The State Duma in the third, final reading approved amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, which close the loophole for cars with foreign registration. We are talking about responsibility for excessive window tinting: now it will also apply to cars imported into Russia from South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia and Armenia. This is reported by the Moscow City News Agency.
The changes concern part 3.1 of Article 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Previously, it stated that the light transmission of the front windows must comply with the requirements of the technical regulations, but this document is formally not valid for cars imported from other countries. Because of this, traffic police inspectors had no legal grounds to punish drivers of such cars. The new version of the article eliminates this legal gap, linking the requirements to the "Basic Provisions for the Admission of Vehicles to Operation".
It is noteworthy that earlier a bill with the opposite meaning was submitted to the State Duma - on the abolition of fines for tinting. Its authors pointed out that tinted windows protect against solar radiation, help keep the interior cool and reduce the risk of theft. However, the government did not support this initiative, and as a result, the path of tightening control was chosen.