In 2017, the Government of the Russian Federation obliged all car owners to use the “Spikes” identification mark when switching to winter studded tires. With the onset of the new winter auto season in 2018, car enthusiasts are actively asking whether the requirement is still valid.
Are "Spikes" excluded from traffic rules?
In August 2018, a new version of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 23.10.1993 under number 1090 was published. As before, there is clause 8 here, requiring the establishment of the “Spikes” identification mark when using the appropriate rubber. However, this requirement has officially ceased to be mandatory and is only advisory in nature.
Rumors about the cancellation of the "Thorns" sign appeared in the press throughout 2018, and only in October the Ministry of Internal Affairs officially spoke out on this issue. This was announced personally by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Mikhail Vanichkin in response to a request from the State Duma. The message says that it was decided to exclude the aforementioned identification mark from the list of mandatory ones due to the loss of its relevance.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, studded tires are currently far from the main factor affecting the dynamic characteristics of vehicles. Today, the length and other features of the stopping distance of cars depend on their design, the cargo carried, the presence of electronic stabilization systems, etc. All this must be taken into account by drivers when driving in winter.
Will they be fined if there is no sign "Spikes"
If everything is clear enough with the commentary on the relevance of the identification mark, then a considerable number of drivers are still worried about the fact that they can be fined if examined by the traffic police. Previously, the amount of this fine was 500 rubles. At the moment, a project has been prepared for introducing the necessary amendments to the traffic rules of the Russian Federation to exclude previously imposed sanctions.
The Ministries of Labor, Transport and Finance have already approved the amendments, and in the near future they will be formally introduced into the legislation. Thus, in 2018, the traffic police and other services have no right to force drivers to hang up the "Spikes" sign and bring them to administrative responsibility in the absence of it. Moreover, it is strongly discouraged to install the sign for safety reasons: the sticker restricts the view through the rear window, which can lead to accidents on the road.
To the above, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added that earlier the car owners were obliged to use the “Spikes” sticker only for the deliberate transition to winter “rubber” and to reduce the accident rate. It should be noted that the relevant actions were agreed with the Government of the Russian Federation and are not corrupt in nature. The experiment carried out turned out to be quite effective, and in the future, if necessary, other measures can be applied to ensure safe road traffic in Russia.
