[russian car deaths] systemic and psychological too

The Beeb had this yesterday:

A spate of car crashes across Russia has killed more than 100 people in one week - leading the government to blame the country's "systemic" road problems.

Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev blamed criminal negligence and a road culture lacking basic driving skills.

He admitted Russian roads are bad, infrastructure is weak and drivers often chat on their mobile phones at high speed or drive while drunk.

It's the way, in Britain and America, to report the worst aspects of Russia with glee and to ignore the things over there which are good. Is it any wonder that people see the country only as Putin, just as the rest of the world sees Britain as Brown?

Having said that, Nurgaliev has a point. These two little anecdotes, which I've posted before, illustrate the situation:

1. Running by my house in Russia, there was a very broad, tree-lined nature strip and two diagonal paths to the main road, crossing each other in the middle. I was on one, a Russian man was on the other and it was clear we were going to meet at the same time at the intersection.

He wasn't looking my way at all, I could see what was going to happen and I braced myself. It happened - we crashed into one another. The look of shock and the anger on his face at what "I'd done" distorted his features in apoplexy.

I acted completely shocked that he hadn't observed me and kept out of my way.

"Ya? Ya?!!!!" was all he could retort. The very idea that he'd needed to do anything to avoid the situation!

All sorts of thoughts came in as I walked away, musing - had he seen me at all, as I'd seen him coming? If not, why not? Was he so absorbed in his own purpose and direction that all else was shut out? Did he see me but purport not to, in order to secure passage through that intersection?

His apoplexy seemed very real and either he was a consummate actor or it had been a genuine shock to him that anyone could fail to see him on his path. Now, imagine that situation on the road, with two Russians or even five, each [all] totally convinced they had the right to make the moves they did and that it was their right of way.

Ah, you might say, there's a simple answer to that - the road law. Well yes, there is the road law and there are driving schools. There is also a lot of money under the table too although, to be fair, the authorities have been stamping that out in the past few years, even altering the fining procedure so officers can't line their pockets. That's an issue in itself.

There are barely roadworthy vehicles, despite the need for Techosmotr, the MOT, there are barely competent drivers and then there are the roads.

The roads don't actually follow a plan. In one place, they might be twenty lanes wide and because of the presence of buildings, they suddenly become two lanes wide. At bus stops, people surge onto the road in waves - quite suddenly. Peak hour sees traffic five lanes across in a space for three lanes and another lane is formed on the footpath, up the embankment, behind the bus shelter, blasting out of the way any pedestrian who's silly enough to stand on the footpath.

There's gridlock at major intersections and drivers find lateral solutions to the problems.

Does this cause the accidents? Not in itself although it helps. What really causes the accidents is the word "just".

Just that - the word "just".

As in, "I'll just go through on amber," at the same time a driver from the other direction thinks, "I'll just go a fraction early, to beat the turning traffic from the other direction."

Crunch! Multiple crunch, cascading into other vehicles who've pulled up at the lights right on the person-in-front's bumper. Massive pile-ups.

On my six kilometre drive into town each day, I counted about eight times I'd either got to town or returned from town where there'd not been an accident. Remember how many years I'd been doing that. There were, on average, two or three accidents along the way. Can you imagine the insurance premiums?

2. There is an intersection, a T-junction, in town where one must do a left turn. It's so narrow there and the double white lines have been done so badly and the road is one and a half lanes wide, which means two lanes in Russia, in real terms. It is not possible to go round that corner without someone crossing the white line. Interestingly, the two lanes do it in a most orderly fashion and it is not an accident hotspot by any means.

On a day when the GAI [traffic police] need a bit more revenue, they park themselves at that corner and reel in all the drivers whose wheels have touched that double white line. That's the sort of thing drivers put up with over there. They say that if you can drive in Russia and survive, you can drive anywhere.

The average Russian has - and I've had countless discussions over this - in his brain, no concept of consequence though he be sharp and intelligent in other ways. He perceives a need or an opportunity and addresses it there and then, irrespective of any situation around him, irrespective of any consequence.

"Consequence" doesn't compute and therefore he's developed this "last-minute" radar where he's light on his feet and quickly shifts out of the way at the last second - usually.

Cars aren't feet.

So yes, there are systemic problems and short of knocking down half the town and starting over again, short of a massive re-education programme, short of altering the Russian psyche, not a lot is going to change. Lovely people, warm-hearted, even super-intelligent ... but with these seemingly national blockages.
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