents. You can only hope for chance and your own foresight (having a CASCO policy often saves you from problems with the law in such situations). As a result, it is recommended that you pay extreme attention to warning signs indicating a high risk of collision with animals on a particular road section.