Supreme Court Rules Drivers Can Move Vehicles From Accident Scene to Prevent Congestion

TASS reported on Thursday, May 29, 2025, that lower courts had previously found a female driver guilty of leaving the scene of an accident and had revoked her driver's license. The penalty was imposed because she had moved her vehicle to a service road of Leninsky Prospekt in Moscow after a collision, aiming to avoid obstructing other traffic.

Upon reviewing her appeal, the Supreme Court partially upheld it and reclassified the driver's actions. Her offense was downgraded from Part 2 to Part 1 of Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, which pertains to a driver's failure to fulfill duties prescribed by traffic regulations. Instead of a driver's license revocation, she was issued a fine of 1,000 rubles.

The Supreme Court disagreed with the conclusions of the lower courts. Its ruling stated that traffic regulations permit moving a vehicle after all circumstances of an incident have been documented. The court further noted that the driver had no intention of fleeing the scene of the accident and that her actions complied with the requirements of Paragraph 2.6.1 of the traffic regulations.

This section of the traffic regulations stipulates that if an accident results only in property damage, the involved driver is obligated to clear the roadway if it obstructs the movement of other vehicles. However, it is crucial to first document, using photos or video, the position of the vehicles relative to each other and to road infrastructure, as well as any traces, objects related to the incident, or damage.