People power for justice.
Blue light clampdown in Moscow
· By: Drivers.com staff
· Date: 2006-12-20
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When a Moscow rental car company offered "blue light" service to its customers for only US$900 it was just too much for Muscovites. After years of subservience to the flashing blue vehicle-top lights that signified privilege and authority, the chorus of protest was rising. Just this past fall, Russian president Vladimir Putin finally introduced new regulations to clamp down on abuses of the practice.
The blue lights and special license plates that enabled diplomats and government officials to overcome the suffocating congestion of Moscow streets had spread to corporate executives, oligarchs and just about anyone with influence.
One recent estimate put the number of cars with Blue Light or Special Plate privileges at about 7,500. President Putin has proposed to reduce the number to 1000.
Members of Parliament, ministers, deputy ministers, judges, Kremlin advisers and many federal, regional and city government officials are allowed to place a blue light on their official cars. Corporate chief executives of the big state companies Gazprom and Rosneftalso get the blue lights, which offer virtual immunity from traffic rules.
One Moscow newspaper reported that a blue light package - - light, siren, license plate and supporting documents -- was at one time available on the black market for about $20,000!
The public backlash against the blue light privileges took on new energy when a Siberian laborer was jailed for his role in a crash which took the life of a regional governor.
Oleg Shcherbinsky, a railway worker, was out for a Sunday drive with his family in August 2005. While making a left turn from a main road his car was struck by the speeding vehicle of Governor Mikhail Yevdokimov. The Governor's car was traveling at an estimated 150 km/hr when it struck Shcherbinsky's vehicle and then struck a tree.
The court ruled that Shcherbinsky should have noticed the flashing light on the limo's roof and moved out of the governor's way. He was sentenced to 4 years in a labor camp.
Following the sentencing, thousands of people took part in protests by driving in convoy through cities with slogans such as "Today it's Shcherbinsky. Tomorrow it will be you!"
After the outcry, Shcherbinsky's conviction was overturned. 
Comments
Tom, on Sunday, 25. February 2007 at 07:45 PM
