DUI tragedy forces Russian road safety rethink
MOSCOW (AP) - It took a weekend road tragedy to jolt Russia into action over one of its most deadly threats: a chronic culture of drunken driving.
Five orphaned teens were waiting for a bus with their guardians in Moscow on Saturday when a car careened into them, killing all seven. Grief turned to outrage when it emerged that the driver was heavily drunk and had a string of traffic violations on his record - including a DUI arrest two years ago.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and lawmakers have reacted with proposals to stiffen penalties on drunken drivers, and parliament debated the measures on Tuesday. But with bribery so commonplace and road laws rarely enforced, many wonder whether even the toughest response can change a deep-set culture of reckless driving.
After the crash, Alexander Maximov stumbled out of his Toyota sedan, which he had been driving at 200 kilometers (125 miles per hour), bloodied and barely able to stand. He appeared in court Monday with his head wounds dressed, but still wearing the blood-speckled sweatshirt from the day of the accident.
The punishment for killing while drunk driving in Russia is stiff: The 30-year-old Maximov faces up to nine years in prison. But lawmakers are currently debating whether to make jail sentences even harsher, matching laws in the West.
Even President Vladimir Putin weighed in Tuesday, demanding tougher punishments, condemning Maximov's apparent blithe indifference after the crash.
"This criminal, he's a killer in fact, when speaking to investigators just said: 'I always do what I want,'" Putin said. "There are some things for which people just must be punished."
Many Russians are furious that drivers like Maximov, who already had a DUI penalty on his license from 2010, was allowed back onto the roads in the first place. Drunken driving is punishable here by suspension of the driver's license for up to two years. In much of the West, by comparison, drunken driving is punished with jail time, heavy fines and re-education courses.
It isn't only irresponsible drinking that makes Russia's roads dangerous.
Russia's cities are struggling with fast-growing traffic density, which spurs drivers into pulling crazy stunts to get home as early as possible, such as jumping lights, squeezing through every gap in traffic and opportunistic trailing of racing ambulances. According to a 2007 survey, the number of cars on Moscow's roads had increased threefold since the early 1990s, while road capacity has increased by only 30 percent.
Each year, approximately 30,000 Russians die in road accidents - about the same as in the European Union, which has three times as many people and about six times as many cars as Russia. According to official statistics, only about 1,000 of those deaths are attributable to death by drunken drivers, but given the laxity of police enforcement and investigation, many in Russia doubt those figures.
Medvedev, who championed a no-tolerance policy in 2010 against drivers with even the slightest amount of alcohol in their blood, spoke out in favor of tougher penalties.
"Most of (our accidents) are committed by drivers who are completely drunk, and in this regard our country is in a worse state than any other," Medvedev said Monday, adding that it was necessary to think about "toughening the legal responsibility for such a crime."
In the wake of Saturday's tragedy, Moscow police have scrambled to show they are doing their bit, announcing that they had arrested over 130 drunk drivers on Sunday alone, according to Interfax news agency.
Over the past few days, lawmakers from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party have come forward with various proposals to tackle drunken driving. One plan suggested a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($3,200), while another more drastic bill calls for life imprisonment for anyone convicted of killing someone while under the influence.
Pervasive bribery, and its acceptance among much of the population, will make implementing any such measures an uphill struggle, however.
According to a Levada Center poll in 2010, only 10 percent of those questioned said they thought negatively of people who gave bribes, whereas the majority considered it "necessary" in dealing with public officials.
The same survey showed that Russians pay the greatest amount of bribes for medical treatment. Paying off traffic police came in at a close second.
"Of course it's important to propose new laws, they need to be stricter," said Natalya Agre, president of Road Safety Russia. "You can increase the fine to $2,000, but once again, who is going to keep track of whether that fine is given, and who is going to pay it?"
Agre's company has run a sleek social advertising campaign against drunken driving, and has begun attracting attention from big talent. A feature-length film by the company titled "There's No Hurry" was made with the help of some of the country's best directors and actors.
More important than police enforcement may be fundamental change to the car culture in Russia, where drivers are notoriously aggressive and fast.
"The driving culture in our country plays a key role," said Agre.
Five orphaned teens were waiting for a bus with their guardians in Moscow on Saturday when a car careened into them, killing all seven. Grief turned to outrage when it emerged that the driver was heavily drunk and had a string of traffic violations on his record - including a DUI arrest two years ago.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and lawmakers have reacted with proposals to stiffen penalties on drunken drivers, and parliament debated the measures on Tuesday. But with bribery so commonplace and road laws rarely enforced, many wonder whether even the toughest response can change a deep-set culture of reckless driving.
