Documents and duty after a minor collision on a wet Minsk street
It is 21:40 in November. Andrei is riding his category A motorcycle home on a three-lane street in Minsk. Rain has made the asphalt slick and visibility is poor. At a signalized intersection he brakes for a yellow light, the rear wheel locks briefly, and he slides into the rear bumper of a stopped hatchback. Nobody is hurt. The hatchback's bumper has a fist-sized dent and a cracked reflector; Andrei's motorcycle has a bent brake lever and a scratched mirror. Both vehicles are driveable. The other driver, who smells of alcohol, proposes to settle privately without calling the police because he fears losing his licence. Andrei has his registration certificate and insurance certificate in his jacket, but he left his category A driving licence at home after renewing it, and he has no medical certificate with him.
1. Which documents must Andrei be able to produce, and what are the consequences of the missing licence?
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A category A rider must carry and hand over on request: the driving licence of the appropriate category, the vehicle registration certificate, and proof of compulsory civil liability insurance. A medical certificate is not part of the routine roadside set for a private rider. The missing licence is an offence even though Andrei is in fact licensed; the officer can verify entitlement in the database, but failure to carry the document is still punishable. The bent lever and scratched mirror do not remove the motorcycle from the road, so no prohibition on further riding arises from the damage alone. Andrei should not accept the private settlement: the other driver's apparent intoxication is exactly the kind of fact the police must record, and leaving the scene without reporting an accident in which property was damaged would itself be a violation.
2. Must the accident be reported, and what should Andrei do first at the scene?
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Yes. Damage to another person's property triggers the duty to stop, switch on hazard lights, display the warning triangle at the prescribed distance, and notify the police. The presence of a possibly intoxicated driver also rules out any simplified European-accident-style settlement. Order of action: stop without moving the vehicles further, make the scene safe (hazards, triangle, reflective vest if he steps onto the carriageway), check that nobody is hurt, then call the police and wait. He may photograph the position of the vehicles and the damage, but he must not move them until the officer permits it unless the vehicles block traffic and the police instruct otherwise. He must not sign any private waiver, and he should note the other driver's behaviour and any witnesses.
3. If the officer suspects Andrei of riding without a valid entitlement, how does the absence of the plastic card change the legal position?
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It does not change entitlement; it changes proof. The officer checks the electronic register. If the record shows a valid category A licence, the matter is failure to carry a document, a minor administrative offence. If the record shows no entitlement, the consequences are far heavier: a fine at the higher level for riding without a licence and possible impoundment of the motorcycle. Andrei should state clearly that the licence exists and was left at home, give his full details, and ask the officer to verify the register rather than argue. He should also insist that the other driver be examined for alcohol, because that fact is central to the case and to any insurance dispute.