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Road accidents kill 28,000

Normal sight in traffic in Russia. Photo: Thomas Nilsen

Jeopardy on the roads in Russia as crash rate continues to rise.

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In 2012, a total of 27,953 people were killed in traffic accidents. The number of accidents increased to 203,597, up 2 percent from the previous year.

258,618 people were injured in these accidents, reads the statistics from Russian Traffic Police, reports Gazeta in an article named Year of the car crashes.

The police blame the drivers’ careless behavior for causing 87 percent of all accidents.

2,103 of the casualties last year died in accidents involving drunk-drivers. 940 children and teenagers were killed and more than 22,000 were wounded, the statistics reads.

Viktor Pokhmelkin, head of the Movement of Russian motorists blames bad roads and call for more effective investment. He also notes that casualties in domestic made cars are six times higher than in foreign made cars.   

A hit that really made take off last year was so-called dash cams; small cameras mounted to drivers’ dashboards making it possible for the driver to prove his innocent in case of accident.

Internet sites, like You Tube, are fraught with disaster films. One of the most popular is this one, involving the strangest possible behaviors in traffic you ever have seen.