Skip to main content

Russian road safety

A rather unusual and somewhat controversial road safety campaign is being used in parts of Russia. Scantily dressed women wearing a minimum of provocative wear are being paid to stand by the roadside holding speed limit signs. This approach is being organised by the Russian road safety charity Avtodrizhenia and is said to be highly effective at encouraging male drivers to slow down. There have been no incidences of driver distraction so far and the results for road safety have in fact been positive, with (m
January 27, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A rather unusual and somewhat controversial road safety campaign is being used in parts of Russia. Scantily dressed women wearing a minimum of provocative wear are being paid to stand by the roadside holding speed limit signs. This approach is being organised by the Russian road safety charity Avtodrizhenia and is said to be highly effective at encouraging male drivers to slow down. There have been no incidences of driver distraction so far and the results for road safety have in fact been positive, with (male) drivers slowing down. The road safety campaign has been trialled successfully at a noted blackspot for crashes, close to a pedestrian crossing in Severny village, in Russia’s central Nizhny Novgorod region. Russia’s road deaths stand at around 30,000/year so reducing the fatality rate is a key target, even if unconventional methods are required.

Related Content

  • India’s IRTE wins top Prince Michael of Kent Safety Award
    July 4, 2019
    India’s Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) was among the international winners at the annual Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards in London. IRTE picked up the Premier Award for its road injury prevention programme and for being a key partner in the Safer Cars for India project established by Global NCAP, an independent certification body that evaluates the safety of vehicles. Part of IRTE’s strategy has been the setting up of what is believed to be Asia’s first Masters of Science i
  • UK village deploys SWARCO mobile signs to improve road safety
    May 24, 2016
    A village in the UK county of Derbyshire is tackling the issue of speeding drivers by installing the latest Moveable Vehicle Activated Signs (MVAS) from SWARCO Traffic. MVAS are ‘self-deployment’ signs that are designed specifically for parish councils to improve road safety and encourage safer driving speeds. The latest generation of SWARCO’s “Your Speed Is” signs are lighter than previous models and feature improved battery life. The signs are portable, allowing them to be moved easily from post to
  • Russian road-building industry on verge of massive cuts
    June 10, 2015
    Russia’s road building programme looks set to be cut due to economic issues - Eugene Gerden writes The Russian Government is considering a significant cut to the existing road building programme for the current year. This is due to a current economic crisis in the country, caused by Western sanctions as well as a collapse in the price of oil and gas.
  • French road safety improvement
    February 1, 2019
    An improvement is being seen in French road safety figures. This positive change follows a reduction in speed limits on secondary roads from 90km/h to 80km/h. The speed limit reduction was introduced on 1st July 2018 and is estimated to have reduced the fatality rate by around 116. During 2018, there were 3,259 road deaths in France, a drop of 5.5% from 2017. Similarly, the number of people requiring hospital treatment following road crashes dropped by 25%. The speed reduction has faced criticism from driv