Head of the Moscow Traffic Police Department Alexander Bykov spoke about safety on the capital's roads

- Aleksandr Igorevich, what are the most significant innovations and projects that the Moscow State Traffic Inspectorate plans to implement in the near and medium term?

- Our division of the State Inspectorate is the largest in Russia. We have achieved the best indicators of road safety in the country as a whole. Moscow has the lowest indicator of both social and transport risk.

The most advanced engineering and technical practices are actively used in regulating the street and road network. All this is implemented within the framework of joint work with the Moscow City Hall. This is, for example, the separation of traffic flows for motorists, users of personal mobility devices (PMD), cyclists and pedestrians. Technical means, in addition to recording violations of the speed limit, allow monitoring the traffic situation.

Automatic anti-icing systems are actively used in the construction of overpasses, flyovers and bridges. If we talk about multi-level transport interchanges, then up to 90% of new roads under construction, located on the second and higher levels, are equipped with automatic road treatment systems from ice. This allows maintaining the road surface in proper condition even in difficult winter conditions.

I would like to highlight the work on equipping the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) with technical means. It has surveillance cameras that monitor the situation around the clock in real time and are connected to an incident management system with a trained artificial intelligence. The system itself identifies 13 types of road incidents: a pedestrian stepping onto the roadway, minor accidents, fire, repair work, etc.

In the left lane of the Moscow Ring Road, a system is successfully used to warn drivers about dangers and incidents that may lie in wait for them along the route; the information is displayed on large-format information boards.

Further. It ensures rapid evacuation of cars from the roadway, for example, to a parking pocket or to an adjacent area in order to prevent a repeat accident. This system has reduced the number of fatalities in such accidents by a third in the first year of use.

- Safety issues related to personal mobility devices and accidents involving them have become very relevant. As far as I know, the Moscow State Traffic Safety Inspectorate conducted a special operation aimed at preventing violations among SIM users. What were its main results? What key measures, in your opinion, are necessary to reduce accidents involving SIM in the capital? How will control over compliance with traffic rules by SIM users be organized?

- The Moscow Traffic Police Department has systematically worked out the safety issues associated with the SIM. There are approximately 60 thousand rental scooters in Moscow, on which about 360 thousand unique trips are made per day.

In close cooperation with responsible officials and with the participation of a number of major companies providing rental services for individual mobility vehicles in Moscow, a number of preventive measures have been developed. They have increased the level of security in the capital after their implementation in practice.

The surveillance cameras in the Moscow Government's Traffic Management Center (TMC) have been recording traffic violations for several years now. There are "specially trained" cameras in the TMC system that record violations by scooter riders.

As a rule, this is not dismounting before a pedestrian crossing, driving through a red light, or two or more people riding on one scooter. This data is transferred to the aggregator, and it takes its own measures, ranging from internal fines to blocking the user's account. Thus, it additionally influences this category of road users.

Of course, these measures affect the overall accident picture. Compared to the same period last year, this year, the number of fatalities in road accidents has been reduced by a quarter. The accident rate and the number of injured have also decreased.

- The State Duma is considering a draft federal law that proposes toughening the liability of a number of SIM users in order to minimize accidents and improve safety. The draft, in particular, provides for stricter penalties for persons driving a personal mobility device and violating traffic regulations. What is your attitude to this legislative initiative?

- Within the framework of this bill, I think it makes sense to analyze the current trend. It is necessary to define the categories of vehicles that can participate in road traffic. The category of personal mobility devices - PMD - is very extensive: from roller skates to electric skateboards, the power of which significantly exceeds 250 watts. Technology is moving forward and will continue to develop. In this regard, in my opinion, it is advisable to hold a public discussion, based on the results of which the legislator will determine the permissible and unacceptable means of transportation in the street and road network.

Take, for example, electric pit bikes or powerful scooters. Some parents, when buying scooters for their children, do not understand that they are, in fact, buying them not a SIM, but a full-fledged vehicle, and they learn about it with surprise when the child has already been in an accident and must bear responsibility.

For this reason, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, together with the Department of Trade and Services of the City of Moscow, worked on the issue and notified representatives of retail chains about the need to indicate the power when selling and the requirement to have a category "M" driver's license (with this category, you can drive minibikes, mopeds, scooters, ATVs and light tricycles, the maximum speed of which does not exceed 50 km/h. - "MK").

- On Internet resources and various marketplaces, you can find quite a large number of offers to sell documents for scooters with the sticker "up to 249 W". Such scooters with reduced power are not subject to legal restrictions and prohibitions. The goal of such "dealers" is clear - to help SIM users evade liability provided by law. At the same time, scooters of some brands are sold that can reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour. How do you rate this?

