I’ve made it a practice not to drive abroad. The one time I did do so – in a rented car from
Aix-en-Provence in the south of
France to
Paris – a truck traveling in the opposite direction clipped me on a narrow road, then took off. That wasn’t a disaster, but in
Azerbaijan,
Georgia or the
Philippines, I have imagined unofficial fines for this, medical payments for that, and a general fleecing. The latest highway statistics out of
Russia don’t give me confidence to reconsider.
According to a report on Bloomberg, 33,308 people died on Russia’s roads last year. The rate per vehicle was ten times higher than in Germany and the United Kingdom.
It’s hard to find comparable data for every country, but Bloomberg does cite a 2006 report by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport. It’s usually clearer to see statistics in a chart, and a look at page five of this fascinating report is startling.
Based on 2004 statistics, Russia had about 24 fatalities per 100,000 population. Even the road-rage-stressed United States had about 14. You want safe? Drive in Malta, where just 3 people died per 100,000 population. (It turns out that the Baltic states aren’t much safer than Russia in this regard; about 23 people died in Latvia and 22 in Lithuania).
As for Caspian-region readers, Georgia surprisingly is comparable with the U.S. (14 deaths). Even more surprisingly, Azerbaijan came in at 9 deaths per 100,000 population.
Photo: Mr. Wabu
Rights: Creative Commons
Labels: highway deaths, Putin, road fatalities, Russia
I’ve made it a practice not to drive abroad. The one time I did do so – in a rented car from 
5 Comments:
Steve, the report probably underestimates the true scale of the problem. There are far more cars in Germany and the US than in ex-USSR.
In the US it's something like 2 cars per capita. In the USSR the number was one tenth of that. Assuming that the number hasn't changed substantially, the picture looks much worse for driving in Russia.
Very good point Peter. Even though car-owning is way up, it's still on on the scale of Europe or the U.S. I hope you are not driving there, Peter. Thanks, Steve
peter's comment even scarier than your post, steve. off to malta, everyone!
Steve:
I shipped my Nissan Murano over from Boston this past Fall.
Being from Boston, I feel right at home driving in Russia. It's really not so bad. Actually, I much, much prefer driving myself in my own car versus sitting in a cab or another car.
In all seriousness, when I used to take 3 to 4 taxis a day (before my car arrived), I would often scream (literally) at the taxi driver, "Slow the f'ing down... now!!"
There were times when I was thankful for probka (traffic) because it meant that the taxi drivers couldn't drive like a'holes.
I tell people that you know you've gone completely "native" when you willingly sit in the front passenger seat and choose not to buckle-up.
Interestingly, a new law which went into effect on January 1st now fines people 500 rubles (approx $20 bucks) if they are caught not wearing a seatbelt.
A week ago I arrived back at the Krasnodar airport at 4AM and when I got into the taxi the cabbie told me to buckle-up. I almost couldn't believe it because hundreds of times before the drivers would laugh at me when I put on my seat belt.
If you want a good laugh check-out Peter Hessler's "Letter from China" in the New Yorker magazine about his experiences driving in China.
In comparison, Russia seems almost tranquil. Almost : )
Here's the URL http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/26/071126fa_fact_hessler
One point regarding Peter S,'s comment about the level of car ownership per capita.
Russia is the fastest growing car market in the world. There are literally 6, 8, 10 month waits for new cars. Auto financing is very wide-spread.
The unbelievably horrendous traffic jams in all major cities is a result of fast increasing car ownership.
So while Russians may be crazy drivers (worse than Italians), there are now many, many more of them.
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