The scourge of Moscow's roads

Motorists in Moscow had better beware...

By Steve Rosenberg in Moscow

Life in Russia is unpredictable - but there are - at least some things of which you can be sure.

It will always be freezing cold in the winter.

You will always be offered a glass of vodka with your cabbage soup.

The Russian traffic police will always be on the lookout for a backhander.

Everyone here says so. Even the traffic cops themselves admit they are not exactly whiter than white.

Although give them their due - they have tried to improve. A few years back the road police attempted to spruce up its image by changing its name - out went the disgraced old abbreviation GAI - in came the cumbersome but squeaky clean title GIBDD.

Some Gibbons, it turns out, are more honest than other

But did it stop the bribe-taking? Not a bit. GIBDD officers - known to the general public as Gibbons - quickly tarred themselves with the same brush. The problem is that if you're a Russian Gibbon you won't find very much inside your pay packet - the official salary of a road policeman doesn't rise much above $50 a month.

Unofficially though, a road cop can earn up to 20 times that amount in fine money - which is precisely why the Gibbons are the bane of Russian drivers.

Getting fined

You can be sure that at least once a week a Gibbon will bring your car to a screeching halt with a flash of his black and white poky stick. He'll approach your window, throw you a brief salute and then it's down to business.

"Dokumenty!" - "Show me your documents!"

With sweaty palms and a pumping heart, you hand over your drivers' licence and registration papers.

They're all in order.

So the Gibbon goes on the prowl, trying to trip you up on some technicality.

Your number plate's dirty - pay a fine! What, no first aid kit in the car? Another violation!

The meter begins to tick.

You are - it should be said - given the option of doing it by the book.

You can pay your fine through the bank the legal way, but the police will confiscate your licence until you do so.

So there's the quicker route - which most Russian drivers opt to take: pay up on the spot and let's say no more about it.

Long history

Maybe it is not terribly fair to single out the Gibbons for criticism - after all, corruption is endemic in Russia.

Bribe-taking is mentioned in Russian chronicles as far back as the 13th century, not that there were many cars around then.

And some Gibbons, it turns out, are more honest than others.

Just look at the city of Kazan. Traffic police there have just announced their determination to fight corruption in the force - and they have come up with a rather unusual way of doing it.

Any officer who has evidence of being offered a bribe and of having refused it will receive a financial bonus - equal to the sum of that bribe.

It has come to something when the traffic police has to bribe its own officers not to be corrupt.