Too add to the; it's summer therefore in addition to trying to kill myself with a combination of vodka and swimming (it's a break from vodka and ice-fishing during the winter) I'll try the summer sport of high speed crashes whilst failing to observe a. the rules of the road b. traffic lights or c. any form of “society” in which you might want to help your fellow man.
However, as a cynical observer and (eager) participant in the road rage game of; there are no rules but the ones that I am making up at the moment the likelihood of crashes comes with the territory. So as we headed to the Dacha (dacha; noun
a country house or cottage in Russia, typically used as a second or vacation home) two weekends ago we were involved in an incredibly low speed accident; we were stationery and the truck that hit us was going at least 3km/hr.
Usual story; traffic jam ahead - three lane road becomes a 5-7 lane road as we all try to get 5m further ahead of anyone else in a classic portayal of the zero sum game / prisoner's dilemma. We were in lane 4-5 1/2 (i.e. not one of the lanes that the Russian government has painted lines on the road to encourage us to use) and were trying to edge ahead of a large truck. We were trapped and the truck was not - result a 2m gouge down the side of the car.
Now the fun starts. After a crash you are not allowed to move your car until the traffic police arrive - we crashed at 13.30. they turned up at about 17.00. Fortunately the sun was shining so we sat by the side of the road. Once they had turned up it took another 90 minutes of form filling (and 3500 rubles to “expedite” matters) to get a form from the police to use with the insurance company.
Pictures to be added on my return from Novosibirsk.
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