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Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by sakopov on Friday February 15, 2013 @01:33PM (#5227606)
Here is a quick story about Russian police from a few years ago. This should give you an idea why a dashboard camera is not an option, but a necessity. My mother was in Russia visiting my uncle (her brother) in Krasnodar 3 years ago. He picked her up at the airport and they started their drive back -- about 2 hours away from the city. As soon as they got on the highway, they noticed a civilian sedan on the side of the road. The car started moving as they were approaching it and when they were within a few yards it veered right in front of them, causing them to chaotically cut into the adjacent lane. A few moments later a police car comes out of some corner and pulls them over. By this time the other car that cut into their lane is obviously gone. They cops out of the car and tell them that they've stopped them for reckless driving. My uncle explains the situation and tells them that he's meeting his sister for first time in years and would like to just safely get her home. The cops tell him that he can pay them an X amount of rubles now without worrying about making the drive back to the city to pay the ticket. When he agrees, they give him an outrageous bribe amount. He quickly gives them a number significantly lower. The cops tell him, literally - "let's flip a coin." Both picked a side of a coin and they ended up paying the smaller part of the bribe. This whole situation sounds more humorous than anything. They used pull better stunts back in early 90s. Now the situation with police is slightly more regulated, but it's still just as corrupt as it's been since the collapse of Soviet Union.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by dlokshin on Friday February 15, 2013 @02:42PM (#5228057)
> but it's still just as corrupt as it's been since the collapse of Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union you not only bribed police, but the grocer, the mail man, your child's principal, and the list goes on.

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by revelation on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:03PM (#5228951)
They still bribe principals and teachers. It's expected you give gifts.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by Nichijo on Sunday February 17, 2013 @08:47PM (#5237664)
We used to bring apples to school for the teacher in America, but never thought of it as a bribe.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by shrikant on Friday February 15, 2013 @09:39PM (#5230091)
So just like India now, got it.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by gdy on Sunday February 17, 2013 @08:56AM (#5235187)
Russian here. That's probably just what you or your family did because my parents didn't have any need to bribe people on your list.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by gdy on Friday February 15, 2013 @02:58PM (#5228167)
Why on earth would anyone bribe a mailman?
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by jacquesm on Friday February 15, 2013 @03:25PM (#5228382)
So you get your mail and your packages in one piece, unopened and on time?
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by shn on Friday February 15, 2013 @04:20PM (#5228753)
-:) (Not to knock twice ?)
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by huhtenberg on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:00PM (#5228932)
Psst, younglings. He's referring to this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice_...
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by adamjernst on Friday February 15, 2013 @07:26PM (#5229693)
I mailed a package to Russia about 5 years ago. Recipient had to pay a bribe to get it.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by gdy on Sunday February 17, 2013 @08:52AM (#5235179)
He probably just wanted to avoid paying customs duty.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by sheri on Saturday February 16, 2013 @06:59AM (#5231233)
In India postmen also can gauge the contents of the letter or document. For example, they can recognize US college acceptance letters for students trying for further studies. Many of them will then ask for gifts for delivering the good news.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by msantos on Saturday February 16, 2013 @09:19AM (#5231534)
yes the mailman! Here's what happen when you don't "sweet the deal" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1pUm_ApNtU
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by Pkeod on Saturday February 16, 2013 @04:59AM (#5231066)
So they don't steal your mail?
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by coldtea on Friday February 15, 2013 @02:48PM (#5228090)
Actually, in Soviet Union you did not have any reason to bribe any of them.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by rtkwe on Friday February 15, 2013 @03:08PM (#5228246)
> Actually, in Soviet Union you did not have any money to bribe any of them.

Fixed.

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by networked on Friday February 15, 2013 @06:28PM (#5229398)
That's not right at all. The people of the Soviet Union had the money through most of the country's history; however, they often couldn't easily exchange that money for useful, quality goods like food, kitchenware, furniture or cars [1] without the proper connections and bribery. Bribes were often (perhaps mostly) not payed in money, either.

See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ruble#Economic_role

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortage_economy

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Товарный_дефицит_в_СССР (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js...)

[1] As opposed to less useful goods like political books with titles along the lines of "The Proceedings of the Nth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", which were plenty, and which you sometimes had to buy by the dozen in order for the salesperson to agree to sell you a few more desirable books.

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by rtkwe on Saturday February 16, 2013 @02:12AM (#5230728)
Interesting. I will admit I was going shamelessly for a laugh there.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by maratd on Friday February 15, 2013 @02:26PM (#5227963)
> This whole situation sounds more humorous than anything.

Once, it's funny. When this shit happens to you on a regular basis, it's tragic.

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by sakopov on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:23PM (#5229051)
Apologize for any grammatical mistakes. Typed this up as my lunch was coming to an end. If it wasn't already obvious, the person driving the civilian car was another cop, as both my mother and her brother found out later from someone who ran into the exact situation before.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by Surio on Saturday February 16, 2013 @02:17AM (#5230735)
Very ironically, when I was reading your story, the first thing that came to my mind was a Knight rider episode (No Big Thing) as there was also a somewhat similar trick pulled in that episode... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0620860/

http://www.angelfire.com/mn/nn/Knightrider.html (No Big Thing)

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by gcb0 on Friday February 15, 2013 @06:38PM (#5229462)
My russian friend made me believe the only reason for those cameras was that some random guy would jump in front of your car on the express lane and then sue you for running over them.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by huhtenberg on Friday February 15, 2013 @07:44PM (#5229759)
He joked. This doesn't work with the Russian court system.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by seanmcdirmid on Friday February 15, 2013 @09:08PM (#5230004)
It works in the Chinese court system, unfortunately. I guess we just don't have the laws to allow these yet.
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by gcb0 on Sunday February 17, 2013 @05:28AM (#5234835)
He did have plenty of youtube videos as proof :)

or maybe it was just random drunks...

Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by shn on Friday February 15, 2013 @04:20PM (#5228752)
Wasn't corrupt before the collapse? :)
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by martinced on Friday February 15, 2013 @02:36PM (#5228024)
Looks a bit like cops in Mexico pulling surfers from California: you need to bribe but you can discuss by how much... And explain them you need to keep a few $20 so you can pay the next cops ; )
Re:Dash-cams: Russia’s Last Hope For Civility And Survival O... by huhtenberg on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:02PM (#5228945)
Russian highway police actually tells cops further down the road that you paid up, so you rarely get charged twice on the same stretch.