- Yes, a number of unscrupulous sellers, in order to evade certain restrictions, understate the power of vehicles. But I want to warn everyone: as part of administrative investigations of violations committed by SIM users, we appoint and conduct examinations and studies on the specified categories of vehicles, which allow us to establish their real power. Based on the results of the studies that have already been conducted, we can state that the power of the majority of the tested electric scooters and electric bicycles significantly exceeds 250 watts.

In fact, these vehicles fall under the category "M". Of course, attention is focused on working with this category of road users. So, if the study shows that in terms of power it is actually a moped (from 250 watts to 4 kW), then appropriate measures are provided (detention of the vehicle, its exclusion from traffic for a sufficiently long period).

Gradually, with these measures, we want to improve the driving culture in society and especially among SIM users. In addition, conditions are created so that it is not profitable to violate. Moscow has partly achieved such high results in road safety due to the availability of public transport, which allows you not to use faulty or incorrectly commissioned technical equipment, using a bus or metro. Infrastructure plays a fundamental role in prevention.

- Are users of private scooters and SIMs held accountable for speeding and other violations? And how are they held accountable, as a vehicle or as a pedestrian?

- Users of private scooters and other means of individual mobility bear responsibility within the framework provided by the legislation of the Russian Federation for violations of traffic rules. I have already named the most typical ones: not dismounting at a pedestrian crossing, driving through a red light, riding in pairs.

Violations of speeding by private SIM card users are not recorded.

In the case when the scooter power is more than 250 watts, we classify it as a moped with all the consequences for the driver. In my opinion, in the foreseeable future, we will come to a model where private scooters will be replaced by rental scooters, because there are a number of encumbrances in their maintenance: a private scooter must be charged, washed, stored and serviced. The majority of people choose the so-called economy option - to rent a scooter.

From my point of view, in large cities and cities with a population of over a million, private scooters are gradually being replaced by rented ones.

- The Road Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation state that a vehicle is two or more wheels. But a monowheel does not fall under this definition. There are currently discussions about the situation with the monowheel. The rules were developed at a time when monowheels did not yet exist. What should be done in the event of an accident with such a vehicle?

- Traffic violations are assessed based on their consequences. If there is an accident involving a person driving a unicycle, an administrative investigation is initiated, based on the results of which a corresponding procedural decision is made.

- A question about couriers - SIM users. How do you interact with them? After all, they pose quite a big danger to road users - they often fly at high speeds and maneuver abruptly.

- Quite a lot of work has been done. Control measures are systematically carried out to identify violations by this category of road users, including the involvement of aggregator companies in this work. They carry out internal control over violators, up to and including refusal to cooperate with malicious violators for systematic violation of traffic rules.

The main methodology for working with this category of road users is the introduction of bike lanes and bike paths. The total length of bike lanes in Moscow is more than 550 kilometers. According to the forecast of the Department of Transport and Development of Road and Transport Infrastructure of Moscow, by 2030 the number of couriers using electric bicycles in the street and road network will increase threefold.

- Are statistics kept on violations of the Russian Federation traffic regulations by drivers of vehicles registered in foreign countries? Very often a situation arises where a person deliberately buys a vehicle registered in a foreign country and uses it to avoid fines and cameras. What measures are taken against this category of violators?

- This category of drivers is subject to ongoing verification activities. When a vehicle registered in a foreign country is stopped, the driver is entered into the relevant database. After being entered into the database, a fine is issued automatically for any violation committed.

If a vehicle crosses the Russian border to exit, but has unpaid fines, a protocol is drawn up for non-payment and enforcement measures are applied, up to and including detention of the vehicle until the cause of detention is eliminated. That is, the vehicle is placed in a specialized parking lot until the fine is paid. Russian legislation provides for a serious administrative lever.

Over the first 5 months of 2025, more than 13.8 million administrative cases were identified for violation of the Russian Federation traffic regulations, of which more than 46 thousand administrative cases were filed against drivers operating vehicles registered in foreign countries.

Reference "MK"

In Russia, more than 200 million administrative cases were initiated for violation of the Russian traffic rules in 2024. In Moscow, over the same period, more than 43 million administrative cases were identified for violation of the Russian traffic rules, of which 41 million violations were recorded by means of photo and video recording.

The specified category of violators does not remain without attention. In general, the measures taken have a positive effect on the indicators of the level of road safety.

- Alexander Igorevich, thank you for the interview. Happy professional holiday to you and your subordinates. What would you like to wish our readers?

- I would like to sincerely wish everyone success, prosperity and safe roads.