State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate

(GAI), an organ of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, responsible for ensuring traffic safety. There are GAI divisions in the ministries of internal affairs of the Union and autonomous republics, in regional and oblast administrations, and in urban and district internal affairs departments.

The GAI was established in 1936 as part of the Central Administration of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Militia of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the USSR. Its activities are governed by the Standard Regulations on the State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate, approved by the Statute of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of Sept. 30. 1963.

The duties of the GAI include supervising the observance of traffic regulations, regulating vehicular and pedestrian traffic, preparing measures for the improvement of traffic flow and safety, registering motor vehicles, holding tests and issuing drivers’ licenses, giving annual technical inspections of automobiles and motorcycles, verifying the roadworthiness of motor vehicles in operation, and listing traffic accidents. The GAI may suspend drivers’ licenses for traffic violations, including driving while intoxicated, and for using automobiles and motorcycles for motives of personal gain; it may impose the fines provided by law and forbid the use of motor vehicles whose condition poses a threat to traffic safety. The GAI carries out its duties in cooperation with the other divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the administrations of enterprises and institutions and with the active assistance of national volunteer groups for preserving public order, public automobile inspectors, and commissions of communal organizations.