After the crash, Alexander Maximov stumbled out of his Toyota sedan, which he had been driving at 200 kilometers (125 miles per hour), bloodied and barely able to stand. He appeared in court Monday with his head wounds dressed, but still wearing the blood-speckled sweatshirt from the day of the accident.
The punishment for killing while drunk driving in Russia is stiff: The 30-year-old Maximov faces up to nine years in prison. But lawmakers are currently debating whether to make jail sentences even harsher, matching laws in the West.
Even President Vladimir Putin weighed in Tuesday, demanding tougher punishments, condemning Maximov's apparent blithe indifference after the crash.
"This criminal, he's a killer in fact, when speaking to investigators just said: 'I always do what I want,'" Putin said. "There are some things for which people just must be punished."
Many Russians are furious that drivers like Maximov, who already had a DUI penalty on his license from 2010, was allowed back onto the roads in the first place. Drunken driving is punishable here by suspension of the driver's license for up to two years. In much of the West, by comparison, drunken driving is punished with jail time, heavy fines and re-education courses.
It isn't only irresponsible drinking that makes Russia's roads dangerous.
Russia's cities are struggling with fast-growing traffic density, which spurs drivers into pulling crazy stunts to get home as early as possible, such as jumping lights, squeezing through every gap in traffic and opportunistic trailing of racing ambulances. According to a 2007 survey, the number of cars on Moscow's roads had increased threefold since the early 1990s, while road capacity has increased by only 30 percent.
Each year, approximately 30,000 Russians die in road accidents - about the same as in the European Union, which has three times as many people and about six times as many cars as Russia. According to official statistics, only about 1,000 of those deaths are attributable to death by drunken drivers, but given the laxity of police enforcement and investigation, many in Russia doubt those figures.
Medvedev, who championed a no-tolerance policy in 2010 against drivers with even the slightest amount of alcohol in their blood, spoke out in favor of tougher penalties.
"Most of (our accidents) are committed by drivers who are completely drunk, and in this regard our country is in a worse state than any other," Medvedev said Monday, adding that it was necessary to think about "toughening the legal responsibility for such a crime."
In the wake of Saturday's tragedy, Moscow police have scrambled to show they are doing their bit, announcing that they had arrested over 130 drunk drivers on Sunday alone, according to Interfax news agency.
Over the past few days, lawmakers from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party have come forward with various proposals to tackle drunken driving. One plan suggested a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($3,200), while another more drastic bill calls for life imprisonment for anyone convicted of killing someone while under the influence.
Pervasive bribery, and its acceptance among much of the population, will make implementing any such measures an uphill struggle, however.
According to a Levada Center poll in 2010, only 10 percent of those questioned said they thought negatively of people who gave bribes, whereas the majority considered it "necessary" in dealing with public officials.
The same survey showed that Russians pay the greatest amount of bribes for medical treatment. Paying off traffic police came in at a close second.
"Of course it's important to propose new laws, they need to be stricter," said Natalya Agre, president of Road Safety Russia. "You can increase the fine to $2,000, but once again, who is going to keep track of whether that fine is given, and who is going to pay it?"
Agre's company has run a sleek social advertising campaign against drunken driving, and has begun attracting attention from big talent. A feature-length film by the company titled "There's No Hurry" was made with the help of some of the country's best directors and actors.
More important than police enforcement may be fundamental change to the car culture in Russia, where drivers are notoriously aggressive and fast.
"The driving culture in our country plays a key role," said Agre.
Let's not forget the guy who ran into the back of a stopped car on I5 and killed those 2 teenaged guys. He was also a repeat offender.
"The punishment for killing while drunk driving in Russia is stiff: The 30-year-old Maximov faces up to nine years in prison." Seriously? You murder seven people through your own negligence and lack of responsibility, and call that a stiff penalty? That's a slap on the wrist!
 @Just_Mike 9 years in a Russian prison may be a bit different than 9 yrs here. The Russian people have many driving related problems. There are very aggressive drivers who disobey any and all traffic laws and defy logic daily. Most people who drive in Russia have dash board cameras. There is a lot of bizarre and scary video on youtube available for your research.
 @two loons liveleak.com also has an amazing archive of Russian driving footage.
@two loons @Just_Mike
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Yes those videos can be pretty scary....then the drivers move here to the Eastside
@two loons @Just_Mike But that's only 9 years for killing 7 people. That's outrageous. It should be 9 years PER PERSON he killed.
 @Just_Mike Stiffer than the penalties they get here...Â
My opinion is you drink and drive and kill someone it's first degree murder and you get life in jail. There is NO way someone getting behind the wheel drunk isn't aware they could kill someone. If you get a DUI you automatically get either a.) a device in your vehicle or b.) you license taken away. None of this you get 10 chances to kill someone before we do something BS.Â