The traffic police have granted a one-year grace period for vehicle safety inspections, beginning June 4.
The Interior Ministry's road safety department said owners of cars, trucks weighing 3.5 tons or less, trailers and motorcycles whose technical inspection certificate expires in 2011 will be given another 12 months to undergo the procedure as part of an overall revamp of the inspection process.
Major General Vladimir Kuzin, deputy chief of the road safety department, said Friday that instructions explaining the new rules are now being issued to regional branches of the agency.
Kuzin said the changes do not apply to vehicles that are used for transporting passengers on a commercial basis, larger trucks, buses, vehicles or trailers that transport hazardous materials, vehicles with flashing lights and those used for training.
Additionally, cars less than a year old will get their technical inspection certificates when they are registered with the traffic police. "The vehicle check in this case will now be merely visual, without any diagnostics, as was done before," Kuzin said.
For drivers traveling abroad who need to prove the validity of their technical inspection, they can get a copy of the certificate with an official note stating that the validity is extended until the corresponding month in 2012.
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