Car deluge turns Kiev into lawless parking lot
A hot red Porsche Cayenne SUV driven by Ukraine's number two traffic cop from the elite "Kobra" division swerves it way through heavy traffic on one of the more fashionable boulevards of Kiev. With eight lanes and little movement the impatient driver cuts off a high level politician in his black Toyota Landcruiser SUV. The politician accelerates and attempts to halt the Porsche but receives only "the finger" for his efforts. Well, that and the license plate number which is eventually tracked down, ending, not only the police career of the offender, but the existence of the entire "Kobra" unit.
This tale, outlining one of the few examples of traffic law enforcement in modern day Ukraine, is the entertaining centerpiece of an article on the woes created by the monthly flood of thousands of new cars onto the streets of Kiev. Sales are reportedly up by 50 percent over last year and, because of poor planning and little traffic violation enforcement, cars "routinely drive on the sidewalks." Clearly the situation is out of control.
[Source: The Earth Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 3:28PM (3/26/2008)
Looks like ANY city in the US during rush hour.
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Ted 5:36PM (3/30/2008)
The population of emerging economies the world over will want to spend their disposable income on personal transport, and who are we in the west to tell them they cant? This is why the electrification of the automobile must happen soon, god help us all if it does'nt.
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rgseidl 4:16PM (3/26/2008)
Communist-era transport infrastructure + decades of pent-up demand for car ownership + cheap fuel = gridlock + sky-high CO2 emissions per unit of GDP. Sadly, the country's politicians are held hostage by massive unresolved ethnic tensions and a culture of corruption.
I'm not sure keeping that particular country of 50 million in one piece is necessarily a good thing; the Czech Republic and Slovakia are doing better on their own than they did when they were united.
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Jesse McKinney 12:47PM (3/27/2008)
"routinely drive on the sidewalks."
If you don't like the way I drive, get off the road... wait ... sidewalk? ....
What is next, lawn?
Unbelievable.
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