Think it's bad here? Try walking in Moscow . . .

from: Murphy, Kim. "On Moscow's Mean Streets, Every Automobile Is a Dodge," Los Angeles Times, 21 September 2005.

MOSCOW--On the streets of Russia's capital, it is the loser who ventures out without a weapon. Once the armament of choice was a small Lada. These days, it's likely to be a 3-ton Mercedes. Yet the dynamics of battle remain the same: The front bumper trumps the pedestrian, who is sent somersaulting over the hood almost every time.

So frequently do automobiles and pedestrians come into contact that a body at the side of the road covered with an overcoat barely draws a crowd. Elderly women, faced with a green crossing light, break into clumsy sprints with the help of their canes; students gather in packs like nervous gazelles before dashing across crosswalks in carefully timed streaks.

Last year, 34,506 people were killed and a quarter of a million injured in road accidents in Russia — nearly double the rate in the U.S. In Moscow alone, more than 14 cars a day hit pedestrians; 300 have died this year. . . .