Prohibition to evacuate improperly parked vehicles

Draft bill #9092 of March 10, 2023 
Sponsor: Volodymyr Kreidenko, the Servant of the People faction. 

Who is affected: drivers, parking inspectors, pedestrians, and local governments. 

Summary of the bill: parking inspectors will not be allowed to temporarily detain (evacuate) cars on the territories where martial law or a state of emergency is declared. 

How the legislator explains the importance of the bill: the author of the draft bill points out that Ukraine is subjected to massive missile attacks, and in order to save their lives during an air alert, drivers are forced to quickly leave their vehicles to seek shelter. That is why they violate parking and stopping regulations. Supposedly, from an ethical and moral point of view, it is unacceptable to require drivers not to break the regulations since they should save their lives in the first place, not comply with traffic regulations. 

What is wrong: 

• martial law cannot vindicate violations of parking and stopping regulations in communities that are far from the frontline. If the bill is adopted, it will lead to chaos and, accordingly, far greater threats than potential benefits 
• an improperly parked vehicle poses a significant danger to people around. It blocks the passage of emergency vehicles (ambulances, fire trucks), complicates the movement of other cars and pedestrians, and can cause emergency situations where people will be hurt. Such behavior should be penalized or it will lead to more conflicts and abuse 
• there is a manipulation on the part of the bill’s author here: drivers almost never abandon their vehicles looking for shelter when they hear an air alert. If shelling does happen, it is unlikely that anyone will punish drivers for violating traffic regulations. Such excuses can only be heard from malicious offenders, who will justify their own offenses in any way they can imagine.