Traffic rules and fines in Ukraine

Hi Maria234,

Welcome to Expat-Blog

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team

Well, I was there for only two months, but I police standing on the side of the rod looking at traffic and pointing at cars to pull over. They dont have radar or anything,like other countries,they just decide you look like your speeding and thats it, your guilty and you pay a fine. Once they realize your a foreigner the fine is suddenly higher. If you argue,the fine goes higher. They have alot of authority to do what they want. They can stop you at anytime for no reason. Look on youtube for stuff like Ukrainian road police, or traffic laws.

keith841 wrote:

Well, I was there for only two months, but I police standing on the side of the rod looking at traffic and pointing at cars to pull over. They dont have radar or anything,like other countries,they just decide you look like your speeding and thats it, your guilty and you pay a fine. Once they realize your a foreigner the fine is suddenly higher. If you argue,the fine goes higher. They have alot of authority to do what they want. They can stop you at anytime for no reason. Look on youtube for stuff like Ukrainian road police, or traffic laws.

well said. I actually think however that it all should be understood within the context of how things in Ukraine are in General...and in general things are nothing like they are in the West. Ukrainian policemen are not all bad guys and they are not all good guys either. Not all are corrupt. They are all UNPROFESSIONAL however. making an ENCOUNTER with one of them always UNPREDICTABLE,, especially for a foreigner...

Thank you, gentlemen for your advice

To give some correct and good information.

I drive now for more than a year in Ukraine, mostly in Kiev. But I also went to Kharkov, Odessa, Lviv and Carpathian.
My car has foreign license plates, but I also rented once a car.

I have been stopped 5 times, always for speeding. In 4 cases they were completely right and they measured my speed properly. I was wrong and asked them if it is ok to pay as it is normal in Ukraine (yes, bribing). As Ukrainian for 100 uah you can do really a lot (I heard about driving through red light, without seat belt and to fast). So if you give them 100 they are ok, if you give them 200 you paid to much, but you can continue. Do not give more, then they try to rip you off.

If you are sure that you was not wrong, then just keep on repeating that you are not wrong and did not drive to fast. Tell them to write a "protocol" (official penalty). This normally takes so much time that they know that it is better to let you go. This is what worked for me the 1 time they tried to get money from me.

If it is getting to crazy, ask the number of the police guy (so his official documents) and tell him that you are going to call your embassy.

There are some points on road you must make sure you drive the right speed. This are the places where the police posts are. You will see signs of max speed going back to 50 or 30. Follow these always.

As general rule, speeding till 20 km/h does not cost anything. They will not stop you, because all they can say is "follow the rules of Ukraine". There is no penalty for this.
If you drive on the main roads outside of the city, just pick a car which speed you feel comfortable with and follow it. He knows which speeds are where allowed. If he doesn't, police can only stop 1 car.

keith841 wrote:

Well, I was there for only two months, but I police standing on the side of the rod looking at traffic and pointing at cars to pull over. They dont have radar or anything,like other countries,they just decide you look like your speeding and thats it, your guilty and you pay a fine. Once they realize your a foreigner the fine is suddenly higher. If you argue,the fine goes higher. They have alot of authority to do what they want. They can stop you at anytime for no reason. Look on youtube for stuff like Ukrainian road police, or traffic laws.

Guess, you didn't look good.
What they do is just checking cars.
So they ask you car papers. You show them, if all is fine, you continue. If you do not have all papers you get a penalty.

In Ukraine it was not needed to have an insurance. Now it is required, but this does not mean everybody has one. Also they can check if you car past the MOT test.

These fines are fixed, so you can always ask them to write out the official penalty. This will only cost a lot of time.

And please do not believe everything from Youtube.

Just follow the traffic rules and you will NEVER have any troubles with traffic police. Also please be ready that drivers around you are not European ones.

Thanks for the advice. I did not drive there,but learned interesting things about the road police. Some Ukrainian guys told me how it works. The driving is alot different than in America. I thought California drivers were crazy,but the driving in Ukraine?  The great thing is that you can take the train or bus just about anywhere. It's possible I might move there in the future. If I do I might get a car.