Posted on 03/19/2006 4:26:22 AM PST by TC Rider
Never mind. The song is "Avalon", by Juliet.
"Russians are the worst drivers in the world - with absolutely no regard for traffic regulations . "
Yeah, I thought people here in Texas didn't know how to drive until I went to Moscow. Going in and out of town, every hundred yards there is a wreath of flowers of the road. On the rural roads, it's not much better where the edges of the pavement are broken up so everyone drives down the center, both directions.
Putin failed national security again?
Prediction: Putin will make promises it won't happen again, but the promise to be broken. When things go bad, he blames others, and act like a 3rd person not responsble, but making promises to not let it happen again, while in truth these promises are lip service to the people and likely broken. I'll bet my two cents he will do it this time again. Let see who many more times Russians will be fooled by this pattern.
These tunnel crashes are linked to an anti-icer sprayed over Moscow streets this winter. This thing makes every surface it touches slippery like hell. Moscow city council decided to cancel using tis stuff, due to high accident rate for both cars and pedestrians (especially in the Metro, where pedestriants slip on granite and marble floors). All that was widely discussed in local media.
However it does not fit your: "rusty Lada, worn tyres, half-drunken speeding drivers". I trust you have never been to Moscow, otherwise you would have known, that most drivers in the winter would change their tyres - the first day the snow falls you would see long queues at the tyre centers. And you possibly never been to France or Portugal, speaking of regard for traffic regulations.
Apparently the works were not authorised.
"These tunnel crashes are linked to an anti-icer sprayed over Moscow streets this winter."
So why the accidents in a tunnel?
Is Moscow so different that it snows in tunnels?
And why can't Putin apologists get the story straight? Garyspfc would have us believe it is the ice, not the deicer.
Admit it - Russian drivers are the worst in Europe. The fatality rate for car accidents is THREE times as high as the rest of Europe.
http://english.people.com.cn/200307/03/eng20030703_119368.shtml
Actually this tunnel collapse was caused by workers installing advertisement boards. They destroyed some support beams and tried to flee the scene of the "crime" after the tunnel collapsed. So far no reports of any injuries. (I bet you're disappointed)
Your comments about Russian drivers is interesting since the majority of "Russians" involved in those accidents are Georgians, Azeris, Tadjiks, etc., who are tooling around Moscow working as gyspy cab drivers in extremely unsafe vehicles. As usual, your prejudice against Russian blinds you to facts.
Having said that, Moscovites are atrocious drivers and the traffic situation there is "only the strong survive." Rome comes to mind as a very close second for horrible drivers. In the rest of Russia the drivers are a lot more courteous and safer.
Yikes. Looks like speed is the factor, not ice or de-icer (the other cars appear to brake just fine). I'm guessing that some folks gun it in the tunnel thinking the cops can't see?
It looks a lot like Lower Wacker in Chicago.
Easy. It is generally warmer in tunnels and the snow soaked with de-icer melts there to produce a slipery slosh. The one pictured in the camera is Lefortovsky tunnel, where lanes are (as they say) built according to the EU standards (which is 15 cm narrower). That also adds to the accident rate.
Funny, that a Ukrainian living in US (or Canada) is quoting a Chinese newspaper article 2,5 years old as a proof of something he does not even understand. If you ever saw a Lada in your life you would have drawn a different conclusion. These cars, which make the most of the Russian car park, do not have airbags and in general (except the latest models) are way more dangerous for the driver and passengers than their european or japanese counterparts.
However for the easy blame-slappers it is not so obviohus.
OMG!
Vodka-assisted driving? I can't see any other reason.
I am reminded of my recent travels to Ukraine where traffic signals are "advisory" in nature --when they are working at all.
WODKA!
Ahhha, the Putin regieme's lack of infrastructure building is biting them in the butt.
Russian drivers are the worst in Europe. The fatality rate for car accidents is THREE times as high as the rest of Europe.
http://english.people.com.cn/200307/03/eng20030703_119368.shtml
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