Drunk Driving: In Search of Fair Punishment,

The proposal of Majilis deputy Nikolai ARSYUTIN to soften the punishment for drunk drivers is being actively discussed in society. During the six years of the war with alcoholic drivers, the disputes have not subsided, and questions about the need for a balance based on the principle of “punishment must correspond to the act” arise every now and then. A correspondent of the Vremya newspaper tried to find the boundaries between the severity and leniency of society’s sentence with experts from the automobile industry.

The initiative of Majilis member Arsyutin to reduce the term of deprivation of driving license to three years has caused a heated discussion.

The deputy argued his position by saying that he does not justify alcoholics, but the term of punishment must be reasonable. He said that for taxi drivers, truck drivers and couriers, the loss of driver's income for a long period is a serious blow to the family budget.

But the people have already developed a stable negative attitude towards drunk drivers for obvious reasons: innocent people die because of them. A great contribution to the tightening of legislation was made, without even knowing it, by the notorious Maksat USENOV. On the wave of his “feats” behind the wheel, even a whole phenomenon arose - Usenovshchina.

In 2013, a drunk Usenov hit six pedestrians in Almaty with his BMW X6 and fled the scene. One of the victims died. Usenov reconciled with the parents of the deceased and avoided criminal punishment, getting off with fines and admarest. In 2014, Usenov, who had been deprived of his driver's license, again caused an accident while driving a Mercedes, in which a 38-year-old woman was injured. He refused a medical examination and received 20 days of arrest. Since then, the terms of license deprivation for drinkers have been gradually increased, and today Article 608 ("driving a car while intoxicated") of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for 15 days of admarest and deprivation of rights for seven years.

The main question is whether the punishment is fair and proportionate to the crime committed.

- Drunk driving in Kazakhstan, unfortunately, is flourishing. Since the road police were liquidated and police "ambushes in the bushes" were banned, drivers are not afraid of anything. And the detention of drunk drivers is a matter of chance. On the other hand, seven years of license revocation, in my opinion, is too long a term, three years would be enough for a person to realize his mistakes, - auto expert Alexey ALEKSEEV, editor-in-chief of the Kazakhstani magazine "Behind the Wheel" , agrees with Arsyutin.

Automotive expert Bulat OMARBEKOV is not against softening the legislation, especially if the violation did not lead to serious consequences. In other countries, drunk driving is punishable by deprivation of rights for one to three years.

- If there is no relapse and the person, let's say, was caught simply with a hangover, his behavior is adequate and he is aware of his actions, then it is quite possible to get off with a fine. Such a measure will rid us of corruption. The amount of the fine should also be tied to a percentage of the salary, - my interlocutor noted.

On the other hand, he acknowledges that the severity of punishment is an important deterrent. If offenders do not take punishment seriously, the country may see an increase in recidivism.

Meanwhile, the head of the Kazakhstan Road Safety Association, Arsen SHAKOOV, is in favor of leaving everything as is:

- I think that a drunk driver is worse than a terrorist! When I said this, people started writing: "I am a deprived person, but why am I worse than a terrorist?" Because you intentionally committed a crime against humanity! A drunk driver is a criminal.

Shakuov believes that there is no need to tighten or soften the laws, but suggests replacing 15 days of arrest with 200-300 hours of community service with public censure of the culprit in the media - there will be more benefit to society.

Automotive industry expert Artur MISKARYAN also does not support mitigation of punishment. He emphasizes: the exact number of dissatisfied people, those who ask for leniency, is unknown. At the same time, according to his data, 20.5 thousand drunk drivers were detained in the country in 2023, and 22 thousand in 2024.

- If driving a car is the only skill for earning money, then you need to work on improving your qualifications. If for various reasons this is not possible, then you should carefully weigh the priorities between drinking and risking life and health - yours and those around you, as well as earning money for yourself and your family, - Artur believes.

He advised the hapless drivers to have "sobering" sessions of simple mathematics of monthly expenses on alcohol. The simple refusal of the green snake has a positive effect on family budgets and, ultimately, on the quality of life.

In 2019, not only administrative but also criminal penalties for drunk drivers were tightened. If you were deprived of your license and were caught driving while intoxicated before the seven-year term expired, then this is no longer a criminal offense, as before, but a full-fledged serious crime. At the same time, there are no alternative sanctions to criminal punishment in the form of fines, restrictions on freedom, and others.

In particular, under Part 2 of Article 346 (“driving a vehicle by a person deprived of the right to drive and in a state of alcoholic intoxication”) of the Criminal Code, for the fact that the deprived person got behind the wheel drunk, caused a minor accident or caused minor harm to the health of a road user, they will be put in prison for four to six years with a lifelong deprivation of their driver’s license.

At the same time, Article 108-1 (“intentional infliction of minor bodily harm”) of the Criminal Code provides for a wide range of punishments: fines, correctional or community service, arrest for 50 days, restriction or imprisonment for two years.

It turns out that Article 346 is harsher, perhaps because of the public danger of the crime and the Usenovshchina, which still looms and frightens law-abiding citizens. But shouldn't a traffic violator be punished only for what he did? If the damage to property and health is minor, then why judge him so harshly?

- Criminal punishment, in my opinion, should be applied in case of serious consequences caused by driving a car while intoxicated. If there are victims. For driving a car by a driver who has been deprived of his license, and even while intoxicated, I would introduce confiscation of the car. All this correctional and community service, especially imprisonment, is useless. But the threat of losing your car is a serious argument! Imprisonment is also appropriate, but it is appropriate if there are seriously injured or killed in an accident. Depending on the severity of the consequences, I think the term of imprisonment of the offender should start from one year, and not from four years, - believes Alexey Alexeyev.

Bulat Omarbekov also believes that confiscation of a car can be a powerful deterrent, especially for repeat offenders. It works to a certain extent as a preventive measure, since a drinker is deprived of the means, albeit for a while, to commit a repeat offense. However, deprivation of transport alone does not solve the problem of drunkenness, since it has a great social subtext. Therefore, the auto expert calls for the compulsory treatment of chronic alcoholic drivers to be enshrined in law, since the root of the problem is addiction. In his opinion, this can help to avoid relapses.

- Confiscation works as a last resort. For example, in Sweden and Canada, they focus on treatment and breathalyzers, a device that prevents the car engine from starting without the driver first passing a breathalyzer test, - Omarbekov emphasizes.

In his opinion, a real term of punishment is justified only in the case of gross violations or recidivism. For minor damage, it is more reasonable to use fines, correctional labor until all compensation is paid. Imprisonment can lead to loss of work and deterioration of a person's social status, which is not always fair.

- A real term for minor harm is rarely used in world practice. In many countries, fines, courses, community service are preferred, but if the driver was drunk or fled, the punishment is tougher, - the expert noted.

In turn, Arsen Shakuov is confident that confiscating cars will not reduce the number of violations. Many taxi drivers do not own their cars and rent them. In addition, questions arise about the inviolability of private property, as prescribed in the Constitution. According to Part 3 of Article 26, “no one can be deprived of their property, except by a court decision.”

So, let's summarize the opinions of our experts. If the punishment for drunk drivers is to be mitigated, then alternative instruments for the courts should be provided in order to have a wide arsenal for targeted "surgical" punitive action. In life, there are different cases that are difficult to cover within the current framework of the Criminal Code. Perhaps it was not necessary to jail a single mother raising two children for four years for drunk driving (see " Drank, Drive - and You're Free?", Vremya, 22.2.2025 ). But at the same time, we must not forget that Usenovshchina flashes in the rearview mirror every now and then...

Alikhan SULTANOV, drawing by Igor KIYKO, Astana