Fines for road safety violations have been drastically raised from the start of 2008 in Russia. Traffic police says the measure will help reduce the number of road accidents. However, Russian drivers still tend to neglect the basic safety rules such as fastening their seatbelts.
Statistics says 28,000 people died and another 250,000 were injured in road accidents in Russia in 2007 alone. This is a 4 per cent rise from the previous year.
However, drivers in Russia still view fastening their seatbelts as an option rather than a legal obligation, and with the fine for flouting the law previously at only three euros, with the recent increase taking it to 15 euros, the penalty is not tough enough to force driver to fasten their belts.
Traffic police insist that the couple of seconds it takes for passengers to fasten their seatbelts, could be the difference between life and death.