Drivers punished by the police are good news from the court: these were exceptional and special circumstances

Judge Ričardas Juodis of the Kaišiadorys Palace of the Kaunas District Court announced that, although a woman working at the Pravieniškės Correctional Center had violated the Road Traffic Rules (KET) by failing to stop the STOP sign in front of the level crossing while was driving, was sanctioned two months is too strict.

This railway crossing in the village of Pravieniškės did not work for a long time, this route already managed to be covered not only with huge grasses, but also with trees, and since January 7. By decision of the Kaišiadorys District Municipal Administration, it was decided to cancel the STOP traffic sign.

“There are exceptional and special circumstances in the case,” the judge noted in the sentence to change the sentence adopted by the Kaišiadorys police. And the woman punished for violating the KET was left with only a fine of 180 euros. The offender did not contest the penalty and agreed to pay the fine, but was convinced that the police officers had unjustifiably prohibited him from driving for two months.

Delphi wrote in November that the locomotive, which had previously run twice a week, had not been running on the railroad track for over a year, but the traffic signal at the inoperative rail crossing had not been lifted and police officers in Pravieniškės they began to carry out raids and punish drivers.

Faced with such a situation, the residents of Pravieniškės and the employees of the prison located in this village were outraged that neither the Kaišiadorys district government nor the police cared about the reality at all; so many times they asked for the STOP sign to be removed. but did not respond. And it was only when the state company “Nuestra Artesanía”, which is subordinate to the Department of Prisons, wrote a letter to the municipality in November of last year that did not object to the abolition of road signs, that the works began. In January, the Road Safety Commission decided to withdraw the sign, so it had to be postponed.

At the end of last year, a large number of non-residents began visiting the village of Pravieniškės, where the correctional facility is located, so the employees of the elder body approached the police officers and asked to monitor the order. At the same time, the police organized raids on the railroad crossing; those who did not stop before crossing the crossing were punished.

“If I am not mistaken, an officer who lives in Pravieniškės and is well aware that the trains do not move there participated in the raid, so a reasonable question arises: why is the infraction being sought so insistently,” he surprised former Vilnius judge Pavel Borkovskis, who currently works as a lawyer.

Among those convicted was a prison employee, whom P. Borkovskis defended in court. The woman was fined 180 euros and deprived of the right to drive for two months for not stopping at the crossing. This is the most lenient sanction, since the Code of Administrative Offenses provides a sanction of up to six months and a fine of up to 280 euros for people who violate these TFE requirements.

The woman, who was punished by the police, said that she was driving from work to a correctional facility in Kaunas that day.

“A police car was driving behind me, there was a raid that day, and as soon as I crossed the crossing, I was pulled over, the woman couldn’t even remember if she hadn’t stopped for at least a moment before passing the crossing. from the railroad. – However, I admit I did not stop for a long time, but I really did not want to intentionally violate the KET. I understand that I acted irresponsibly, but this crossing has not been used for about a year, I drive to and from work every day. However, I understand that I had to comply with the KET requirements and follow the instructions on the road sign. “

The woman, who has more than 21 years of driving experience and has never been penalized for TCE violations, said she takes responsibility for the violation, agrees to pay a fine, but believes she was unjustifiably deprived of the right to drive.

“After all, the railway crossing does not work for a long time, the rails are not used, even covered with trees, I have heard that in some places there are even dismantled rails, so this crossing today only formally corresponds to the concept of a railroad crossing, “he said.

If he lost the right to drive, he would also lose his job, and how else could he get to the Pravieniškės Correctional Center.

“The officials said there is nothing to worry about, there is public transport, but I wouldn’t worry if I worked in Kaunas and not in Pravieniškės,” he said. And he admitted that due to the violation of the KET, when he did not stop before the railway crossing, more than one official has already been administratively sanctioned in Pravieniškės, and some of them had to be dismissed from the service because they simply did not have the opportunity to come to him. .

He did not hide that he had immediately paid a fine of 180 euros imposed on the police, but he did not do so, as he would have lost the right to drive vehicles from that moment on.

“And then I couldn’t go to work,” the woman said. The sanctioned officer submitted an application for the position of Pravieniškės elder, where he learned that a technical inspection of the railway crossings at Pravieniškės was carried out in summer, in which a representative of the Kaunas police also participated. It was decided that this road sign should be removed in the village of Pravieniškės, the police officers knew that there was no traffic through this crossing, he said. – However, the traffic sign was not raised because it opposed “Our Crafts”, and officials continued to punish those who did not stop.

At the time, police officers disagreed that drivers who had committed a KET violation should be subject to a less severe penalty than the law requires.

“Traffic regulations do not specify exceptions that people passing through unused rail crossings are not required to comply with KET requirements,” the Kaunas County Police Chief’s Commissariat told the Kaišiadorys Court.

According to the officials, the accused woman “had to evaluate and anticipate the consequences of her irregularity before committing the crime.”

“The offender must bear the negative consequences of such behavior,” police said.

However, the court that heard the complaint of a woman who worked in the Pravieniškės prison took a different view: although it considered that she had committed a crime, it did not cause serious consequences, the offender pleaded guilty and regretted it.

“This gives reasonable grounds to believe that an accidental administrative infraction has been committed,” emphasized Judge R. Juodis.

According to him, the offender who has lost the right to drive will not be able to take his children to kindergarten and progymnasium, nor will he be able to come to work because he lives in Kaunas. “There would be negative consequences not only for her, but also for her family,” the court said in the ruling.

According to the judge, the penalty of 180 euros imposed on the offender is proportional to the offense committed by the person subject to administrative responsibility and will be sufficient to prevent the offender from committing new offenses in the future and to achieve the objectives of the penalty. .