On Monday, the Russian road police stated about their intentions to make all-embracing checks of drivers for alcohol. The road police inspectors intend to stop all cars without any exception and hold tests for the alcohol content in the air exhaled by the driver. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov approved this measure and instructed the police to make these checks.
The Russian road police began to make all-round checks of the drivers for alcohol, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported. Still, they intend to do this not independently, but with the participation of medics and other specific services.
The Russian Interior Ministry told the newspaper that the decision to conduct such all-embracing checks was taken at a meeting of the governmental committee, where the road safety problems were solved. Now the police patrols are empowered to conduct alcohol tests of all drivers at some sections of the roads. The ministry still refrained from a concrete answer, under what principle these sections of the roads will be chosen, but pledged that they will take into account the danger of traffic jams and hampered traffic. Probably these checks will be conducted in the nighttime on the countryside federal highways, when the traffic is less intensive.
According to rank-and-file road policemen, which the Vechernaya Moskva daily cited, five-six road police cars are usually involved in the so-called all-embracing checks. So, a driver will not be able to skip a road police patrol unnoticed.
The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported that on Tuesday the State Duma intends to consider a bill over a tougher punishment for drunken driving. Under the bill a driver, who refused from an alcohol test, will be automatically brought to account for drunken driving. This driver-violator will be not only stripped of a driving license, but also will be fined 50,000 roubles. Those people, who will be caught for drunken driving again, will be fined 200,000 roubles and six months in prison.