The article analyzes the institution of confiscation of vehicles as a criminal law measure used in the commission of crimes in the field of road safety while intoxicated and environmental crimes. Based on a comparative analysis of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, it is emphasized that the prevailing dualism of approaches, "flexible" for environmental crimes and "unconditional" for crimes in the field of road safety, has objective grounds. The author formulated proposals de lege ferenda on the implementation in Part 1 of Art. 104.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of the system of "checks and balances," which provides for the possibility of applying judicial discretion in exceptional cases while maintaining the general preventive nature of confiscation in the event of crimes in the field of road safety.