Russia's drunk drivers offered lift home

Drinking is one of Russia's most popular pastimes

Private firms are offering Russian motorists the chance to avoid driving while drunk.

Among the options on offer is a special "evacuation service", with pick-up trucks available for hire to tow drivers home in their cars after a heavy night of drinking.

The service does not come cheap, but customers are choosing to fork out rather than risk breaking the law.

As Russia's NTV channel reported, last year saw over 35,000 people die on Russia's roads. Around 70% of accidents were caused by motorists, who were often found to be over the limit. And in Moscow alone, traffic police are still stopping up to 400 drunk drivers every day.

Piggyback ride

But the new service aims to prevent other motorists meeting the same fate.

For a fee, a company will send out a transport truck to collect one of its clients, most of whom are men, and deposit him, his friends and his car back home. The only problem is finding out the pick-up point.

The traffic cops probably feel they're missing out because a drunk driver is a soft touch Andrei Smirnov

"We have regular customers," says Sergei Pimanov, who runs one of the "evacuation services". "We know where to take them to, but the thing is we need to know where from. So we just say: where do we pick you up?"

Charges range from the equivalent of £25 ($45), for the owner of a Russian-made car, up to £40 ($73) for customers cruising around in foreign imports.

But for those able to pay, getting a lift means avoiding an unpleasant encounter with the notorious traffic police, and the prospect of being fined.

"The traffic cops probably feel they're missing out," says Andrei Smirnov, one of the truck drivers, "because a drunk driver is a soft touch."

"And we're taking a slice of their pie."

Fringe benefits

The customers, meanwhile, are rewarded for their good behaviour. Some of them receive a bottle of champagne to make the lift home just that little bit more convivial.

And although supply is currently outstripping demand, operators are expecting the market for their services to grow.

Clients are already able to choose from one of four membership cards - gold, platinum, standard and corporate - based on their own individual requirements.

"But what really matters to customers," the TV said, "is not the price, but the care and understanding."

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